Kanye West is well known for his skill as a producer, in
particular in his use of samples from Otis Redding to Daft Punk and more. No era or genre is beyond his reach. With ‘Yeezus’, his sixth album, it’s no
different.
Despite the lengthy list of collaborators, ‘Yeezus’ manages
to come together as one man’s vision.
The overall feel is polished, yet hugely abrasive; an album that
combines experimental hip-hop with industrial beats, acid house and forms
of black protest music like Jamaican dancehall. Distorted bass
drones bubble and brood; harsh rhythms grate; sombre synths pervade the dreamily
gloomy mood; auto-tuned vocals are purposefully obscure like a voice striving
to be heard. The effect is utterly raw,
aggressive and intense, mirroring the provocative lyrical content.
It’s here that West stumbles. His overblown, narcissistic tendencies are more
infamous than his production, reaching new heights on ‘Yeezus’. The title alone combines his nickname (Yeezy)
with Jesus in a messianic statement. It’s
taken further with I Am A God which
features no less than God himself (apparently).
Yet he then petulantly demands “where’s my damn croissants” in a “French-ass
restaurant”, before claiming “I just talked to Jesus, he said ‘What up Yeezus?’.
Surely this is West having a bit of fun,
despite the darkly serious production?
Or is West so egotistical as to actually believe himself to be worthy of
godlike status? It’s a fine line.
Things take a turn for the worse with West’s political
views. This isn’t a call for black
equality, but black supremacy with Black
Skinhead as his “theme song” in an aggressive call to arms. Unlike the understated cover ‘art’, West is
far from afraid to confront issues of race in a blaze of fury. His anger threatens to boil over in New Slaves, on which he stands up to
racial injustice, consumerism and the press above an insistent, sinister
riff. He fails, however, on Blood On The Leaves which samples ‘Strange
Fruit’ (originally recorded by Billie Holiday).
The political power of the original song is wasted here.
Rather than subverting racial stereotypes, West plays up to
them in an extreme and provocative manner.
On New Slaves, for example, West
is the living embodiment of the consumerism he raps against. Sex is a constant, often brutal, theme:
whether as an angry retort (“I’ll fuck your Hampton spouse”), depicting his
wife’s “wet mouth”, wrapped up in his political views (“put my fist in her like
a civil rights sign”), or wrapped up in racism (“eating Asian pussy all I need
is sweet and sour sauce”). The results
are grotesque, ugly and darkly sexy. Is
this an artist producing with a knowing irony with his hyperbolic use of
stereotypes? Or an artist unable to
escape the restraints of his chosen genre no matter how hard he may try to
shock?
Despite the off-putting lyrical content, the record is still
an arresting listen – from the lurching rhythms of Black Skinhead, to the ghostly voice of Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon
(predominantly on Hold My Liquor),
the shimmering synths of Guilt Trip, and
the chorus of Bound 2 that deserves
to be a full track in itself. As West
spits out on opening track On Sight, “a
monster [is] about to come alive again”.
Whether you’re a “dick” or a “swallower”, West continues to be a
bombastic, unflinching figure in music.
3/5
Gizzle's Choice:
* Black Skinhead
* I Am A God
* Hold My Liquor
Listen: 'Yeezus' is available now.