In some ways, Kanye West’s 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy seemed like a giant, lavishly produced, bombastic apology or as close to an apology as Kanye would ever get (i.e. he’s made some mistakes but let’s face it, he’s still the shit). It was an intensely personal look into the life of Kanye West, albeit a fantastical version of it. In between his usual brags like “I don’t need your pussy, bitch/I’m on my own dick”, there was a lot of self-doubt and regret scattered throughout the record. And while it was an extremely personal record, it was also a star studded affair with huge artist features on almost every track. From Jay-Z to Rick Ross to Rihanna, the gang was all there. It was just about everything that Yeezus is not. There are no apologies and there is certainly no Rihanna. Kanye’s GOOD Music brethren are almost entirely missing from his new album. While Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon is still a major contributor , the Swizz Beats and Fergies of the world are replaced by young, hungry up and comers, specifically Chief Keef and King L, from Chicago’s violent and controversial drill scene. Lights and fame were running theme on Dark Fantasy but Yeezus is an album about darkness. It’s crude, it’s vulgar, and it’s extremely misogynistic. If MBDTF said “I’m sorry”, Yeezus says “fuck you, not sorry.”

It seems almost poetic that just two days before Yeezus would drop, Kanye’s foil and “big brother” Jay-Z would announce his new album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, during Game 5 of the NBA Finals in a partnership with Samsung. This being the extreme turnaround from Kanye’s most recent Saturday Night Live performance, where he repeatedly flashed the words “NOT FOR SALE” and proudly shouted “fuck you and your corporations” to an audience of millions. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Jay-Z is 43 years old, one of the most widely acclaimed rappers of all-time and much more than just a musician these days. He’s earned the right to be on cruise control at this point. But while Jay seems perfectly content with the “suit and tie” life, Kanye refuses to be complacent. He is intent on reinventing himself with every album he produces and just as he had five times before this, he succeeds.

The album kicks off with the Daft Punk-produced “On Sight”, a twisted take on Graduation’s Daft Punk-sampled "Stronger.” On “Stronger”, Kanye said “I need you right now.” With “On Sight”, he just needs. Tonally, it sets the stage for what’s still to come but musically, the record is just as volatile and unpredictable as Kanye himself. Every track seems to incorporate a new genre and you never know when Daft Punk’s acid house beat will suddenly morph into a gospel choir sample and then without warning, back again. Right on cue, the next track, “Black Skinhead”, (also at least partially produced by Daft Punk) features an industrial rock style beat that would make Trent Reznor proud. The theme switches now from Kanye’s explicit sexual escapades to his loud, outspoken anti-establishment bellows. Lyrically, nothing on Yeezus is really breaking new ground. Kanye’s subject matter has remained mostly static throughout his career but he’s able to keep it interesting by ratcheting up these lyrics to the next possible extreme while also sonically creating the most compelling records on the market today.

Unlike Dark Fantasy, Kanye is on his own for much of Yeezus. When guests do drop in, they are either relatively unknown or the appearances are mostly understated. Frank Ocean quickly hops in for a few (mostly unrecognizable) bars on “New Slaves” and even Chief Keef only gets hook honors on “Hold My Liquor”, though he does deliver the closest thing we've seen to an introspective verse from him. The only people who actually get proper guest verses are dancehall deejay Agent Sasco (“I'm In It”) and Chicago driller King L (“Send It Up”). Some will complain that more could have been done with the guests that Kanye had at his disposable and they may be right. At the same time, the condensed list of invitees insures that no one overstays their welcome and we are spared another “redickalis” appearance from Swizz Beatz or another unnecessary four bars from Rick Ross.

Yeezus comes to a head at the one-two punch sitting six and seven in the track listing. The first punch coming from the ridiculously filthy “I'm In It”, where he manages to compare both a women whipping out her titties and fisting to the civil rights movement. It’s the most blatantly misogynistic song that Kanye has ever produced and it does features some groan-inducing lines like “eating Asian pussy/all I need is sweet and sour sauce.” But it is so unrelentingly absurd that you can’t but get caught up in Kanye’s ludicrous fantasy. That’s followed by the album’s magnum opus “Blood on the Leaves.” The unholy fusion of Nina Simone’s “Strange Fruit” and TNGHT’s “R U Ready” comes together to create an absolutely gargantuan track showcasing the best of Kanye’s ambitions in an insane and thrilling six minutes.

Then before you know it, it’s over. The album wraps up in a brisk 40 minutes over just 10 tracks. However, in that short time, Kanye covers plenty of ground, resulting in a dark, twisted racially and sexually charged record that holds nothing back. The catalog of albums amassed by Kanye is nothing short of spectacular. To produce six albums that are so different but still all great in their own way (depending on how you feel about 808s and Heartbreak) is unlike almost any artist that has come before him. The conversation of him among the greatest of all-time has already begun and will surely only intensify from here. One of the more common comparisons being thrown around is calling Kanye this generation’s Beatles. Both are artists that incredibly critically acclaimed but also obviously possess an outstanding mainstream appeal. No matter how apt the comparison may be, it’s sure to anger some. After all, John Lennon never did talk a whole lot about fisting on their records. Maybe the world isn’t ready for that association just yet. After all, what is a black Beatle anyway?

5/5