The Polarization of Yeezus

Just a few days ago was a hip-hop icon’s birthday; Kanye West. Whenever that day rolls around, June 8th to be exact, we ask ourselves the same question… what is Kanye’s best album? It’s a tricky question, surely you can go multiple ways with that answer. Look at his first five albums, most would consider all of them classics. Mr. West was revolutionary to hip-hop, a breathe of fresh air. The pink polo and a backpack, we’ve all heard that phrase before.

The first CD I ever owned was Late Registration, only because my mom wanted to jam to “Gold Digger”. But after that, it was mine and I would throw it in my personal radio in my room and play it through all day and night. I can still remember hearing “Hey Mama" for the first time with my jaw-dropping and tears in my eyes. Hanging out with friends in middle school, they put me on his most acclaimed album ever My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I can just remember the epic music videos from “All of the Lights”, “Runaway” and “Power”. There was a personal connection with that album, it put him in GOAT status for me.

As the years went on, College Dropout ended up becoming my favorite album by him. Despite the connections I had to albums I previously mentioned, there was something about Kanye going against the norm in his first album that hit me differently. Also “The New Workout Plan" is still a great song, I don’t care how you feel. But Kanye was five-for-five in my eyes, even with him trying something completely different like 808’s and Heartbreaks. There was nothing this man couldn’t do.

Kanye regained his superstardom with MBDTF and then went on a victory lap with Jay-Z and the GOOD Music crew. Those collaborations weren’t among the classics, but it had tracks that will forever live in hip-hop history. At that point, he was only battling with Drake for that crown in mainstream appeal. So whatever was coming with Yeezus, fans were ready for.

The Expectations for Yeezus

Truthfully speaking, I had none. I’d be lying if I said I knew exactly what direction he would go in. But excitement was definitely in my veins about a new Kanye West album. My thoughts at that time were “I’m sure it’ll great". He hasn’t let me down yet, I was hoping he could keep that hot-streak alive. With streaming becoming forming into it’s own at that point and having Spotify on my trash Android Galaxy 3, I was ready for the new release of a solo-Kanye album that we haven’t received in three years.

What were your expectations coming into Yeezus?

Owen (@o__mighty on Twitter): I was mad young back then, I don’t even know if I really had expectations like that.

Kendra (@kendraxtamia on Twitter): I did not know what Kanye was going to do. That can also be a good or bad thing depending on the artist so the direction he was headed could have been anywhere. But I always enjoyed Kanye as an artist so I trusted whatever direction he would take me in in a sense. But one of the things that I remember vividly about Yeezus was the press run. That press run gave us a glimpse of what we were in for because it was so scatterbrained and all over the place so when we finally got Yeezus, it made sense. How he was at the time matched the music that we got.

Lawrence (@el_budget on Twitter): With Ye’s music up to that point I’d learned to not have expectations for his music because sonically he was always trying out new things and going in new directions. I just anticipated a good project.

Caleb (@calebcatlin on Twitter): I actually didn’t listen to MBDTF and Watch the Throne in full until shortly after the Yeezus experience. I didn’t yet have the resources to listen to music through the internet until around the time Yeezus dropped. With that distance from the internet, I didn’t experience the rollout either so I didn’t have any real expectations. The most I could hope for around that time was something I could love as much as I did with Graduation as a kid.

Matthew (@mkrwrt on Twitter): I, at the time, think one could only expect greatness. The clinical preciseness of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy displayed a brand new, elevated version of Kanye, combined with high powered features stacked upon each other put the artist in a new light. Then, Watch The Throne gave us the combo of the two rap heavyweights. I was completely unsure of what direction he was going to go in. Those two works represented the principles of rap purists, with heavy sample loops and standard bars. His unpredictable nature made it impossible for me to know. Also, I was 13.

EJ (@worthlessflesh on Twitter): I was hyped once I read an interview with Daft Punk. They mentioned it sounding “raw” and that he was “screaming primally”. As far as direction, I had no idea before that interview. After the “New Slaves” video dropped I felt like I had an idea. The luxury rap style of MBDTF, WTT and Cruel Summer definitely ran its course.

Kameron (Kameron_Hay on Twitter): I had no real expectations for the album because Kanye had changed his sound pretty much every album to that point. With Kanye albums you never know what you are going to get really.

Doug (@IOnlySayFacts on Twitter): So, coming into Yeezus, I actually was expecting a bounce back from the disappointing Cruel Summer. Knowing Kanye’s tendency to change after albums, I came in expecting change. At one point, I did think create tracks that are sorta similar to White Dress for the album, but then again, I figured it was just a track for The Man With The Iron Fists.

Mike (@povertygru on Twitter): Honestly with Ye, expecting Yeezus would only be if you knew ye. I mean yes 808’s and Heartbreaks was a big time turn but it was still in a lane we expected I feel like. Yeezus turned us on our ass.

Chip (@chipoffyoblock on Twitter): To the white, midwest suburbs of my youth, Kanye was Father, Son, and Spirit. So Appalled was the first rap song I memorized, and I would spend hours playing basketball with Watch The Throne on repeat. It’s impossible to overstate how much the Banksy-esque New Slaves installations and SNL Black Skinhead performance resonated with my juvenile anger. Kanye’s vitriol was in lockstep with my daily angst. I didn’t know what the hell Yeezus had in store, but I knew I needed it.

Dropping on the same day AS…

For those who don’t know me, I am a Mac Miller fan to my core. Stan levels even. But his album Watching Movies With the Sound Off was dropping that same exact day. J. Cole’s Born Sinner was also dropping that same day. The fear of Mac dropping another dud was a nightmare for me. All my focus was on that album and just how important that album was to his career. Even though J. Cole was young, you mostly had faith he would come through with a good album. It was hard to set Kanye’s album to the side, but it was the sacrifice I had to make.

What album did you listen to first?

Chip: At one point in my life, Mac and Kanye were the two most important people in the world to me. While my relationship with Kanye the man has grown fraught, I can say without question the music of Kanye West and Mac Miller remain an integral part of my person. Yeezus and WMWTSO equally defined my late high school into early college mindset, and still carry great power and nostalgia.

Caleb: I definitely went with Mac actually. He was the artist that I was actively listening to when I started really diving into the internet and through Spotify’s extensive catalog of music.

Matthew: It had to have been Kanye. I wasn’t particularly interested in J. Cole outside of a few songs from The Sideline Story and barely paid attention to Mac at the time. However, I had already listened to every Kanye album religiously and without fail. It was no contest.

Kendra: Kanye had my attention the most, especially coming off MBDTF and WTT. I was nervous though. When I was watching all his interviews at the time, something in me told me I was not about to like this project he was about to drop. When all those albums dropped that day, I remember listening to Mac Miller last but his album was the one that I liked the most out of all them which surprised me because that was the first Mac Miller project I listened to in full. RIP Mac Miller. I remember thinking Born Sinner was just “okay” around the time it dropped. I had a saltiness toward Cole because everyone kept saying he was the new version of Nas and I just couldn’t see it so I had preconceived notions about him but that album grew on me a lot overtime and is probably my second favorite J. Cole album after 2014 Forest Hills Drive.

Mike: Honestly all 3 got play all summer it was a perfect marriage

ON SIGHT…

Finished the Mac album, it was great. Loved it. Now it’s time for Yeezus: Cole can wait for a later date. I remember taking a second, a quick breather if you will. Getting albums from three artists you love in one day is a lot to take in. I needed that breather.

I could’ve taken a breather for a week and I wouldn’t have been ready for the warped portal I was about to enter. For sure, my mind thought that Spotify was messing with me. What is happening? Kanye sounded angry. Seemed like he just let out anger that was held in for three years. Him talking about “A monster about to wake up again", referring to MBDTF hit track, had me in disarray.

Your thoughts when “On Sight" first came on?

Kameron: I hated “On Sight” the moment I heard it! “On Sight” and “I Am A God” were the two songs I didn’t like when I first heard the album and seven years later they still are the worst songs to me. The other eight tracks are great though.

Owen: Yeah, “On Sight” was a crazy track. Still enjoy it.

Doug: So when that track came up on the iPod, it seemed like it was a track for the catwalk. It reminded me of a track they’d play in the background of any new clothing store in a mall. Because I thought of the track like that, it became white noise after a while.

EJ: Google the Richard D. James album cover by Aphex Twin. That was my face.

Lawrence: Sonically, on sight is all over the place. I’d heard “Black Skinhead” & “New Slaves” so I kinda had an idea of what we were gonna get but I wasn’t prepared for that opening

The First Spin

Yeezus played all the way through, I had to process everything. Confusion was probably the best word for the time being, what did I just listen to? The different sounds that were coming out, mostly electronic, were more bothersome to me than edgy. A few tracks stuck with me: “New Slaves”, “Hold My Liquor”, “Blood on the Leaves” and “Bound 2". Which at the time angered me, because I heard the closer and was so confused why the album wasn’t like that.

When listening to the rest of this off first listen, it felt hostile. Kanye had something built up that was making him irritated, and let it loose. Lyrically I didn’t enjoy the random one-liners about “eating asian pussy like it’s sweet and sour sauce” or screaming for his damn croissants. It was a weird experience, so much so that I had to go listen through his discography to see if I’ve actually heard Kanye do something like this.

I genuinely didn’t have any connection with it, especially with that year having some great albums. The sound of it mostly made me exhausted, I didn’t care for the expiremental, electronic music Kanye was rapping aggressively over. The track “I Am a God" had me so angry that I went back and listened multiple times. It makes no sense at all, but it’s the truth. And it said “ft. God”. I was in awe. His explanation a little bit later makes sense. “I’m In It” gave me an anxiety attack, especially with ‘Ye’s second verse with him “fisting her like a civil rights sign”. I always forget that “Send It Up” even exists to be honest.

How was the first listen for you?

Matthew: I can only describe my gut reaction as “Okay, that just happened.” It felt like Kanye attacked every one of my senses for 40 straight minutes. I remember particularly enjoying the stuff that provided me with a more familiar feeling of listening to Kanye, specifically “New Slaves” and “Blood on the Leaves.” In a similar vein, I remember “Bound 2” as my favorite song off the first listen. The vocal sample, combined with the Charlie Wilson chorus elevated it over any other track.

Lawrence: First time hearing Yeezus I came away thinking “okay so this was his miss”. Kanye had given us nothing but top tier albums up to that point. I didn’t like Yeezus.

Chip: I felt like I needed a shower. I spent 40 minutes bathed in an assault of sexual depravity and the unfiltered id of a tortured genius. It was like I opened a forbidden door into another man’s soul.

Mike: Very confused but I was so enthralled with the music that it took a second listen to love it.

Kameron: First listen it was definitely different but I’ll never forget the feeling I had when I heard “Can’t Hold My Liquor”, “Blood On The Leaves”, “I’m In It”, and “Guilt Trip” for the first time. I was blown away by all four of those records.

Throughout the Years…

Ever since the day it dropped, I constantly feel like I’m forcing myself to like Yeezus. I sit here and wonder what the hell is the disconnect? I hear the sound he is going for and always respect Kanye for taking a chance. For six straight years, I had kept the same thoughts: it’s the most overrated album ever. I could never rock with it.

It’s sad to even think it took me another listen in 2020 to finally understand my hate for this album. It’s not the music, it’s the fans. I usually stray away from being publicly persuaded, it ruins the listening experience. I was surrounded by people who love Kanye West though, I had no escape. I found myself rejecting the album more and more. I was also probably mad that Mac Miller’s album was overshadowed by this phenomenon. When Yeezus is thrown on, the appreciation for it has grown on me a bit more while still not loving it entirely.

I also think this being his album to complain about the fashion industry was very fair either. Charlamagne tha God used to say that on numerous occasions, including to Kanye’s face. And even though the concepts can be ruined by his egoism and shotty lyrics, he still had every reason to be discuss the topics he did on there like “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves”.

Has the album improved for you?

Doug: Out of fairness, I do give most artists multiple listens just to give a fair shot. I did that with Yeezus, and my opinion had changed. Not because of the music itself, but because Ye has been all over the place lately, so Yeezus moves up the rankings by default. If I did have to ignore the other albums and focus on Yeezus itself, I wasn’t a fan then and I’m not a fan now.

Caleb: My opinions changed more and more as the years have gone by. The more I revisited it, the more gems I’d come away with until I ended up liking almost everything on Yeezus. The only song I’m kinda mixed on is Send It Up. But so many of the songs I was so opposed towards, I ended up liking so much more. “New Slaves” ended up in my top 15 Kanye songs ever, it’s truly phenomenal. “Hold My Liquor” is fantastic and I couldn’t have imagined Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Chief Keef meshing so well together. Blood on the Leaves” is great, “I’m In It” is a chaotic mess. I think that’s the word for this album: chaotic. It’s everything that you like about Kanye but turned up to 11. His sense of humor is amplified and his ego is bigger than ever. All it really took for me was a change of perspective and time to grow and live with the album.

EJ: I loved it since first listen and I’ve been shouting “Yeezus is his best” for maybe 5 years.

Owen: I appreciate it a lot more than I did 7 years ago.

Kendra: Not really. It’s just okay to me. I don’t flat out hate it like I did when it first came out but I still don’t enjoy it. I am cool off it. That kind of hip-hop he was aiming toward has never really been for me anyway so it would have been hard for me to get into it anyway, no matter who it was that was making it.

Changing the Landscape

I think in *some* aspects, it definitely has impacted hip-hop. But not as much as people like to think when it comes to rappers playing copy-cat. I don’t think I heard anything this in my life before or after (I never listened to Death Grips). Maybe you can hear it on some albums, but overall nobody did what Kanye did for a whole album.

Has Yeezus changed Hip-Hop

Mike: It absolutely did because of the tour I feel. The music and tour as a package was a time unlike any other.

Matthew: I think it did, but I’m always more concerned about how it affected Kanye’s career path. I basically view it as the inflection point for his musical stylings. Like the Yeezus album and tour was evidence that Kanye had entered the Twilight Zone portion of his career. He became more willing to attempt more and more outrageous things with his art because they paid off. It didn’t matter if some people did not enjoy the album at all, many in Rap labeled it as genius and groundbreaking. This, as well as his own confidence, shifted his career into a different region.

Doug: It’s an album that tried to change the landscape like MBDTF and 808’s did. Do I think it was successful as those two did. Nope. Do I think it has the lasting power those two did, no. I’m not even an 808s fan and you can tell the influence instantly.

Caleb: Not really but I think, more than anything, it changed how I think so many people view Kanye. If you were still clamoring for the pink polo ‘Ye to come back, this album guarantees that it’s not happening. I think the album is so polarizing partly because of that fact. Honestly though, in hindsight, this album kinda felt like the natural direction his music would take after MBDTF. He reached the heights of maximalism in 2010/2011 that he’ll flip what that idea means on its head. If MBDTF was his comeback after the Taylor Swift saga, Yeezus is a statement to never take shit from anyone, no matter how controversial. He’s escaped potential career/celebrity suicide, what could you really tell ‘Ye after that?

EJ: No, but I still think it’s shown plenty of influence. Rappers aren’t out recreating Yeezus and that’s fine. I know Zack Sekoff produced on Big Fish Theory, which I also love. He cites Yeezus and 808s as inspirations. Donald Glover’s newest album has moments that remind me of Yeezus. Arca, TNGHT, Gesaffelstein, and Brodinski have all made good names for themselves and/or appeared on big name albums. Even if it isn’t directly impacting the style of rap music, I think Yeezus could alter (or maybe it already has altered) the way rappers or any musicians consider marketing their music or maybe they say “fuck radio” like Ye.

The Rankings

While admitting my thoughts and appreciation has changed for Yeezus more than ever, I’d be a liar if I said this album is among his first five. It’s solidified at number seven out of nine solo albums. If we include collaboration albums, it goes down to eight. The order of the six always seem to change.

As of today, his catalog is in this order:

1. College Dropout
2. MBDTF
3. Late Registration
4. Graduation
5. 808s and Heartbreaks
6. The Life of Pablo
7. Yeezus
8. Ye
9. Jesus Is King

Where is Yeezus ranked for you???

Owen: Probably around the bottom of his discography but still an ok album.

Kendra: It is toward the bottom for me. It is not one of those Kanye albums I really feel the need to revisit. If I had to rank Kanye’s albums, this would be my list: •Late Registration •College Dropout •MBDTF •Graduation •808’s •TLOP •Yeezus •Ye •Jesus is King

Kameron: I have Yeezus behind Late Registration, Graduation, College Dropout, MBDTF, and 808’s. It’s above The Life of Pablo, Ye, and Jesus Is King. So I have it sixth in his catalog but his top six albums are as good as anybody’s.

Mike: I would put it 5th.

EJ: Number 1.

Chip: An impossible and infuriating question to answer. This ranking is flawed, it is subjective, and it will change by tomorrow. 12. Ye 11. Jesus Is King 10. Cruel Summer 9. Kids See Ghosts 8. Watch The Throne 7. Graduation 6. Late Registration 5. The College Dropout 4. The Life of Pablo 3. Yeezus 2. 808’s and Heartbreak 1. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Matthew: It’s sitting right around five or six, depending on the day. The top four are occupied by Graduation, Late Registration, MBDTF, and Collge Dropout, in that order. The oscillation of its position just depends on how I feel about The Life of Pablo at the time. That’s not meant to be a slight.

Lawrence: Kanye has like 9 solo albums. Yeezus is cemented in the bottom third.

Doug: It’s easier for me to give my rankings of Kanye’s solo albums. CD > MBDTF > LR > Graduation > TLOP > 808s > Yeezus > Jesus Is King > Ye. If you want to include collabs: CD > MBDTF > LR > Graduation > WTT > TLOP > 808s > Cruel Summer > Yeezus > Jesus Is Born > Jesus Is King > Ye (I’m not listening to a Kid Cudi album ever so no Kids See Ghosts)

Caleb: My ranking of Kanye albums fluctuates frequently, doing that is even harder than ranking his songs for me. I think I’ll rank it in reverse order like this: 9. Jesus is King 8. ye 7. TLOP 6. 808s 5. Yeezus 4. Late Registration 3. College Dropout 2. Graduation 1. MBDTF

What am I Getting At?

I made a tweet on Kanye West’s birthday that said this:

Why did I do it? Partly to have fun on Twitter, engagements at work, gives me something to do. But also because I know polarizing Yeezus is with hip-hop fans. The strong opinions of these people give me perspective on how differently we all see this album. I can’t think of an album that tears people apart than this one. While this article was originally supposed to be from the perspective of me hating the album, it flipped on it’s head.

Yeezus is creative and chilling experience to anyone’s ears. While I still think this album has moments of forgettable tracks, rough lyrics and patchy concepts you have to give ‘Ye credit for even attempting this on the mainstream level he was at. Despite all of that from some people I got to be a part of this article, it is critically acclaimed across the board. It made just about every publications “best albums of…” list with Yeezus ranking first in most places. Pitchfork gave it a 9.5 for the love of sweet Yeezus (insert laughs).

I won’t say I have come full circle with the album as being in that “classic” tier, even though some believe it might as well be (@yoyotrav I’m speaking to you). However, a lot of tracks I have come to at the very least tolerate. “I’m In It” is a jam, all the songs I mentioned before amazing and he got Chief Keef on this album. He put Chicago rappers in the limelight, experimenting with electro while making trap very prevalent as well in the music. When you look at everyone’s responses, you can tell how polarizing Yeezus became. He also gave us the line “She asked me what I wished for on the wishlist/ Have you ever asked your bitch for other bitches?” so I should have cut him some slack.