Yeezus review

Kanye West is my personal favourite rapper, and possibly my favourite producer as well. Add to that artists like Daft Punk, who recently released a masterpiece of their own, and it's certainly a recipe for success. But does it live up to the hype?

First thing's first: Yeezus is not My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. To be frank, I doubt he'll ever be able to match that masterpiece again. Regardless, Yeezus does indeed live up to what we've come to expect from Kanye as a producer, and surpasses what we associate with his lyrics. Kanye has things to say, and he's gonna damn well say them. The album's tone is one of a rant, where Kanye spits everything that's been on his mind leading up to the recording, and it is fascinating. He also mixes elements from each previous albums, including the singing of 808s, the dark tone of MBDTF, and the wacky lines of, well, his entire repertoire.

Throughout the album, Kanye tries to make some points about modern America, and they are some interesting and reasonably important points to be made. It might not exactly be his greatest lyricism, but he's got enough backing the lines up to make up for it. He makes a wide range of points, which all ties up nicely with the outro, "Bound 2", which is also one of the album's best songs.

However, where the album excells the most is on a sonic level. Most parts of the album have a savage minimalism to their beats, which brilliantly matches the aggressive tone of Kanye's lyricism and flow. Kanye's autotuned singing is easily the best attempt at the style, aside from maybe T-Pain. It sounds fantastic, especially in the track "Blood on the Leaves" where it blends beautifully with the sample. It starts on a dark, mysterious note, and ends with a grand conclusion that has the tone of a revelation. For Daft Punk fans, their beats may be comforting to fans who were concerned by Random Access Memories, as their production is certainly not disco. It's not techno either, but it's closer.

Overall, I was very satisfied with this album. I'd call it a must-buy, though it isn't the crowning achievement of Kanye's discography. If you must buy one album this year, Yeezus is definitely one to consider. However, if you can only buy one Kanye album, you might be better off with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy or Late Registration.