‘Yeezus’ finds Kanye West taking his art to it’s highest level. Stripping down and going completely left field Kanye shows he is completely fearless as an artist not only sonically and through presentation but also content wise with this latest album. As far as presentation goes ‘Yeezus’ went completely anti. From ‘cover art’ to leading single Kanye took an entirely new approach, something very few artists do, especially artists of his caliber and stature in music. To have arguably the biggest pop star on the planet go completely anti-pop is a giant risk, but Kanye for the most part manages to pull it off and make it seem natural. Combining his frustrations with the fashion world and his realization of the true power balance of the world Kanye unleashed his most fearless song to date with “New Slaves” not only is there depth lyrically but artistically he turned this lead off single into a brilliant performance art piece that only someone with the artistic credibility and power of a Kanye West could do. Using this song as a sort of chess move against corporations and corporate greed “New Slaves” is definitely one of West’s ‘genius’ moments. While going entirely left field West still manages to hook the listener in with catch phrases, chorus and devilishly hypnotic beats. The controversially titled “I Am a God” has one of the most memorable and possibly silliest lines of West’s career in “hurry up with my damn croissants!” A song stating that anyone can turn themselves into a “God” and everyone the masses elevate to this almost God-like status is no different than them. This album is definitely any album that must be listened to multiple times before truly appreciating it’s artistic value. Even the features of the album come in in non-conventional ways, Chief Keef appears just for a few bars on a hook to the industrial rock sounding “Hold My Liquor” Frank Ocean appears at the end of “New Slaves” on a section that could be considered an entirely different song. Kanye even brings back Uncle Charlie on the finale “Bound 2” which sonically is the closest to vintage Ye’ on the album.
Rating 8.9/10