{"id":2125,"date":"2013-07-16T20:37:17","date_gmt":"2013-07-16T20:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/?p=2125"},"modified":"2013-07-16T20:37:17","modified_gmt":"2013-07-16T20:37:17","slug":"kanye-west-shocks-the-world-with-yeezus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/2013\/07\/16\/kanye-west-shocks-the-world-with-yeezus\/","title":{"rendered":"Kanye West Shocks the World With “Yeezus”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Album Cover<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mark Braboy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Blue & White Flash\/Staff Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

As proven throughout his career, Kanye West is not afraid to experiment and takes his music in many directions. And in many, many directions does his sixth album, \u201cYeezus\u201d goes.<\/p>\n

Yet, it did not keep the Grammy award-winning artist from selling over 320,000 units of his album in his first week (according to Billboard) and this was without any singles or traditional marketing campaigns. In the same class as his fourth album, \u201c808s and Heartbreak\u201d, this album proves to be his most experimental, edgy, and musically diverse album yet.<\/p>\n

The sound on this album, unlike his previous works, draws heavily from a multitude of genres such as EDM (Electronic Dance Music), Dancehall\/Reggae, Modern Hip-Hop, Rock, Blues, Minimalist, and World music. As a result, the album is a cluttered effort that hits and misses for over 40 minutes. While the production is up to par with his previous album \u201cMy Beautiful Dark and Twisted Fantasy,\u201d the album lacks cohesion in its core sound, which is very loud and very aggressive.<\/p>\n

The sounds West decided to use work for and against the album at the same time. For example, \u201cBlood on the Leaves,\u201d is notable for blending samples of Nina Simone\u2019s version of \u201cStrange Fruit\u201d and C-Murder\u2019s \u201cDown for My N*****\u201d, and making them work for the dark and aggressive atmosphere of the album. However, West overdoes this by using too<\/em> much sound as he excessively uses autotune throughout the end of the song.\u00a0 The core sound can be alienating at times because the sound is all over the place and goes into directions that are sometimes unnecessary.<\/p>\n

The features on \u201cYeezus\u201d were executed perfectly and are very diverse. He shows love to his Chicago roots by enlisting Chief Keef on the hook to \u201cCan\u2019t Hold my Liquor\u201d as well as rising Chicago rapper King L on \u201cSend It Up\u201d. Also, the trademark wailing from former G.O.O.D. music signee Kid Cudi fits the tone of the song \u201cGuilt Trip\u201d and is also executed well. And Charlie Wilson on the closer \u201cBound 2\u201d adds the soulful sound that was missing throughout the album and reminds fans of his vintage work.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the album lacks the elite lyricism that West is known for. In fact, it is the album\u2019s fatal flaw as it lacks his technical skills, his signature wit and cleverness of his rhymes, and any true substance in his lyrical content. There are flashes of this on songs such as \u201cNew Slaves where he spits \u201cMeanwhile the DEA\/Teamed up with the CCA\/They tryna lock n***** up\/They tryna make new slaves\/See that’s that private owned prison\/Get your piece today\u201d. At the same time, on songs like \u201cI\u2019m in It\u201d he spits lackluster bars like \u201cEatin’ Asian p****, all I need was sweet and sour sauce\u201d.<\/p>\n

The lyrical content has no sense of direction and it has for the most part devolved. It appears to show whiney, sex crazed, hyper narcissistic man who is trapped in his own bubble. Granted, his lyrics have always been cocky and arrogant, but at the same time they were witty and clever. While they are not necessarily terrible, there is a lot to be desired from it.<\/p>\n

Kanye West\u2019s \u201cYeezus\u201d is a unique album that offers a diverse sound but significantly lacks cohesion on both the beats and lyrics. The album is intentionally designed not to cater to everyone so whether or not you enjoy it lies solely on their personal preferences and what they expect from West; as it can alienate both hip-hop fans and West fans alike. However, the album is worth listening to at least once and there are a many great songs on it. It is an interesting release that definitely should not be ignored.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark Braboy Blue & White Flash\/Staff Writer As proven throughout his career, Kanye West is not afraid to experiment and takes his music in many directions. And in many, many directions does his sixth album, \u201cYeezus\u201d goes. Yet, it did not keep the Grammy award-winning artist from selling over 320,000 units of his album in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2125","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-variety"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2125\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}