Noah Goldstein: I really like the fact that people are loving this album or they're like, "This is trash!" I don't really like up-the-middle music, because where's the opinion in that? I'd rather have people hate it than be in the middle
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It’s been almost two weeks now since I first heard Yeezus and I still don’t quite know what I think of it. I still can’t decide if it’s Dylan going electric or Dylan converting to Christianity. If it’s a masterpiece or disappointing. If it excites me or if it makes me sad. I’m almost positive I love it. But I’m still not sure I like it. And only Kanye could provoke that reaction.
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It’s been almost two weeks now since I first heard Yeezus and I still don’t quite know what I think of it. I still can’t decide if it’s Dylan going electric or Dylan converting to Christianity. If it’s a masterpiece or disappointing. If it excites me or if it makes me sad. I’m almost positive I love it. But I’m still not sure I like it. And only Kanye could provoke that reaction.
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Noah Goldstein: "On Sight" sets a new bar. Nobody's doing that. There's no chance in hell that anybody's gonna put that on and be like, "Oh, that's J. Cole"-- not to diss J. Cole. But there's only one person who can do that kind of shit.
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Yeezus really says it all with its first track: “On Sight”. The moment that best defines the album comes halfway through the song when Kanye asks “How much do I not give a fuck / lemme show you right now before you give it up” then the song completely stops and launches into an extended sample of a completely different song, "He'll Give Us What We Really Need". That’s not something you do if you remotely give a fuck. But as Kanye just said, he clearly doesn’t. And really the whole song itself is a middle finger to giving a fuck, to melody, to convention, to hit singles, to music. It doesn’t ease you into the album, it assaults you. It’s almost literally Kanye shooting lasers at you. It's robots having sex in an abandoned warehouse just before the world ends. It’s not only not commercial, it’s actively anti-commercial. It's Kanye taking known hit-makers and pushing them to their furthest artistic extremes. “On Sight” is what Daft Punk wishes they were bold enough to sound like on Daft Punk records. “On Sight” is new. It’s like nothing Kanye has ever done before. It’s like nothing you were ever expecting him to do. After “On Sight” literally anything is possible. All options are now in play. “On Sight” is scary and daring and innovative. It’s challenging and original and in your face. I can’t stop thinking about it.
I also don’t particularly like “On Sight”. And it’s definitely my least favorite song on the album.
Yeezus really says it all with its first track: “On Sight”. The moment that best defines the album comes halfway through the song when Kanye asks “How much do I not give a fuck / lemme show you right now before you give it up” then the song completely stops and launches into an extended sample of a completely different song, "He'll Give Us What We Really Need". That’s not something you do if you remotely give a fuck. But as Kanye just said, he clearly doesn’t. And really the whole song itself is a middle finger to giving a fuck, to melody, to convention, to hit singles, to music. It doesn’t ease you into the album, it assaults you. It’s almost literally Kanye shooting lasers at you. It's robots having sex in an abandoned warehouse just before the world ends. It’s not only not commercial, it’s actively anti-commercial. It's Kanye taking known hit-makers and pushing them to their furthest artistic extremes. “On Sight” is what Daft Punk wishes they were bold enough to sound like on Daft Punk records. “On Sight” is new. It’s like nothing Kanye has ever done before. It’s like nothing you were ever expecting him to do. After “On Sight” literally anything is possible. All options are now in play. “On Sight” is scary and daring and innovative. It’s challenging and original and in your face. I can’t stop thinking about it.
I also don’t particularly like “On Sight”. And it’s definitely my least favorite song on the album.
Only Kanye could provoke that reaction.
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Travi$ Scott: You gotta be really dialed in to understand something like "On Sight".
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In a world where every person in a position of power’s sole obsession seems to be holding onto that power or expanding it, in music, a few times a generation, we get people who have so much power that they seem to only be interested in what they can do with it. They don’t care about staying popular as much as they care about staying relevant, and that's a huge difference. One is about success, the other is about achievement.
In a world where every person in a position of power’s sole obsession seems to be holding onto that power or expanding it, in music, a few times a generation, we get people who have so much power that they seem to only be interested in what they can do with it. They don’t care about staying popular as much as they care about staying relevant, and that's a huge difference. One is about success, the other is about achievement.
Jay-Z released the promo video for his new album recently and the buzz was about all the big names in the studio with him. The clip shows off that he is working with well-known producers, that he is trying to give us more of what we like, more of what has worked in the past, from reliable established brand names. With Yeezus on the other hand, Kanye has given us things we weren’t even aware existed. He's created a well curated trip through the edges of the underground. But it doesn't stop there. Kanye found new things, sure, but he took it a step further by reshaping what he found in his own image. He breathed life into clay. He made woman out of a rib. He IS a God. But a God who possibly hates us. A God who is (often literally) yelling at us to leave him alone. A God who would kill off his whole audience if it meant he could make purer art. He's like an underground indie band selling out, only completely the opposite. But paradoxically, chasing less popularity is making music fans love him more.
Only Kanye could provoke that reaction.
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Hudson Mohawke: A lot of the record is trying to avoid obviousness. Through the entire process of putting it together, there were tons of easy slam dunks, but rather than just going for the hits and having an album that nobody's going to give a fuck about in a month or two, he intentionally sidestepped the obvious route each time. I think that's what going to give it more longevity and put it in a category of records that you'll go back to in 10 years time.------------------------------------------
Nearly everyone now agrees that Kid A is a masterpiece, but Kanye makes his version of Kid A and people complain that it doesn’t contain any singles or songs you can dance to or play at your parties. Which says a lot about where hip hop is at, and where Kanye is trying to take it. After all 808’s & Heartbreak was considered similarly difficult and uncommercial, yet it almost directly gave rise to Drake, one of the most popular and commercial rappers working today. Things often seem difficult and new, until they don’t. Yeezus leaked on a Friday and sounded completely inaccessible. By that Saturday "Black Skinheads" was soundtracking a Martin Scorsese trailer. By this week I’m sure it’s being played in clubs. And maybe it's Stockholm Sydrome, but after listening to it non-stop for two weeks Yeezus doesn't even sound that "out there" to me anymore. It sounds normal now. And that's because Kanye just changed the sound of music. He just created the future out of whole cloth. Maybe he is the new Steve Jobs after all.
So love Yeezus or hate it, it has officially declared that hip-hop is art now (just in case there was someone out there who didn't think it was already) and that there's no turning back. Now making interesting music is way cooler than making music that sells. Releasing a super commercial album geared for maximum radio play is now passé. The game changed overnight. Jay-Z’s new album is already dated and it’s not even out yet. Hell, Kanye just made his own entire back catalogue seem dated. His last solo album featured a Chris Rock comedy skit and a significant amount of Rick Ross. Now I can’t imagine Rick Ross even LISTENING to Kanye's album let alone having anything to do with it. And it seems completely implausible that the man responsible for "Send It Up" could have ever released a song produced by Chris Martin.
I fear that Kanye is tearing music apart, and I simultaneously celebrate that he's making it stronger.
Only Kanye could provoke that reaction.
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Yeezus isn’t just Kid A though; it’s In Utero, it’s The Marshall Mathers LP, it’s Plastic Ono Band, and it's Rumours. It's music that actually sounds better the more you know about it. It's music that only the Kanyes of the world can give us. Because it's art that has context. If Yeezus had been released by, say, Wiz Khalifa, not only does no one listen to it, but it has no impact and no meaning. But since it comes from Kanye, not only will everyone who is serious about music at least hear it and think about it and give it a chance, but its songs and themes and sounds are all richer and more meaningful because of the way they build off of and respond to Kanye's past work and his life.
Does "Blood on the Leaves" sound the same without "Gold Digger" and Kim Kardashian and a lifetime of soul music samples? Is "Bound 2" resonant without The College Dropout? Does "I Am A God" mean as much with "Jesus Walks"? Does Yeezus even exist if Kanye's mother had never died?
After hearing Yeezus so many people have asked where Kanye goes from here. And thats a great question. But ultimately there's nowhere to go if you haven't come from anywhere.
I may not love Yeezus. I may very well never listen to it again after this week. But I love that I had to listen to it. And that its an absolutely essential part of the musical journey of a lifetime. I may not always like the ride, but I wouldn't miss it for the world.
Only Kanye could provoke that reaction.
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Only Kanye.
Hudson Mohawke: It takes him out of the realm of so many other mainstream rap artists who only focus on the bragging side of things; you don't necessarily feel like you have any personal connection with a lot of those artists, whereas Kanye puts so much of his own personality into his music.
Yeezus isn’t just Kid A though; it’s In Utero, it’s The Marshall Mathers LP, it’s Plastic Ono Band, and it's Rumours. It's music that actually sounds better the more you know about it. It's music that only the Kanyes of the world can give us. Because it's art that has context. If Yeezus had been released by, say, Wiz Khalifa, not only does no one listen to it, but it has no impact and no meaning. But since it comes from Kanye, not only will everyone who is serious about music at least hear it and think about it and give it a chance, but its songs and themes and sounds are all richer and more meaningful because of the way they build off of and respond to Kanye's past work and his life.
Does "Blood on the Leaves" sound the same without "Gold Digger" and Kim Kardashian and a lifetime of soul music samples? Is "Bound 2" resonant without The College Dropout? Does "I Am A God" mean as much with "Jesus Walks"? Does Yeezus even exist if Kanye's mother had never died?
After hearing Yeezus so many people have asked where Kanye goes from here. And thats a great question. But ultimately there's nowhere to go if you haven't come from anywhere.
I may not love Yeezus. I may very well never listen to it again after this week. But I love that I had to listen to it. And that its an absolutely essential part of the musical journey of a lifetime. I may not always like the ride, but I wouldn't miss it for the world.
Only Kanye could provoke that reaction.
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Justin Vernon: There's no pedestrian fuckery on this album. People are working their asses off to make the best shit, and Kanye's leading the pack.
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A wise man once said "theres leaders and theres followers / but I'd rather be a dick than a swallower". It's a ridiculous line of course. But it's profound in its own way. Better to be an asshole, difficult, unlikable, and less popular, if it means leading the culture in new directions rather than allowing it to be jammed down your throat. (That metaphor got a little ridiculous there at the end as well.)
A wise man once said "theres leaders and theres followers / but I'd rather be a dick than a swallower". It's a ridiculous line of course. But it's profound in its own way. Better to be an asshole, difficult, unlikable, and less popular, if it means leading the culture in new directions rather than allowing it to be jammed down your throat. (That metaphor got a little ridiculous there at the end as well.)
Leaders lead, but every once in awhile someone comes along who creates new trails, not knowing if anyone else will ever follow along behind them. It's an essential job, but it's a hard choice to make. It's a hard life to live. You know who can do it though?
