Kanye West’s “Yeezus” – After 10 Spins, New Thoughts Emerge

I’m a Kanye fan.

Like, a BIG Kanye fan. In 2009, when he ran up on Taylor Swift at the VMAs, I may or may not have dressed up as him for Halloween in a picture-perfect outfit. Same wash of jeans, same haircut, same black button-up shirt, you name it.

I got some indie/hipster friends on Facebook that love dissing Kanye. I take it as an invite to step in and explain why they’re wrong in whatever assumption they’re running on.

This may be why I took “Yeezus” so hard. I had a tough time liking it. Most of the tracks had grating synths layered over minimalist beats, which sound so different than his normal production. “Blood on the Leaves” is the only track that I vibed to on my first listen, and only then since it sampled an old-school NOLA track…

No Limit sampled Isaac Hayes’ “Ike’s Mood I” for C-Murder’s take, but I digress…

So, after a couple of listens, I started to not hate Yeezy for evolving from his soul-sampling roots on Yeezus.

Does Kanye stick to a ‘formula’ for this CD? No.

Is Yeezus what hip-hip will sound like in a decade? Maybe.

Is Yeezus groundbreaking? Yes.

And that’s what I’ve learned to love about Yeezus. This CD is one that grew on me. Kinda like “The Brothers of Chico Dusty”. On first listen, I really didn’t like it. I wanted more of the same artist that I’ve grown to love. I wanted to toss the CD out of the window, find their label, and tell them to wrangle the artist into producing more of the same. But, after opening my mind up a little more, I realized that Kanye (and Big Boi) are evolving. They’re not static humans, they’re changing their worldview based on their perceptions of the world around them.

And that translates to new music that evolves with them.

Will Kanye produce some singles in the future that revert back to his soul-sampling days? I’m sure. Will Watch the Throne II push the boundaries? Definitely. Will I continue to dress like him for Halloween? I’m not entirely convinced that I will.

… unless he gets some artwork shaved into his head again.