It's not even about the content of his lyrics for me. It's the quality of them. I'm not expecting '94 Nas from Kanye, but there is some laughably bad shit on this album. It's not a total deal breaker, just a little disappointing. I'm with you on the production skill critiques, though. I guess the production isn't for everyone, but I like that it's abrasive and rough around the edges. It fits the mood of the album.
If this hasn't been said before, this album to Kanye is A Thousand Suns to Linkin Park. You're going to love it or hate it. It's polarizing, and even though it shows hints of some old work, it's a completely new sound that's heavily electronic and dark, which will take some getting used to for those who expected the "All Falls Down" or "Celebration" type songs.
From an interview with Rick: Just two days before the album was supposed to be turned in, five songs still needed vocals. "Don't worry, I will score 40 points for you in the fourth quarter," Kanye allegedly told Rubin. "In the two hours before he had to run to catch the plane [to Milan], he did exactly that: finished all lyrics and performed them with gusto," Rubin said. Now it all makes sense.
After two listens through, this seems like an album you have to try to like. I don't think that's a good quality for an album to have. It's a very abrasive album that, in my opinion, is flat-out annoying in parts. This coming from someone who is only a casual fan of Kanye, meaning I'm not that invested in hoping new material is as good as "album X", etc. Really liked his stuff on Watch The Throne, and that remains my favourite stuff from him.
It is kind of a niche album for someone who is a hip-hop fan. Not many fans are going to be like "Oh man, I love Chicago House! This is perfect!" Someone big into Death Grips might like this. So I wouldn't say you have to try to like, but you just have to be one of those people that happens to like what influenced the album and like Kanye West. On the flipside, WTT is what I've liked least from him. A few of the beats were great, a lot of them felt like throw away beats. I think Watch the Throne = Half-assed Jay-Z album + a half assed Kanye album. The best beats were mainly not Kanye (No Church, Niggas in Paris, Who Gon Stop Me). Besides the lyrics, my only gripe is the length. I want more!! "I'm In It" is my jam!
Well, I like abrasive textures in the hip-hop that I listen to so I'm pretty sure that "Yeezus" won't disappoint me.
I'm a fan of Kanye and I was excited about this album. After listening to it however...eh. Doesn't have any replay value for me.
Went [for the first time] over "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" ... and shit, it makes "Yeezus" look a little pale.
To me they're on the opposite end of the Kanye West Production Scale Crazy Ornate <- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > Minimal MBDTF - Late Registration - Graduation - College Dropout - 808s - Yeezus
[video=youtube;Vns-81egipQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vns-81egipQ[/video] Probably the most honest review I've seen so far. Although I don't necessarily agree with the rating, I do think he brings up some valid points ("Like Jesus would even care"). Even so, that doesn't take away the fact that I still enjoy the album and have been listening to it during the last couple of days (without getting tired of it). I've read your review on the album, Rahat, and you clearly did not like the horns on "Blood on the Leaves" at all haha, so much was clear. But I loved them, made the song way more powerful to me (the horns are courtesy of TNGHT, who co-produced that track). In other words (if you hadn't figured out already), it all comes down to what you think about the album (as it should always be). Opinions are always gonna differ.
Hahaha gonna give your review another read tomorrow. This should give it an interesting, fresh perspective
They're supposed to be different and Kanye has clearly succeeded in setting "Yeezus" apart from all of his past work.
The first four tracks blew me away. I really liked the aggressiveness about them. I've listened to those four tracks quite a lot, and I really like them. The rest of the album was okay.
The first track and Black Skinhead are the best imo. I love the production on those. I love the production on most songs. The musical side is my favourite of the whole album. The lyrics aren't really my cup of tea, but they're not /bad/. That's coming from a casual Kanye fan though, like someone said earlier. Enjoyable, and different. Props to him to making something that'll please him, and not his fanbase. I do prefer WTF over this, though. I like this album though.
Having only heard "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" and "Yeezus", I have no idea what you're talking about.