Kanye West’s album ‘Yeezus’ dropped today, but it had already leaked onto the Internet and established that listeners would only love it or hate it – no in between.
It seems like what had the potential to be a powerful and beautifully controversial album was ruined by Kanye’s own anger.
It’s no secret that the album title itself has pushed many people’s buttons, as the dark rapper seems to be making a comparison between himself and Jesus.
While many fans rushed to Kanye’s defense of the comparison, he spits several bars throughout the album that reinforces the belief that he is indeed comparing himself to Jesus.
“I know he the Most High/ but I am a close high,” Kanye raps on a song titled “I Am A God.”
Of course, the comparison to Jesus was naturally the next thing on Ye’s list as he has already compared himself to many legends and icons including Michael Jordan, Picasso, Malcom X, and even Steve Jobs.
So let’s say you mange to look past the comparisons that some see as blasphemous. The question is, is the music any good? Did Kanye produce an album that justified his comparison to Jesus?
Not at all… not even close.
While the production of the album is spectacular, Kanye’s building rage seemed to get in the way of his lyrics.
Songs like “New Slaves” and “Black Skinheads” proved that West’s lyrical capabilities are still downright astonishing, so it would have been no problem for him to get his message across through some witty word play and bone-chilling metaphors. But instead he just screams and yells his way through several tracks.
The making of the album was probably a therapeutic process for West, but how fans will react to it is another story.
Some say that’s the beauty of the album, however.
Kanye already mentioned he had a complete disregard for any opinion outside of his “clique,” and he isn’t even concerned about record sales. In that respect, the album accomplishes exactly what he intended.
It’s a dark twist on rap that combines hip-hop with the elements of hard rock and metal, all while pushing buttons and juicing controversy.
This was by no means an intention to make an album that you could bump in your car or sing along to in the shower. No, this was a brash and angry statement from Kanye that just so happened to take the form of art along the way.
Will it appeal to the mass audiences? Absolutely not. But once again, that was never his intention.
The album itself just reminds us that Kanye is one huge walking contradiction. He is the man who said he hates media attention but yet ran on stage to snatch Taylor Swift’s microphone on live television.
He is the man who claims to be an introvert, but famously blurted out “George Bush does not care about black people” during a live newscast on Hurricane Katrina.
He is the man who professed that he didn’t “give a (expletive)” about record sales or the album leaking, yet had a team assembled that was given the sole responsibility of preventing leaks.
At the end of the day, Kanye seems to be crossing the threshold from being a musician into some sort of dark visionary who thrives off of doing what no man before him has ever done.
So while we could certainly have done without the ear-piercing screams and the countless comparisons to Jesus, you still have to respect the album to a certain degree because it is entering uncharted territory in the world of hip-hop.
Is there any hopes that the old Kanye will be coming back? We have to let that go and just remember the past for what it is. It has become strikingly obvious that Kanye has diverted far away from “The College Dropout” rapper we used to know, love and respect, and he has made no plans to come back to that.
