By Odeisel
Kanye West is the Mighty Thor, strongest Avenger of Hip-Hop as art in a rap music world where “I am not a rapper” is the favorite refrain and commerce rules the roost. His music is his hammer and Yeezus is the latest blow struck in the name of the art. The album is a whirling dervish of thunderous drums, lightning electronic music elements and swirling winds that blend reggae, rap music, deep house and drill music leaving listeners bewildered in it’s wake. If you’re a storm chasers you’re astounded. If you’re not into the rain, you may feel it’s all washed out.
Much of the production is helmed by French electronic duo Daft Punk and most of the tracks they produced share a similar rhythm and spirit, if not similar beats. This isn’t modern EDM though, it’s much closer to the pioneering work of 70’s band Kraftwerk, whose Trans-Europe Express element formed the foundations of early Hip-Hop. Add to that Kanye’s Chicago House DNA and you have a concoction that lends it self to speaker wrecking havoc that strays from the present rap paradigm but hugs the spirit of Hip-Hop tightly.
Diametrically opposed to Watch The Throne, Yeezus illustrates how artists and people who are ruled by that love for excess are chained by their desires and led to do things counter to their souls to obtain and live by that excess. This is a Kanye tired of the dumb shit he has to do to keep his name hot and to carry a lifestyle he may be sick and tired of.
On Sight opens Yeezus awash in distortion and electronica with a pounding repetitive rhythm and sonic snow that makes you want to bust a back spin or windmill. He lets you know that he doesn’t give a fuck by cutting the song with a totally disconnected break. “Everybody want to live at the top of the mountain” exhorts Yeezy, continuing the themes from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
Ye gets aggressive with the foaming-at-the-mouth Black Skinhead, a track that melds game 7 NBA Finals urgency with jungle rhythm, and spastic contempt. The engineering on the track is incredible, showcased by Kanye’s line “overreacting, like the Black kids in Chiraq bitch” then having the beat immediately switch to the Drill music aesthetic. “Stop all that coon shit; Early morning cartoon shit. This is that goon shit; fuck up your whole afternoon shit.” You bet your ass it is.
I Am A God addresses the deification of pop idols in the modern zeitgeist and illustrates how the allure of that worship can seduce even the most humble. His caricature of every high maintenance star, barking orders over a pounding werewolf of a rhythm would make Joan Crawford jealous. “I am a god. Hurry up with my damn massage, hurry up with my damn ménage, get the Porsche out the damn garage!”
New Slaves find Kanye illustrating how class, race and style serve as chains over a distortion-filled track that flaunts its layered minimalist production with a one note rhyme scheme that carries every four stanzas. Chief Keef and Justin Vernon guest on Hold My Liquor, an autotune-fueled jaunt about being inebriated off fame and the audacity that those drunk muscles give you.
The masterpiece of the album is Blood On The Leaves, a blasphemous melding of the immortal Strange Fruit with an interpolation of C-Murda’s Down For My N***as. While disgusting on surface, it is blended perfectly with Kanye’s 808 delivery and a theme of drugs and fame-driven self destruction. The construction builds to crescendo and then just bleeds out with heavy horn stabs and Ye returns with a verse devoted to lost groupies thinking a relationship will happen only to have their wounds salved with make-up bags and the guys who are on top of the world until that side chick gets pregnant and lawyers, pain alimony and child support wipe out the cars, the jewels and the lifestyle and your marriage. R.I.P. Billie Holiday.
The hardest song on the tape is the high-energy King Louie featured Send It Up with its clarion call sirens and Louie’s chillingly emotionless delivery. Bound 2 is the closest thing to the rap paradigm and is the perfect close to this album. A chipmunked sample courtesy of The Heatmakerz bring Ye stylistically full circle and brings back that rap swagger.
Yeezus is a powerfully confusing album that challenges everything going on in pop music and rap music right now. The album employs sounds that are far from rap music but instrumental in the formation of Hip-Hop. He kept it totally Chicago with his guests (aside from Kudi) and put passion back in a genre that is too cool for its own good. Yeezus is uncomfortable and that is what Hip-Hop and rap music by extension should be. It is some asshole bumping the DJ table and making the needle skip. Jarring. But necessary.
Out of 5
Follow Us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/planetill
Follow Odeisel on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/odeisel
Join Us on the Planet Ill Facebook Group for more discussion
Follow us on Networked Blogs
