ALBUM REVIEW: Kanye West - Yeezus

There are 3 rules that I try to reconcile when it comes to reviewing albums:

1) Music is art, and it takes time to appreciate it in some cases.
2) Personal feelings about the artist must be put aside to fairly review the album.
3) The first impression is usually the right one in most situations.

Since I have been writing reviews, no artist has tested these rules more than Kanye West.  In my younger days, I passed on his earlier albums out of disgust for his unrelenting arrogance and ridiculous obsession with the limelight.  It was not until my wife forced me to listen to his first two albums that I realized that he is a talented artist.  He does deserve the accolades he receives for his music because he does have a great ear for music and can have some intriguing rhymes every now and then.  Of course, we all knew his talent from his production work for artists like Jay-Z, T.I., Common, Mos Def, and Alicia Keys.  Unfortunately, as his career went on, Kanye became more well known for controversy rather than music.  Sometimes it was courageous (his rant on George Bush and Hurricane Katrina relief in 2005); sometimes it was tragic (his mother's death in 2007 due to complications from plastic surgery), and sometimes it was completely ridiculous (his impromptu speech during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the VMA's a couple years ago).  Either way, controversy continues to follow him.  For his fans and for critics, controversy has not interfered with the quality of music, for his first 5 albums all had critical and commercial appeal worldwide.

However, critics were not as happy with his performance on the 2012's Cruel Summer compilation album.  The once-potent Kanye lacked focus and inspiration.  Much of the lyrical content fed into the glamorous superstar life without the typical introspective conflict that we are accustomed to hearing from Mr. West.  The radio loved a lot of the songs on off the album, but some fans hoped that his next album would rectify the shortcomings of Cruel Summer and put Kanye back into people's hearts, minds, and ears.  Kanye has shown his ability for redemption: after the auto-tune love-fest that 2008's 808's and Heartbreaks was, his 2010 follow-up My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was musical masterpiece and a trendsetter for rap music after its release.   People believe that Kanye will come with that fire.  His high-profile relationship with paparazzi fiend Kim Kardashian and his pending fatherhood would prompt him to change the game again and rule the airwaves, or at least not distract him from doing it.  Fans have faith in Kanye just like Christians have faith in Jesus.  Hmm, maybe that is why Kanye's new album is titled Yeezus.  He has been pretty consistent among all the rap artists who came out in the 21th Century, so why would he let us down now?

I don't know why, but for me, he did.  I have listened to his album 3 times this past weekend, and each time it has felt like a chore rather than a pleasure.  See what I am doing here?  I am trying to follow Rule #1 and give it a few listens to sink in.  As much as I loathe Kanye for some of the crap he says and does in the media, I know that he has the talent to make good albums.  He deserve a fair listen.  See what I am doing here?  Rule #2 is creeping in.  At the end of the day, Rule #3 triumphs over all: my first impression of the album wins.  I am not feeling it.

I would describe this album as the worst of 808's and Heartbreaks mixed with an half-ass attempt at trip-hop.  It is a shame that his collaborations with Daft Punk on 5 tracks are wasted here.  They do well on "Black Skinhead" and "New Slaves," which happen to be the songs he performed on SNL last month.  The latter is probably my favorite track of the album, and it is far from the best song that I have heard from Kanye (Killer Mike and other artists been saying what Kanye was talking about for a minute).  Still, the grating sounds and explicit imagery makes Yeezus a tough listen.  Like I said, I listened to the album 3 times before I started this review and am currently listening to it now.  I will admit that some songs sound better on further listens.  The king Louie-assisted track "Send It Up" has a chorus that will creep up on you and get stuck in your head, and "Bound 2" sounds like a solid throwaway from Kanye's third album Graduation  (I mean that in a good way).  However, tracks like "Blood On The Leaves" shows how singing with Auto-tune can be a detriment to good song rather than a benefit (and I do not approve of him ripping off the chorus for Snoop Dogg's "Down For My N's").  Even in it better moments, there is nothing pulling me back to this record.  In fact, I have a hard time believing that this was actually the album after my first listen.  I kept believing that this version was for the bootleggers, and a better version would be released on the scheduled release date.  Well, after listening to the album on Spotify today, my beliefs were incorrect.

Perhaps I should not have considered Cruel Summer part of Kanye's catalog.  If not, I could listen to Yeezus with less skepticism and more of an open mind.  I appreciate artists that push their own boundaries as well as the boundaries of music in general.  When everyone tends to play it safe, especially with hip-hop, hearing an artist establishing their own lane and trying to set trends is refreshing.  The main reason why artists do not flex their creative muscles is because they run the risk of going so far into another zone that they simultaneously fail to catch the ears of new fans and alienate their core fan base.  It is a big risk/big reward decision, and it sometimes does not work.  Judging from the reaction that Yeezus so far, most of his fans and critics still have his back and are supporting this album.  I am sure that he lost a few, though, and for better or worse, Kanye does not seem too care.  So be it.  After looking this review over, I realized that similar to Kanye, I am contradicting myself with acknowledging delayed appreciation for art but going with my initial impression with this album.  Well, contradictions seemed to be the mantra for Kanye's career, so it is fitting for me to do the same.  This also could be Kanye's point with Yeezus - we strive to be the best but we end up falling short most of the time.  Interesting.  Still, I have a feeling that Kanye will bring me back on his next release, but for Yeezus, I gotta pass.