Yeezus

Good but not in the upper echelon of his discography imo. Also obligatory fuck Kanye

Better than other his stuff

Fuck Kanye as a person. No respect to this fascist PoS. But as an artist he is just so great. I generally don't like hip-hop but love almost everything he produces

I’d like to attest right off the bat that Kanye West is a cunt. Nothing he has ever or will ever produce will detract in any way from what a cunt he is. Moving right along. I was curious to revisit this album because I hadn’t heard it in years. I remember thinking it was a masterpiece at the time. I can still see why I thought that and I can hear the artistry in every track. I can hear the obvious influence that this album has had in the years since. It’s impossible to ignore the trajectory that Kanye West has taken since then though and it puts a different complexion on some things: lines that I used to think were funny or sarcastic have curdled into something much harder to go along with. An artist is someone who tries to express their internal reality in a way that others can connect with. I think the album does that successfully. But Kanye’s internal reality is that of a total piece of shit so you don’t really want to hang out there for long.

No thanks.

Don't like the lyrics

Not my everyday jam but undeniably great.

Not my favourite of Kanye's stuff tbh I liked a very small handful of songs, the rest were alright - nothing amazing. Much prefer his other stuff 3 ⭐️

I don’t listen to nazis

Sorry but… still one of the most mind-blowing albums ever, to me. Like def one of the most important of my life time. Every single song is incredible and perfect and timeless! Some of my fav songs of all time here! Has risen to becoming my fav Kanye over the years, which is saying a lot!

Kinda deeply uncool but still one of my favourite albums and I am sorry

sorta interesting to think of as Kanye's response to chicago drill ... stripping down the noise and clutter and making a minimalist drill album lol while keeping his lyrics extremely maximalist. certainly one of the most formative albums of my lifetime, it was a true alignment of the planets that resulted in this album coming out when i was 16 years old... man, i forgot how hard New Slaves goes, i had to run it back at least 5 times... just one of the most raw and passionate albums of the century... it doesnt get much better than this... also just an aside, i do think this is unironically maybe the funniest album of all time? kanye's horny ass brain is just so impressively hilarious. some real deviant ass shit on this album

Lace of musical content makes this - like most rap - low quality and uninspiring.

Well… if my favorite part is the sampling, does that mean I like the song lol? Wish Kanye hadn’t gone off the deep end. I do think he’s talented. So idk what to give this. Musically it’s fine, bound2 is a banger.

I rather be a dick than a swallower!

Blood on the Leaves and Bound 2 best songs. Not nearly as good as other albums.

I just can't get behind this guy.

my first album on this journey that I actually heard when it dropped! hile yeezus was controversial, i was always a fan of the mood and the dynamic productions. Not my favourite kanye album i cant deny the impact this has had on my listening patterns and how many of this songs dominate my workout and other playlists .. the nina simone sample is specially beautiful

I think I've been turned off by Kanye's crazy for so long I sometimes forget he's actually a really good producer and occasionally a good lyricist. This album has its faults and dips into a bunch of played out tropes, but it also shows seemingly effortless understated production on tracks like "Hold My Liquor," "I'm In It," and "Blood on the Leaves." It's been a long time since I listened to much Kanye, and I'm surprised how much I enjoyed this. Most days this probably gets a 3 from me, but today it's a 4.

8/10 there are better projects by kanye but still innovative and influential as well

This stressed me out.

Kannski er maður of litaður af því sem hann stendur fyrir núna, en þetta er ekki fyrir mig.

even spannend als uitkijken naar de vogel die elke duizend jaar een zandkorrel van de berg komt verplaatsen... en het duurde zolang ook in mijn beleving...tot ik het opgaf...jammer van die ene ster nog

They say to put the art before the artist. But can’t with this kook. F..k this pos.

So incredibly bad. I think the language is supposed to be shocking but it’s just awful.

He's so repugnant

I’ve never been a Kanye guy but I enjoyed some of the songs here more than I expected. I like the insanity and aggression of it more when I realize that it’s sincere—he is actually insane.

Meh. Love early Kanye. This wasn’t my favorite. Just dragging the wealth-obsessed while declaring himself God. Good beats, especially Bound 2.

Inspirations include 1980’s “acid house”, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and “a single Le Corbusier lamp”. I love this album.

“As soon as they like you make them unlike you” sure got the crowd fucking hating this guy

Ik ga ff de persoon Kanye negeren. Want ja het is een idioot, maar jezus wat heeft deze man toch fantastische muziek gemaakt. Dit is misschien wel het meeste divisive Kanye album pre-Pablo, en dat komt toch vooral door de productie. Die is hard en rauw. Vooral op nummers als Black Skinhead en I am A God. Maar ik vind de productie dus absoluut fantastisch, het klinkt ontzettend futuristisch en dat kun je het beste zien aan het feit dat ondanks dat dit album uit 2013 komt het geen seconde gedateerd klinkt. Niet elk probeersel werkt op dit album, zeker niet, want sommige zijn mij ook iets te rauw en abstract, maar als het werkt werkt het ontzettend goed voor mij. Is dit 5 sterren? Ik denk echt net net net niet, het is een geweldig album, maar net niet een perfect album voor mij. Verdomme Kanye, waarom kon je niet normaal zijn? FAVO: Black Skinhead,I Am a god, New Slaves, Hold My Liquor, Blood on the leaves, Guilt Trip, Send it up, Bound 2

Pointless, self indulgent pap.

I’m struggling to put in words quite how shit this album is

Pretty good album, but fuck Kanye

4.0

A lot of people like this. I am not one of those people.

Where it all started going downhill for Ye. Someone get him those damn croissants, ffs.

Yeeeeeeeeeeah, no thanks. Daft Punk is my favourite artist, don't ask me about this.

Everyone trashing Kanye because they can’t get past him as a person or just generally don’t like hip hop are depriving themselves of so much inspired and influential art. There is SO MUCH to appreciate if you let yourself dig into his catalog. Also, with this album in particular, many are missing the fact that this album was supposed to be harsh and abrasive - that was literally his goal. I’ll admit it’s not exactly ear-candy, but it’s worth considering the context of the album: Two albums prior to Yeezus, Kanye was on the verge of being permanently cancelled for disrespecting Taylor Swift, America’s sweetheart. He went into seclusion while the critics (and even some fans) relished in the certain demise of his career. But Ye emerged from his hiding to release the masterpiece that is My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - arguably a top 5 of all time hip hop album. The record received near unanimous praise. Career saved. Back in the limelight and the good graces of the music industry and public at large. So what does an artist like Ye do? Well, he told us: “Soon as they like you, make them unlike you.” Instead of riding the high of MBDTF and enjoying his renewed image, Ye recoiled at the thought of being the music industry’s reformed black darling, after they had spurned him and left him for dead. He proved he *could* still do it, but had no interest in doing it again. Instead, he put out Yeezus which leaves the soaring melodies and choruses of MBDTF behind - way behind. It’s an intentionally harsh and abrasive album. One without any discernible single. It delivered a frantic, stuttering, and unflinching glance into the abyss that is Ye’s deepest, darkest, most depressed, aggressive, manic, and troubled psyche. Many didn’t “get it”, but for those that did, it was brilliant. This has never been my favorite Kanye album, and if you were to ask me prior to this listen what my rating will be, I wouldn’t have said 5. But listening again, with new ears and an open mind, it won me over. The brashness. The industrial quality. The beats. It all just works. 5/5 Highlights: Black Skinheah Hold My Liquor Blood On The Leaves

NOT INTERESTED

pussy pussy dick dick n n b b... and repeat

Musically I found it much more enjoyable than I thought I would. Kanye may be nuts but he’s got talented. Lyrically though the personal level of anger can be wearing - and I like angry heavy metal! But this feels so directly angry and specifically mean spirited and insulting it can be a bit exhausting. But I would listen to again.

Ugh

Yeezus, more overproduced noise. Kanye rest.

When it came out I was at the peak of my Kanye and hip-hop enjoyment, but it grew off me massively over time, mostly due to the terrible lyrics and the production feeling like a bad imitation of more interesting artists. There's some good moments spread throughout, and I enjoy the production more than i used to now, but it's still a rough listen.

Surprised but enjoyed it, one play only.

One of my favourite Kanye albums, great beats and samples. Wild lyrics.

I would have never believed me liking Kanye this much if anybody told me so, but here we are

I appreciate the attempt at minimalist production and the short runtime but this album just sounds lacklustre and unfinished. A lot of the tracks sound like rough mixes. Nowhere near as good as earlier Kanye albums.

Some of the greatest production on an album ever. Amazing lyrics, GODLY creativity, literally not a skip on the album. I love every song for a different reason. Thank you kanye Fav Songs: All of them, but especially On Sight and Blood on the Leaves

A very weak Hip-Hop album. Waste of good musical ideas, stupid superficial lyrics and ridiculous use of autotune. The sequence of tracks matched absolutely everything I hate in music.

Not a fan. I think he has conned people into thinking he is creative.

Not my type of Kanye

Yes, there are some very cringy lyrics as Kanye appears to have surrendered to his worst impulses but the production is incredible. The cracks are starting to show but still an album that holds up as singular and original.

I can’t rank him higher than 3 on shear principle of the matter. But also, i don’t love this one either.

I did not listen, I can no longer in good conscious listen to Kanye West. He is an antisemitic slavery apologist and spreads hateful disinformation. I understand his music is great, but I will not willing line the pockets of a bigot by streaming his music.

Thoughts before listening: This was about the point when I started ignoring Kanye. I like his earlier albums through My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy quite a bit, but this one was released around the time when Kanye the insufferable personality started to overshadow any enjoyment found in his music. I also find the title of this to be insulting and egotistical. Review: In general Kanye's sound on this album is less poppy with the backing tracks mainly using distorted, harsh, industrial sounding beats throughout. Also lots of autotune making Kanye's voice sound robotic and mechanical instead of organic. "Black Skinhead" is the best song here and also the only one I recognized on my listen through. I'll add that to the playlist, but I just don't have any interest in listening to most of these lyrics ever again. 2-stars

Oh man I don't even want to listen to this....... Unfortunately this is really good.

Nope zero stars

Kanye’s not a good person, but he’s a really good artist. And I’d consider this his worst album on the list.

Kanye has good, and maybe great albums. This is not one of them.

Honestly, the only negative here, albeit a large one, is the constant innundation of 9th grade humor and sexualy charged lyrics. Trust me I'm no prude, and I understand that hiphop is full of offensive language and I'm normally here for it. But this shit is the most vapid mindless garbage ever. This was the worst era of rap as well, whether or not Ye was at the top of that mountain. It's ashame too because the production seems right on par with earlier work, or at lease show evolution and growth. Every track is laced with original ideas, and different ones at that. No filler. I can still say I enjoyed Apocalypse 91 by Public Enemy (my previous album) better.

High variance.

I refuse to listen to Kanye.

Meh. This was the beginning of the end.

Mostly better without Kanye…

Was a 5 star for me when I first listened to it, barely a 3 now. How far he's fallen from SLOW JAMZ

The last Kanye record I cared about, and the one I care the least about. Although the James Franco-Seth Rogan parody of “Bound 2” is fantastic.

I played this one a lot when it was new. Overall pretty good but not his best. I’m not rating him as a person. But he makes some good music.

5/5

Overall- fine album. It really pales in comparison to early Kanye albums though- it really does seem like he was trying really hard at this point. It does have some bops though

Not for me

Don't like this

The most explosive Kanye album, and one of my favorites to listen to through its entirety. Hold My Liquor is in my top 5 Kanye songs. Standouts: everything but I’m A God and Send It Up.

this album, in my opinion, is where we can look at Kanye's career and point at where his sound really started to change. I guess we could use the word "evolve" here as well, but it's definitely a jumping off point from his previous work. While 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' (and 808 & Heartbreak) had moved away from his early chipmunk sound bites, Yeezus is a FAR jump away from the Kanye we had known at this point. Experimentation is good. I don't think any person that actively listens to an artist's discography will argue that. I like this album more than I did in 2013. I actually enjoy it a lot more. I used to really only 'Black Skinhead' and 'Blood on the Leaves'. I see myself listening to 'Hold my Liquor', 'On Sight' and 'Bound 2' more now. The sound on this album is definitely more abrasive. Without listening to Dissect, my guess is that Kanye was feeling on top of the world after his comeback with MBDTF. He literally feels like a God and that all of work is untouchable. I think where this album is the most difficult to swallow is the lyrics. After coming off a masterpiece that is MBDTF, for me the lyrics just fall flat. Some songs are better than others. 'Blood on the Leaves' with hints early in the album and a reference to an original Billie Holiday song are fantastic. However, I'm not really going to get past how stupid "Hurry up with my damn croissant" sounds. I think this album is always going to remain a place fans can point to when asked "when did Kanye really start to change". 3 stars. will have this more in the rotation and plan to listen to the Dissect season for it, but I don't consider this one of Kanye's best works

I distinctly remember listening to this when it came out and being like, this is the start of the fall for Kanye. The starting line of the new Kanye vs the old Kanye if u will. Originally I thought that was a bad thing but revisiting this I was shocked by how much I liked it. Some of these songs and beats go so freakin hard. There is zero “poppiness” to this album compared to his previous albums for better or worse for his fans. All the beats are very abrasive and in your face. There are a number of very provocative one liners, especially on new slaves, that isn’t just for happy go lucky type listening. The album really makes u pay attention. Came in expecting to give 3 or 4 but I can’t deny that I really liked it. Did not expect it to age better like this. Also i remember black skinhead playing in the wolf of Wall Street trailer and was so epic that i was like omg I have to see this movie.

I definitely thought I was going to rate this lower before I listened. The reality is that this is some of Kanye’s best production. Specifically Blood on the Leaves and Bound 2 are fantastic. Really it’s between a 3 and a 4. I am going to lean towards the 3 for this one because I do think college dropout has better songs overall.

I think I have better memories attached listening to this album for the very first time than I do the music itself. The day this released, same day as J. Cole’s Born Sinner by the way, I was on a road trip with Hayden to Wilmington. This is the same infamous trip where I would fall asleep during game seven of the NBA finals and Jackson would scream and run by the ocean at midnight to celebrate the Heat winning the title. I’ll never forget being a degenerate flying down the highway with the windows down, my long hair in a mess all over the place, smoke billowing out of the car, and the look on Hayden’s face while he was blitzed out of his mind absolutely astounded by the beat on New Slaves. What a weekend. We almost got ran over by a semi on that drive, saw Zac Brown Band, partied listening to Get Lucky and Blurred Lines all night on Franklin Street, and I met Tyler Hansbrough who wouldn’t take a picture with my drunk ass. All that being said, when people ask me if I like Kanye I tell them: “everything up to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is incredible, Yeezus has a few good songs, and I don’t care about the rest.” This still holds true. That and you can’t top a Kanye beat.

I'm a little behind on my Christian literature, but if I'm not mistaken, you're not supposed to refer to yourself as a god while talking to Jesus. I don't really like any of the songs, but they were intriguing enough to keep me engaged. The styles change so much throughout a song that it keeps you on your toes. It's a very interesting experimental album, but I'm not going to listen to it again.

Albumi #73, 09.10.2024 Kanye West ei putoa sitten yhtään.

I forgot all about this album. It’s great! I will say, though, that all of Kanye’s sex lyrics make him sound like a virgin.

A reminder of this man's talent.

Yeezus. That was Yit.

he's not a god, he's a very naughty boy

Damn. Imagine if Kanye is an ordinary electronic artist instead of a rapper with dumb shenanigans.

There's some really creative stuff here. It's better than I expected, though I know that this is generally considered the last masterpiece before the mess that was The Life of Pablo. I liked a lot of the beats and his flow was really good throughout. I can't stand most of his lyrics, unfortunately. The explicit nature of some pull me right out of the musical enjoyment. I would listen to this album again though.

Not my Genre but some very interesting lyrics. I listened to this on headphones whilst mowing my lawn so I didn't piss off my neighbours twice 😅

I just don’t think Kanye is a good rapper, nor does he have anything overly interesting to say on this. Put that together with the deliberately abrasive as fuck ear-rape production, and it’s not a good time. ‘New Slaves’, ‘Blood On The Leaves’ and ‘Bound 2’ are about the only tracks that are kind of ok, or at least listenable, but it’s a low bar.

Nogle af hans fedeste produktioner, men også med nogle virkelig bizarre kreative valg. Alene det at sample Strange Fruit på et nummer om hvor overfladiske ens bitches er når man er berømt får den ned på 4

Den her plade fra 2013s måske største navn lyder stadig mere avantgarde end 90% af indierap i dag, og den lyder også som om den opfandt hele genren. Vanvittig produceret. Kanye er ikke verdens bedste rapper, men han lyder bedre på New Slaves end han nogensinde ellers har gjort (selvom det er lidt svært at se en literal nazi milliardær som en eller anden slags borgerrettighedsforkæmper). "in the french ass restaurant, hurry up with my damn croissants!" - 5/5, absolut essentiel

Better than I thought. The first track was pretty annoying. I still like the Hudson Mohawke melody 😍

Turning point where his music was getting worse. Production is cool but music should be nice to listen to and this isn’t

interesting production Kanye got flow but he is so mad and filthy

Woo, Yeezus. One of the most challenging albums I’ve heard (and actually enjoyed). It doesn’t help matters that Kanye West himself has become a more challenging guy to appreciate than ever, but I’m going to set that aside for now and just focus on Yeezus in its own context, at least as much as I’m able to. From the start, Yeezus is disorienting and confrontational. That’s not to say it’s some completely uncommercial experimental album, but it’s also not designed to be a friendly listen. If 808s and Heartbreak was expanding who Kanye West could be and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was a celebration of his accomplishments, then Yeezus is a furious assault on his past work, his fanbase, and even himself. Try to ignore the comically excessive bragging and boasting on “I Am a God” and “New Slaves” and just listen. Does this sound like a guy who’s having a good time? Beneath the uber-horny hyper-masculine bluster, Yeezus contains a barrage of negative emotions: anger, paranoia, and resentment abound. It’s the most aggressively misogynistic album Kanye ever made (which is saying something) and the lyrics tend towards vulgarity more than any coherent theme, but honestly, that matches what’s going on here sonically. This is the psyche of a man enraged by the world he lives in, one where he’s shattered every barrier to success and still feels like a second-class citizen in his own country, without a single real friend or even a real peer. (Note the crushing loneliness of “I Am a God”—he’s so arrogant that it’s made him despondent.) Pretty much all he’s got left to say now is some variation of “fuck all y’all.” The music itself is in a continual feedback loop with the troubled emotional state of the songs, and it sounds like nothing Kanye had done before. It’s full of chopped-up electronic noise, grinding synths and guitars, eerily empty spaces, screams and roars shoved through AutoTune. By the time we finally reach some familiar territory in the chipmunk soul of “Bound 2,” the song almost feels like a cruel mockery of his old work, a final goodbye to the awkward guy in the pink polo that he started out as. Now we’re left with this snarling megalomaniac, lost in his own myth, endlessly chasing highs at the cost of his own family, and apparently in love with Hitler. You listen to this album and it really shouldn’t be a shock that Kanye turned into what he is, he’s always been almost *too* honest about himself—after all, his masterpiece, Runaway, is a self-pitying confession about what a bad person he is… but I digress. One thing I want to highlight is the way Kanye sometimes breaks the hostile environment with sudden and emotive interludes: see the children’s choir in “On Sight,” the arena-rock finale of “New Slaves,” or the gospel bridge of “Bound 2.” It’s hard for me to identify why these sections work so well for me, even though they’re usually completely out of step with the songs they’re included in. A reprieve from the harsh sound font of the album? A reminder that there’s still some light among the darkness? I just like the melodies? Maybe all of the above, but whatever the reason is, they’re among the album’s most memorable moments. Many of these songs live on contrasts, the switch between soft and sharp, and the execution of that idea is pretty great. I don’t love Yeezus. It would take someone made of tougher stuff than me to love an album with this many jagged edges, that goes out of its way to spit in your face so often. But I do admire it, because in a musical world increasingly defined by the monotony that the streaming economy rewards, Yeezus sticks out as a legitimately bold move. I can’t think of an artist today with the sort of stature that Kanye had in 2013 who would release something this intense and unusual. It isn’t my favorite Kanye album, but it probably represents his peak as an artist who commanded real respect and attention. Now he commands none of either, and that just makes Yeezus even more of a feel-bad album than it already was. Would be a shame if he didn’t deserve it. Best song: Blood on the Leaves

Not a fan of the man. My kids both love his stuff. I saw him open for U2 on his first tour, he was entertaining, just him, a mic and a boombox with backbeats circa 2000. I went in open minded so I could give this a listen in its entirety... Interesting electronic intro but then his unappealing voice kicks in and my open mindedness went out the window. He just sounds pissed and I listen to music to rock out, or get into a groove or chill, his voice makes the muscles in my neck tighten up. Maybe I'm too old, I just don't get him but apparently lots of people do, there are 600M listens to "Black Skinhead" and 1B for "Bound 2", wtf?! "I Am A God" speaks to his mentality and contributes to my unflattering view of him as a person. I know from college tailgates that he rules their airwaves but I'll never be a fan. I just find him angry and unenjoyable. Top 1001 for influence and pop culture maybe, but not cause it's good to listen to.

I do not support nazis. But I wonder why the same people that claim they won’t listen to Kanye because he is a nazi never seem to draw the same line when it comes to David Bowie (https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/david-bowie-fascist-1970s/). Kanye West is clearly dealing with mental illness and drug addiction. He is also clearly very talented and ambitious and funny and clever and charismatic. I think this album is worth hearing despite the fact that I do not agree with Kanye’s recent statements related to basically everything.

It starts strong but kind of trails off at the end.

I liked this better at the time than I do now on relisten. I think some of that may have to do with how Kayne has gone off the deep end in recent years. However, it might still be my favorite Kanye album. 4/5

Loved Kanye for first 4 albums....then this....

"According to his new album, "Yeezus", Kanye West is a god. As if I needed more reasons to be an atheist" I went into listening to this album with a lot of preconceptions. I wasn't a big fan of Kanye's previous albums, and his controversial political statements and behavior also put me off. Additionally, I'd heard from many fans that they didn't like this album when it first was released. However, when I actually listened to it, I was blown away by the first four tracks. The power and intensity of those songs, the way Kanye expresses himself, and the industrial beats were all incredibly impressive. I was really excited about where the album was heading. Unfortunately, the album's quality didn't stay consistent after the first few tracks. The lyrics became simplistic, and the autotune usage felt overused and weak. It was disappointing and really devolved into nothingness in the end. Overall, though, this was the first time I truly understood why Kanye is viewed as a complex figure, a genius wrapped in idiot.

Yeezus is Kanye West's sixth studio album, which was met with considerable critical acclaim, as "brash" and "experimental." These songs are slightly more melodic than most rap, but still not very melodic. What some may call brash, others may call jarring, and generally unpleasant. The lyrics are the rants of a self-absorbed adolescent. He is offensively sexist, bitter, and paranoid. Where many see a "artistic genius reinventing himself," others may see the ranting of a person that may not be worth listening to.

I don't listen to music by Nazis.

not wasting my time with this

goes with the crazy

Nah, I'm out on this one.

Him being an ego manic, nazi asshole aside, this just isn’t very good and I cannot understand why people think he’s worth listening too

We've reached the experimental era of Kanye's music. I thought this album was ok, too extreme for my taste and thought that it has high highs and low lows. Love "Bound 2" more than anything else though a few others were really solid and reminiscent of what his music was prior to this album. Unfortunately, had to take away a star because in between the good songs is... not good. 7/10

Yeezus is a really good drinking album. All of the Kanye album’s I’ve listened to have been really good for drinking to. Is Kanye a really good drinking artist? His topics of thought certainly jump around in the same way mine does when I drink, and just when I’m thinking in general. I really shouldn’t find Kanye as relatable as I do. And for the first time, the ADHD feeling of the topics is replicated by the beats, which jump around and switch up in an almost schizophrenic, but completely absorbing way. God, am I a Kanye fan? I thought I was woke, but man with this and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, I’m completely compelled. I’m fascinated by everything this man does. Fuck

not for me this one

YEEZY SZN APPROACHING

Is it me or are most Ye albums about a variety of things? Including his penis, sure, but this feels like an exclusive topic on this album

Right, another Kanye album... OK first, we have to start with the man himself. He's an egotistical racist and seems pretty unstable. Some song titles remind me a little too much of Kanye the man. 'I Am A God' is obviously how he sees himself. 'Black Skinhead' is how the rest of us see him. This is only the second album I've heard by Kanye, the first being \"College Dropout', which was ok but not good enough to ignore his antics. The thing is, if I'm going to try to separate the art from the artist, 'Yeezus' is actually pretty damn good! It's bound, abrasive, experimental and it doesn't quite sound like anything else out there. For the list of collaborators alone, it would make me sit and take notice. Daft Punk, Arca,, Hudson Mohawke, Lupe Fiasco, Rick Rubin. Clearly not everyone's cup of tea but I have to admire artists who can risk their fan base to make something truly different and exciting. This puts me in the uncomfortable position of actually enjoying a Kanye West album. Had he been a different person, this would be an easy 5 stars but I have a really hard accepting that for such an outspoken Nazi.

Overproduced autotune shit but there is some inspiration in here. Stand-out: Hold My Liquor

Kanye has albums that deserve a spot on this list but I Yeezus ain’t one of them. What a sloppy mess this is. Black Skinhead is ridiculous but also great but every other track is a mess. So much random patois peppered in here with shit lines, this sucks. 2 stars

Had stopped listening to KW after MBDTW so this album is new to me. Lyrics are horrible, but the music and production and choice of samples are all very inventive. My vote for 4 stars is for the album as it was released in 2013 (before the KW's downward spiral).

Absolutely terrible.

This is less accessible than some of his earlier albums and it required a few spins to acknowledge its greatness.

It was okay. College dropout and late registration clear this by a good bit. 3.5/5 rounded down.

no

Alright, this is the first Kanye album I've decided to seek out and listen to since the first of several incidents in late 2022, meaning this is the first time I've listened to him intentionally in two whole years. So, I have to make it clear, as I tend to do with artists with utterly deplorable views, I've had to access this album through certain means. I'm not giving this man even a small fraction of a dollar for a stream. With that out of the way, there was once a time when I adored this album, it utterly floored me on first listen. While I was familiar with artists like Danny Brown at the time, I'd only really dipped my toes into the genre of experimental hip-hop at the time. To be quite honest, I think it's a good thing that an album like this was as popular as it was in 2013. It's extremely forward-thinking at times and while it's definitely not as impressive as I once thought it was (go and listen to Dälek's debut album - the song "Forever Close My Eyes" is one of the best things I've ever heard, and it came out in 2002), it's certainly nothing like what you would've heard on the charts at the time. The album immediately hits you with the most formless song on there, "On Sight". In case you weren't already of what you were in for with this album, this song makes it clear. This streak only goes on, with "Black Skinhead", "New Slaves" and "Hold My Liquor" being highlights on the album. That being said, a song like "I'm In It" is straight up embarrassing at points. It sounds like it's building up to a really interesting soundscape, only to hit you with trap hi-hats, which on their own would be fine but then you notice it. The dog barking sound effect in the background. Surely this can't be real, right? It is. It would be the most embarrassing moment from the first ten years of his music, though the entirety of "Drunk and Hot Girls" has a much better case for this. "Blood On the Leaves" is a jarring song, with the main sample being Nina Simone's version of Billie Holiday's track of the same name. A song whose impact is as arresting as that being paired with trap horns is an interesting choice, but somehow convinces me of the emotion Kanye bears during the course of the song. I don't necessarily like listening to it, but I at the very least understand the intention here. It feels poorly-handled though. This album is fairly conscious at times, particularly on "Black Skinhead" and "New Slaves", and while they don't say anything nearly as significant as what Kendrick Lamar was doing a year prior in terms of bringing consciousness back to mainstream hip-hop, the use of that particular sample just feels so out of place. As for the rest of the tracklist, "Guilt Trip" is pretty, "Send It Up" is fine, and "Bound 2" is beloved by many but not by me, though I do think it's very, very good regardless. This album no longer has the same impact on me that it might have had when I was 17 years old, but as a piece of music, it's still very good regardless. 8.5/10

Maybe a fabulous album. But I will never listen to it. And Fuck Kanye.

Such a bummer that people can't separate art from the person. Kanye is wacky as fuck but he's a musical genius. Absolute master of sampling and integrating them. Bound 2 is on repeat.

I once liked Kanye, but then when he became awful I removed all his music from my playlists. I think this album came out around the point I made a decision to stop listening to him so I haven't really heard it before. The thing is, while I don't like his lyrics or him at all, the music itself appeals to me so I'll give him a star for that. He's obviously already losing the plot in this album though. Rating: 2

Not bad despite the fact that I don’t like him as a person.

Let's be real, this is where he fell off. Could good tracks but nothing from his golden era.

2 because I knew a few songs that were alright. 0 for referring to Asian lady bits as sweet and sour sauce

This was an album I was only aware of cos it was everywhere. I was a huge Kanye West fan ("The College Dropout" being one of the first rap albums I remember loving), but by this point I remember having fallen off of him. On reflection, I found this record "interesting", but "interesting" does not necessarily mean "good". I love the dark, industrial production on this thing, but it does mean that most of the guests Kanye gets (Beenie Man and Assassin, to point to two specifically) don't fit well on the album and sound... outmatched by the beats. I'd argue the second half of the record is entirely not great, aside from *maybe* "Bound 2". "Blood On the Leaves" is, in my opinion, two samples trying to blend together (Nina Simone's "Strange Fruit" and an EDM sample from a group called TNGHT) that just never makes any sense. Kanye's lyrical ability is also the weakest to an album thus far; he is *obsessed* (and I mean *obsessed*) with sex on this one, so much so that, mixed with the grimy beats, almost feels violent. Near the end of the disc, he also tries to end the line with the same rhyme ("club" is one, and... "reputation", had to look it up) while changing up the interior rhyme and... it just doesn't work. It feels lazy. As I said at the top, it's an "interesting" album that I'm tempted to bump up an extra star, but just can't really bring myself to do that with so many missteps. Favorite tracks: "New Slaves", "Hold My Liquor"

He's catchy though this isn't my favorite. 3s.

My first Kanye album of the list so should preface by saying, he is a racist scumbag and a very bad person. I'm judging on my own enjoyment though so with some guilt I gave Yeezus 5* It's really a creative behemoth.. a relatively short running time of 40 minutes has so much invention and ideas that it beggars belief. Really it's the greatest demonstration of West's range of talent, he's more than just a rapper. Some of the production is just visceral and drills into you, this album is an experience. It's a little disjointed with some songs having quite disparate sections, but he's a creative force Still a dickhead though

- i hate this guy

The first dip. It's still great but a definite fall from MBDTF.

Top 3 Kanye album for me, however I remember hating it when it first came out.

Yeezus really shows flashes of that Kanye brilliance we all know. While I'm sure this album was controversial when it came out, it revolutionized aspects of music production. The unique use of samples, 808s, and experimental sounds created room for new producers like JPEGMAFIA. The best examples of interesting production come from On Sight and Bound 2, but almost every song is very creative. Other songs like Black Skinhead and New Slaves are big highlights. Send It Up is by far the worst song on this album though. It's sad to see what Kanye was 10 years ago vs. what he has put out over the last few years. You can tell he just doesn't care as much anymore and has grown to be even more gross :( Best Songs: Black Skinhead, New Slaves, Bound 2

Every time a Kanye album comes up I'm now expecting to enjoy it more than I expected. This started the same way, fascinating audio, inventive production, but seriously drifted off halfway through and really hit the bricks on I'm In It. Blood on the Leaves doesn't land for me, a waste of the Nina sample. I do not like the autotune gubbins. Is he responsible for that whole movement of tuneless autotuned rambling hip hop that my neighbours insist on playing? That's a serious misdemeanor. Bound 2 is ok but it doesn't recapture the unexpected joy I found in his earlier albums' excellent sampling of old soul records. Ultimately, it starts off abrasive and interesting but gets oddly boring for me.

Abrasive. I didn't get into this so much at the time. I rated '...Dark Twisted Fantasy' much more as a record but, with hindsight, this is also close to bringing the Ye-game. The sense I get from Kanye is that despite always acting hard, he's essentially a soft lad, full of yearning. Aside from his well publicised foibles and troubles, it makes him an oddly compelling character. The musical landscape always feels more interesting when he's releasing his better material.

Deeply caustic and angry, but the music is clever, inventive, always changing, never settling. In a certain way, despite the criticism, this might be Ye at his most hip hop yet.

Bold, adventurous and VERY experimental, Kanye uses a multitude of abstract sounds and samples to create a concept album that shows the side of the rich and lavish lifestyle that's not so glamourous. Ranging from soulless sex to eccentric narcissism, to a more vulnerable, softer side of one of the world's most contriversial rapper, Yeezus is an experience unlike a lot of albums. It feels raw and barebones, even the album cover shows a blank jewel case with a slip of red tape and a CD. Tracks like New Slaves tackle issues like corporate america and the system's racism against black people, while Blood On The Leaves touches on the injustices in a failing relationship. Bound 2 closes the album on a low, calm, accepting note where Kanye finds real love and peace with himself. Coincidentally, it uses the same sample as A BOY IS A GUN*, on Tyler, The Creator's album IGOR releasing in 2019, 6 years after Bound 2. Overall, a must listen for any hip-hop fan or anyone willing to jump into a more abstract side of Kanye's discography.

I will just post some of the lyrics. Nothing else needed: "Uh, black girl sippin' white wine Put my fist in her like a civil rights sign (WTF?!!) And grabbed it with a slight grind And held it 'til the right time Then she came like AAAAAHHH!"

I like posh white girl music. But I don't think this album is his best work. I like his newer stuff better as it is less angry.

Kan-ye or Kan-nay? Honestly, had a laugh listening to this album, and black skinhead is a cool song. I was entertained by his stupidity.

Yeah no

album has some really great hits, some were already in my liked songs on Spotify. But the whole album from start to bottom is quite difficult to bear 😂

Way less bad than I thought... lyrics are horrible though

I didn’t know music could get on my nerves like this. First time I had to call it quits on an album, and that after just five insufferable minutes.

Listened to a lot before. Big fan.

72% Best: Black Skinhead, I'm In It, Blood On The Leaves, Bound 2 Must-Hear? No

A bold and dark turn which foreshadows the power of Kanye and an inevitable downfall.

Did not like this 2 stars

Get ekki einu sinni reynt að pína mig í gegnum þetta. Leiðindadrasl frá leiðindadraslgaur.

Surprising

Perfect album

Kanye is a shithead, and his music isn't as good as people give him credit for.

Deuxième album de cet artiste. J'ai détesté le premier morceau, une vrai agression pour mes oreilles. J'ai laissé 2 autres chances, mais sans succès. J'ai arrêté au milieu du 3eme morceau. Et dire qu'il y en a encore d'autres albums de KW dans la liste ... => 1/5

Kanye West is a toilet of a person, but I can't deny that this is one of the wildest and most intense albums ever released by an artist at his level of popularity. Respect to the game, not the player

Not for me.

I remember this record being a massive departure from Kanye's previous work and I honestly didn't care for it much at the time. 11 years later and this is still a tough listen. I mean, right from the start you're greeted with electronic and industrial "beats" WILDLY differing from what you've heard in the Dropout Bear trilogy or even "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" just a few years prior. This continues all throughout and mix that with Kanye's extra-abrasive and brash lyrics, and it all becomes a bit too much sonically. Kanye was always one to strive for greatness and reach for the stars from a production standpoint, and he certainly reached some high highs in his first five studio albums (plus "Watch The Throne" if you wanna count that), but I was never into this one. Drill and trap music have never really been my thing and my tastes were certainly not swayed after this recent listen.

Wow... I thought this was going to be my first 5/5 Kanye record. This record was awesome despite the final track... That track makes no sense for this record. The other songs are dark and heavy that last song is just typical Kanye. He really had something going until that last track. Oh well. Despite the last song, which happens to be the single off the record... You know that one with Kim Kardashian?theyfe in a motorcycle together? How cringey is was? But the song in itself, lyrics, beats, are just brutal. Too bad. Could've had a 5/5 from a non Kanye fan. That being said, I'd listen to this again.

I heaved a great big sigh when I opened the generator today and saw this familiar disc staring back at me. The artist formerly known as Kanye West got me to begin listening to hip-hop. He made albums that I loved, and, for a while at least, was at least an interesting and bombastic public figure. Now he's just some asshole who hates Jewish people and mistreats women, refuses to meaningfully address his bipolar disorder, and makes unfinished music. He's forever scarred by the death of his mother and the subsequent long, long downward spiral has been awful to watch. I kept thinking he couldn't get any lower and yet he continued sinking. The last time he made music I really loved was 2016. It's a fucking shame. I loved 'Yeezus' and I know a lot of people who loved 'Yeezus'. It's one of the few albums I remember hearing for the first time: where I was and what I was doing, how I talked about it with my friends. It felt explosive and confrontational and fresh. Now I'm face to face with it again in 2024 and don't know how to rate it or what to say. It's hard to separate art from the artist when they have always been intertwined, tightly, with West. The bad lyrics on this thing (there are plenty) stand out more and are harder to forgive. Back then it came off as corny and funny; now it's embarrassing. In 2013, this was a 5/5 for me. "Blood on the Leaves" was one of my favorite songs ever, once. The SNL performance of "Black Skinhead" gave me chills. I put "Hold My Liquor" on repeat in college when I was deep in my feelings and unwilling to deal with it. That was then, this is now. And I do have to admit that I like this a great deal less.

If marmite was an album. Kanye’s second best. 9/10

this was a banger of an album, this is a great opener to experimental rap music for people who aren’t familiar with it, it’s a great sounding album with some great tracks, the end of new slaves really doesn’t get old

Yeezus finds Kanye West at his most abrasive, experimental, and confrontational. Instead of the polished sound of his earlier work, he tears everything down and rebuilds with industrial beats, jagged synths, and an almost complete refusal to compromise. The ambition is obvious, and there are moments of brilliance, but the chaos does not always come together into something cohesive or worth replaying often. “Black Skinhead” stands out as the closest thing to a traditional banger, pounding forward with explosive drums and snarling energy. It is the track that best captures the album’s intensity. “New Slaves” also delivers, pairing stripped-down production with biting social commentary that makes it one of the more powerful cuts here. In the end, Yeezus feels more like a statement than a record built for repeat listens. Bold, daring, and undeniably influential, but not consistently enjoyable from start to finish. Favorite Song: “Black Skinhead”

Compared to MBDTF, it sounds much less grand and cohesive. Very conflicting and tough to rate. I really like the dark industrial sound, and just about every track has at least one good moment, but the lyrics and themes are frequently gross. Even where I like this album, I feel guilty about it - like the whole thing feels too crude. I was much more willing to overlook these things years ago when I first heard it, and I’m now I’m finding it harder to justify. With MBDTF, I was willing to let nostalgia influence my judgement; here, my view is less clouded by sentiment (although it’s still an album I’ve listened to and enjoyed more than once). Being obligated to assign this a rating, I’m giving it a 3…but I don’t know. I’m not sure how I feel about this one.

I'm not listening to this narcissistic waste of human flesh, no matter how "influential" his music is. Kanye West is an influencer to the decline of civilized society and nothing more.

Nope, Nope, Nope. I don't care for certain people's music, but they are awesome individuals. This guy, no respect will come from me. I hope he has gotten the mental help he so desperately needs. If he does then maybe

I don't think I'll ever understand the appeal of this guy

Fuck nazis, fuck Kanye, all that good stuff. He's a garbage, self-serving, pretentious human being who would do anything to get media attention. I don't really care what he truly believes, as it's not worth my time. But yeah, this album is timeless. The finale of Hold My Liquor alone is enough to set this above most other 2010s records.

Yeezus is the pinnacle of Kanye’s career, one of the greatest left turns in all of music history, and my all-time favorite rap record.

Listening to Yeezus was an extraordinary rendition to a Bosch landscape remade as a Looney Tunes cartoon, but run through a distortion pedal. I hadn’t knowingly heard West’s work apart from the video with Will Oldham and Zack G, and I know enough about him to have readied the sick bucket over this record, but from the first sound this took me. The sex lyrics are always puerile, but many lines - including the dumb ones - will stay with me. This almost made me fall off my bike: “I am a God So hurry up with my damn massage In a French-ass restaurant Hurry up with my damn croissants” He’s said some horrible things and is a jerk. But he isn’t well, and parts of this might support that. Will Oldham, a decent fellow, recently recommended an early Kanye record, adding “I will not engage, in this post, with the horrors of mental illness.”

I've sat through some real Kanye dreck already on this list, but surprised myself by quite enjoying this. A bit harsh and experimental but so fast moving that it's always interesting and unsettling. Can't decide if "Blood On The Leaves' is a post-modern masterpiece or self-centered travesty, which sums up what little I know of Mr West quite well. I remember Lou Reed evangelizing this, and who am I to argue?

"I encourage you to do the same when a Kanye record gets generated for you: Find an album you love from a Jewish artist and stream that instead." lmaoooo his struggle Very good album from the beats to the flows. Can't say I liked everything on it just because of the autotuned songs.

Ahead of its time and leagues more listenable, likeable and enjoyable than probably 90% of albums on this list. Incredibly mid in comparison to TLoP but that's an unfair comparison given how good TLoP is

Amazing album that still sounds futuristic! Hugely influential, sparking a new genre! 5/5

4/5 Yeezus has great highs, but lacks real consistency, with a particularly weak stretch of tracks on the back end. Send It Up is a painfully irritating listen to say the least. Kanye's writing is pretty poor throughout, and often only just saved by the intense instrumentals. However, the album does have amazing moments. The best points are the most lush, packed with vocals and instrumentation, such as the gorgeous New Slaves outro, or the fantastic Bound 2, but the simplicity and minimalist production can also be effective, shown by the enjoyable I Am A God. On Sight 4/5 Black Skinhead 5/5 I Am A God 5/5 New Slaves 5/5 Hold My Liquor 4.5/5 I'm In It 2/5 (LEAST FAV) Blood On The Leaves 3.5/5 Guilt Trip 2.5/5 Send It Up 1/5 Bound 2 5/5 (FAV)

The first few songs were hard to listen to, then it got more experimental and thus interesting and more listenable. I don't like the excessive profanity and that it is such a vulgar album, though. Overall it's not something I would listen to again but I appreciate his talent and that he experimented a lot. Fun fact: In New Slaves's conclusion/outro, Kanye used a sample from one of the most iconic songs behind the Iron Curtain/in Eastern Europe, 'Pearl haired girl' (Gyöngyhajú lány) from 1969 by Hungarian band Omega. It is the highlight in New Slaves. Kanye didn't get the permission to use the simple so he got sued by the songwriter and they settled the case outside the court later. This is probably the closest we'll get to a Hungarian band on this list (my home country), it's a shame because this list hasn't contained any Eastern European bands so far even if there are tons of great albums from there.

Most influential rapper of the century. Reinvented rap + brought an entirely new audience into the genre. Most of the most famous rap/hiphop artists today influenced by him etc. etc. I don't like this album. Maybe because it's one of his least approachable, tho I do like other artists with aggressive, jagged beats like peggy and injury reserve.

I don't like the person and I don't like the music.

I'm having a hard time putting into words my reaction to this album. It feels very much of its time. Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid, m.A.A.d City came out the year before and you can hear the impact it had. This is a super horny album. This is the first album after he started dating Kim Kardashian. I don't know if there's a connection but he can't stop talking about or making sex references. A lot of "noise music" on this album...not appealing. I like his earlier work much better. Kanye has gotten really weird.

I remember listening to this album when it first came out, and my opinion is still pretty much the same. I appreciate the innovative and experimental approach, especially with electronic music. However, this experimentation sometimes results in an overly produced sound, where the complexity and layering of elements can overshadow the core simplicity of the music. There needs to be a balance between experimental creativity and maintaining simplicity; otherwise, the excessive production becomes a distraction of its own. As for Kanye himself and the lyrics, there’s no denying that he’s a talented rapper. Even though I would love to hate on him, I have to admit he has had a handful of songs over the years that I enjoyed. One of my favorites is “American Boy” by Estelle. He’s so suave on that track. But on the flip side, most of his lyrics are so brash, hubristic, egotistical, and arrogant, and on this album, he displays all of those characteristics as if they were on steroids. This is why all of his behavior and the hate he’s received over the last 10 years, I take it all with a grain of salt. Wherever the excitement or drama happens to be, Kanye is going to throw himself right in the middle of it, like a monkey in a cage shaking the bars. He thrives on chaos and always dives headfirst into the middle of the drama, drawing all eyes to his wild and uncontrollable antics.

Einfach nein. 1 Stern ist schon mehr, als ich geben möchte.

Not even listening to this fool just in case he gets the $0.0003 for it.

i don’t care why this is supposed to be so good

This is my 2nd Kanye album on the list. I still fail to understand why this guy is popular. His rapping is mediocre at best. Lyrically it's all very silly, every song Kanye let's us know what he's going to do with his dick or what Kanye wants done to his dick. All the lyrics sound like they were written by a 7th grade boy who just started puberty.

Ehhhh… I liked his earlier stuff, I never got into this one. So narcissistic.

Of course I had to know this Kanye West album would appear at some point. Knowing that did not make it any easier to listen to. It is hard to know whether this is blunt, aggressive social commentary or just a reflection of who he is. While I do see the creative elements and hear the sound that crosses genres and pushes boundaries, this is still not my thing.

I won’t put myself through any more of this narcissistic losers music. 1/10

I remember way more of this record than I thought I would. I remember not being as in to it after MBDTF, but really enjoyed revisiting this in light of the Kanye has shifted in the public consciousness. Just an all around solid record.

Thank you Kanye gor saving my life Top 30 album for me Top 5 Kanye Not Ye But Kanye Omari West

63/100

Not my jam…..at all. I like some hip hop but it is really hard for me to separate the man from the artist. And I can’t stand the man. Can we get behind writing songs that portray woman as something to use and conquer? The misogyny on this and many albums makes me ill. I will never listen to this album again and will continue to avoid listening to him.

This is the music equivalent of a dumb person trying to sound really smart Favourite line: “hurry up with my damn croissants”

"Soon as I pull up and park the Benz We get this bitch shaking like Parkinson's" "That's when David Grutman kicked her out But I got her back in and put my dick in her mouth" Unbeatable lyrical genius. The best part of the album was when it ended and spotify autoplayed DANGERDOOM.

Oh, Kanye. But this is a great album. I listened twice.

Maybe his 7th best album......his faith got in the way of his mental health.

It's a bit hard to write an unbiased Kanye review in 2024, and of course the first album of his I get is the one that's probably his most abrasive and unconventional. At best, I'd describe myself as a casual fan of Kanye's music (really, less a fan and more someone who's just been exposed to the hits at college parties and whatnot). I know a bit from his earlier albums, and I guess he started off as kind of an underdog story type of deal, with music that's generally pretty approachable. This is not that. At this point though he's at peak fame, and it's clearly gotten to his head (though he's not quite at the Antonio Brown levels of crazy that he seems to be at now). I'm not very deep into the Kanye lore, so I'm not going to overanalyze this, there's been plenty written about him. This thing is very experimental and abrasive. I have real mixed feelings to be honest. I came into this thinking terrible things about Kanye and expecting to not like this at all (it's called 'Yeezus' after all, he's clearly so far up his own ass). But honestly, I kind of liked it, I get the appeal. It has this harsh industrial sound throughout, but he does it in a way that generally works, and intersperses samples and verses that hook you in. What I'm struggling with is that I think this has like three top-tier songs ("Blood on the Leaves", "Black Skinhead", and "Hold My Liquor"), two decent songs ("New Slaves" and "Bound 2") and 5 really mediocre-to-bad songs. How do I rate that? This is definitely not my favorite thing ever, and I think Rick Rubin saved his ass by cutting it down from 16 songs to 10. When it hits it hits though. Also, I know he has a great reputation as a lyricist, but I wasn't blown away on this one. Even on the better songs the lyrics are often so abrasive that it makes it a bit tough to get into. This is probably the most negative "positive" review that I've written, but it kind of makes sense for this album. He's this incredibly unlikeable guy doing some crazy experimental industrial/electronic/alt-rap thing. I should hate this. I'm only adding half the songs to my playlist. But idk, something about it kind of works. My original feeling was 4 stars but I just think that's too high for an album where I disliked half the songs. Dropping to a 3, though it's probably more of a 3.5 to me. Favorite song: Blood On The Leaves Other: Black Skinhead, New Slaves, Hold My Liquor, Bound 2 6/23/24

I refuse to listen to this fucking Nazi piece of shit.

It used to be easy to hear this as a creative exploration of the wild persona formed by the combination of American racism and cult of celebrity, a look at the bipolar contradictory pressures placed on Black artists in particular. He's funny: Proclaiming 'I am a god' to demand being satisfied with the most banal desires like croissants. He's poignant: tender gospel harmonies run through autotune testify to personal and family suffering, substance abuse and more. But he's so stupid: it turns out this wasn't an incisive skewering of megalomania, but just the early stages of it - a man driven into chaos by the structural conditions of the idiotic attention economy he used to be smart enough to observe but now, like so many, just exists in reaction to. The sound of the album is great - rich but spare, the beats the drops the samples and the textures all work perfectly together to create a dark introspective mood for the vocals to lash out against with extremely non-reflexive lyrics that just excrete straight from the id. The pairing of a sample of strange fruit about lynching with verses about issues with his wife and beef with his rivals shows how he transmutes structural critique into rationale for interpersonal self serving ego serving self justification.

There's some good instrumental potential here, yet there's also a lot of self-sabotage (mostly in Kanye's vocal performance) preventing certain tracks from being sonic masterpieces. The few times when singing is present, it's often heavily autotuned – to its detriment – and the synths, while great, are frequently interweaved nondescript rapping vocals and weak lyrics. I'm judging these lyrics on relatability and depth, and in general the lyrics on Yeezus have neither. On Sight: intense and reasonably catchy synths back a fairly nondescript rap vocal. Weird choral interlude makes the track a lot less accessible. This track definitely starts the album with something new and creative, but does it sound good? Not particularly. When the track ended, I found myself letting out a sigh of relief. Note the heavy use of very brief silences, which is also seen throughout the rest of the album. Black Skinhead: The percussive rhythm here is very strong. Consistent, brutal, paralysing. There's a sudden-mute sound that reminds me of the drumming on David Bowie's "Low", an album that was revered (in part) for its revolutionary drumming. Not a fan of the artificial clapping though, and I'd like to hear some more human-played instruments. Kanye's voice isn't that good, and incredibly non-distinct from contemporaries, so I'm interested to see if he varies his enunciation or maybe introduces more vocalists. I Am A God: A bit fever-dream-ish. Lots of little details to keep the listener engaged. I'm also noticing at this point that (possibly due to nearly 100% electric instrumentation) the textures are quite thin. The screaming towards the end is a bit off-putting, as is the narcissistic theme, but I'll let it slide. New Slaves: the melodic theme is good. Foreboding, impatient, menacing. Everything else about the track is pretty mediocre until the section with the radio-filter singing, which approaching soul territory (with just a hint of shoegaze). Here, the music quality drastically improves. I could listen to a whole album of the last 90 seconds of this song. Hold My Liquor: God, the synths behind Kanye's voice are so darn good in this track. Melty psychedelic electric guitars intermingling with one another over a restless, dronelike low synth line. Kanye's voice actually kind of gets in the way of an otherwise brilliant instrumental track. I'm In It: The lyrics here are pretty gross ("Eatin' Asian pussy, all I need was sweet and sour sauce"? Seriously?), and there isn't much else going on. At least we're introduced to a different vocalist/rapper, this time with a solid and distinctive voice, but that doesn't improve the track much. And, in contrast to the previous track, the instrumental never settles on anything convincing. Generally a weaker song. Blood On The Leaves: It takes some guts to sample Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit. It had better justify itself with good music. In fact, the track starts off promising, with some (ridiculously) intense horn-synths punctuating some fun electronic harmonising. I can't even tell if the female vocal in the chorus is a human or not. Unfortunately, the track is severely tarnished by the autotune on Kanye's singing. Guilt Trip: the retro video game noises get old really quickly, leaving us with nonsensical lyrics and repetitive electronic percussion. Somehow the "dem a gwaan" section is the strongest and most memorable part of the song, and it's not particularly appealing. A throwaway track. Send It Up: The vocals here, while being monotone, match reasonably well with the chord in the synths, making them stronger than most other tracks. The "security breach" noise that defines the track is a little grating, and substantially took away from my enjoyment. Bound 2: the (texturally) thickest and most musical backing of any of the tracks. I feel that singing, rather than rapping, would've meshed much better with the childlike multipart harmonies. Still, this was a pretty good way to end the album. The singing breaks are clearly rooted strongly in soul-pop, and they serve as fun interludes. One of the strongest tracks. 2/5 Key tracks: Black Skinhead, New Slaves (second half), Bound 2

best kanye album

I can't handle no liquor But these bitches can't handle me

6/5 stars. Perfect Juneteenth album rec. This should be top 10 albums anybody should listen to before they die, and as they die, and after they die. Yeezy season approachin'.

never been the biggest kanye fan but this is the best thing ive heard from him since its noisier. most of it still bores me though so it gets a 6/10

I had a hard time with the unnecessary profanity... That, and the terrible clash between the rhythm of the lyric and the backing music.

really enjoyed the beginning few tracks but didn't enjoy the end so much

I thought it was good, obviously obscene, but there was definitely groove

Ik ben een bewonderaar van Kanye. Wat je ook van hem vindt, je komt er niet onderuit dat hij een gestoorde genie is met oor voor geweldige samples, hype-muziek, sterke en grappige bars, maar ook een narcist met een enorme god complex. Dat hij zó een controversieel figuur geworden is vind ik eigenlijk alleen maar leuk om van een afstandje te bekijken. De artiest wordt er niet minder om, en het hoort ook gewoon bij Ye. There's leaders and there's followers, but I rather be a dick than a swallower. Zo vat je Kanye wel samen, gewoon een klootzak, maar doet wel zijn eigen ding, en is er vaak verdomd succesvol mee. Op dit album slaat Kanye een meer duistere industriele/experimentele weg in. Dat komt tot een absoluut hoogtepunt bij Blood On The Leaves met de sample van Nina Simone. Tering wat een geluid. Ik snap dat heel goed dat men dit hélemaal schijt kan vinden, en dat begrijp ik volkomen. Het moet je liggen, en als je Kanye al afgeschreven hebt als een antisemitische mysogynistische narcist, wat overigens volkomen terecht is, dat kan je dit ook lastig waarderen. Ik durf wel te zeggen: Kanye is iconisch. Maar qua compleet album is dit nog lang geen peak-Kanye (808's & heartbreaks, MBDTF, Graduation, College Dropout). Rating: 7,5/10 Highlights: New Slaves, Hold My Liquor, Blood On The Leaves, Bound 2

Dit is voor mij peak experimental Kanye, net voordat hij volledig van de rails afging. Inherent aan Experimental Hip Hop, zoals ook bij albums van Death Grips of clipping, is de dunne lijn tussen baanbrekend lekker en totale nonsens. Er staat hier echt wel troep op, waar én de gekozen samples (wat soms bijna hardstyle lijkt) én de cringy lyrics van Ye de haren overeind doet laten staan. Maar piekmomenten als 'Black Skinhead', 'I'm In It' en 'Send It Up' behoren echt tot zijn meest interessante werk. Boven aan de top staat 'New Slaves', wat één van de beste in z'n genre is. Zieke banger en thematisch sterk. 7,5/10 Highlights: Black Skinhead I'm In It Send It Up New Slaves

Kanye klinkt een beetje boos op Yeezus. Dat brengt wel wat goeds naar boven, maar klinkt ook wel wat gefrustreerd. Zijn collabs waren altijd wel goud, maar aan het niveau van My Dark Twisted Fantasy kan Yeezus bij lange na niet tippen. Wel goud is dat mijn Spotify mij na deze plaat vanalles van MF Doom voorschotelt. Genieten. 6,5/10

YEEZY TAUGHT ME

His talent is undeniable. on site I just can’t get out of my head. The rest is all just so unnecessarily vulgar. I wonder if he can wrap without using the N-word. or or using somebody else’s samples and voice. oh yeah, he’s also an antisemite I have a hard time separating the art from the artist

Too obscene

Kanye is a jackass, but this hits so hard.

This is probably Kanye’s most polarizing album. It’s when he was very much towards his egomaniac narcissistic persona. It also was when his production was unlike anything that came before it. This album kind of laid the groundwork for a couple of his other albums in the 2010s. This album as much as people hate Kanye is a really good album. The songs are good the lyrics aren’t terrible, yet, and the production is really top notch. When this first came out it was so weird and hard to like. Then after a few listens it was really great. I think it still holds up as a solid rap album. 8.0/10

Piece of shit guy UNGH Making piece of shit music UNGH

The last Kanye album I listened to more than a handful of times. Key tracks: New Slaves, Black Skinhead, Blood on the Leaves

Experimenting with styles, some work, some are annoying (see: auto tuning). I’m curious how much his tongue is in cheek on I Am A God.

Nowhere near his best album but still pretty good.

Ei kiitos.

The second song, Black Skinhead, has a nice relatively catchy tune, but the rest are a bit meh. Nothing really happens in the songs.

Not too shabby

He may be certifiably nuts, but as far as hip hop goes, this is about as good as it gets.

I do enjoy some Kanye, but not this one. I try to separate the art from the artist and I don't really think of myself as a prude but I found a lot of his lyrics really offputting on this album. It's not helped that it just doesn't have beats that I can really get into. It's not exactly terrible but I don't see myself returning.

Not as groundbreaking feeling because I was more familiar with his newer stuff. Cool to get context near the midpoint of his career after already having his debut album on the project. Solid.

Jeez what a prick

A- On Sight 4 Black Skinhead 4 I Am A God 4 New Slaves 4 Hold My Liquor 4 I'm In It 4 Blood On The Leaves 5 Guilt Trip 4 Send It Up 3 Bound 2 4 I wasn't sure how I'd rate this because Kanye sounds worse to me now. The whole antisemitic spat swiftly brought his image back down to Earth. However, I always considered this very underrated in his catalogue, and it didn't disappoint when forced under the bright lights of my keen observation. I continue to stand by this as his most underrated album, although I understand the sound is somewhat of a "love it or hate it" kind of thing.

There's no album quite like "Yeezus." It's bold and in-your-face and (for my money) Kanye's most entertaining album. It captures the racing mind of a manic episode. The lyrics swing from delusions of grandeur to trashy sex jokes to commentary on the prison-industrial complex before swinging back and landing on another trashy sex joke. The industrial and electronic music is full of surprising moves. I remember the shock of listening to it for the first time. The out-of-left-field samples dropped smack into the middle of the song. The abrasive, glitchy sound effects. The screaming. But one of the joys of listening to this album countless times over the last 10+ years has been memorizing every sudden twist and turn, and being along for the ride. The guest appearances are perfectly placed. I love how Kanye uses Justin Vernon from Bon Iver. On "Hold My Liquor," he runs Vernon's voice through a garbled auto-tune effect to introduce the song before bringing in a snarling Chief Keef to play the role of a substance-abusing lover. And on "I'm In It," the ferocious feature from Jamaican rapper Assassin is immediately followed by Justin Vernon again, this time singing falsetto over a wailing siren beat. Or how about that Beenie Man sample right at the end of the club banger "Send It Up"? For years now, my wife and I have been imitating the way he sings "Memoriiiies." A lot of rappers have sexist lyrics about not trusting women. But on "Blood on the Leaves," Kanye takes this ugly trope and twists it into an epic song about his darkest insecurities and fears -- infidelity, divorce, drug abuse -- that audaciously samples Nina Simone's "Strange Fruit," a song about lynching. It's a reckless but stunning song. His auto-tuned vocal solo at the end always stops me in my tracks. The pacing of this album is so tight. It's got an arresting opening sequence, stretches out in the middle and finishes strong with a few more quick songs before ending on the upbeat, spacious and (I think I can use this word to describe it) romantic "Bound 2." "New Slaves" is probably my favorite song on this album but I'm a big fan of "Bound 2" also. On Kanye's next album, "The Life of Pablo," he has a great tongue-in-cheek song "I Love Kanye" that parodies fans who say they "miss the old Kanye." If there's a Kanye that I miss, it's this one. I miss the Kanye that could include a gut-wrenching guitar solo in one song, only to follow it up with a dumb punchline a few moments later. The Kanye that could be crude and untamed and irresponsible in his lyrics but still be charming and charismatic enough to make you laugh. The Kanye that could make an album where ugliness, beauty, brilliance and imperfection coexist as part of the same take-it-or-leave-it artistic expression. This album was made by that Kanye and, God help me, I absolutely love it.

Kanye's always been a genre-pusher; it's my favorite thing about him. When rap lingers in one place too long, he comes around and disrupts, and pushes, and evolves. I appreciate that, and because I wasn't a listener during the "gangsta rap to pink polo shirt" early Kanye albums, to me, Yeezus is the album that I think of when I think of him changing the milieu of rap. This is probably my favorite Kanye album. It's his heavy metal album. It's the edgier, harsher, more in-your-face album, and I love that. The music is crispy, angry synths with unique panning. His vocals abrasive and at times jarring, and the lyrics are confident, weird, and sometimes funny, "In a French ass restaurant Hurry up with my damn croissants" is something you have to scream with your friends. I also appreciate how this album is listenable. Put on "On Site" and you can dance and bop to it. Put on "Bound 2" when you are hosting a dinner party with your friends. How many albums are out there that I can define as "edgy" and "heavy metal rap" and then in the same breath say that you can also dance to it and you should throw it on while drinking wine with your friends? Not many. If I can find a fault, it's that sometimes Kanye's voice sounds a little "on top" of the music, like in the 2nd half of "Bound 2". It's like the music is mixed very intentionally to be cohesive, and then his voice at times is about 3-5 decibels above it and lacking some "glue". This is me reaching for a fault though, and it's hardly a criticism when so much of Kanye's music is thoughtful and intentional. Additionally, I can look past this (hear past this?) when I accept that the sounds underneath his voice are atypical and unconventional. Top 5 rap album of all time for me. Simple, but very memorable album cover. If I saw this from a few hundred feet away I would know that it's Yeezus.

Keen on the beats not so much the vocals and lyrics.

I think I felt myself lose IQ whilst I was listening to this. Moronic stuff.

Lyrics are embarrassing for middle aged mum

everyone giving this album a 1 star is so fake oh my gooooooddd like yes he did terrible things but you can't just hear on sight and not go kind of crazy in a good way. like listen he's a shit human being, i hate him so much, but you have to admit his music was amazing. people rating it a one star saying he's "talentless" are just racist i think. like sooooooooooooo many artists on this list have been pedophiles, drug addicts, racists, etc, but you still listen!!! and you still give good ratings to them!!!!!! and it's because they are white!!!!!!!!!! you only care about it when it's being shoved down your throats. he's an asshole and a terrible person, but this is a MUSIC rating app, not a news station. can you people be normal for once. anyways it's definitely not his best album, but it has some great tracks. 3 stars.

Garbage. I've never understood his popularity.

Didn't like it when it came out and still don't like it today, I just don't get this dude

Nope. Didn't listen. Won't ever listen. It's really disturbing to me that EVEN AFTER Kanye West exposed himself as a conspiratorial anti-semitic dipshit, he goes on a tour and releases new stuff and remains popular. I hate it. Can't figure it out. I think he learned about how to con his loyal followers from the former president. Just wrote about mental illness and how maybe Captain Beefheart was toying with that line between madness and genius (myth by the way, but hey, popular music, right?). Kanye West has the more sociopathic version of this, where he feels okay exploiting his fans. "Yeah, look how CRAZY I AM!! {That'll be $250, please.}" This dude has a lot of problems, always has, and I'm kind of sick of using brain cycles thinking about it.

Interesting stuff - a bit crazy and hectic. Not my favourite kind of hip-hop but it's definitely captivating. Pretty sure I won't listen again but I'm glad for today's listens. I felt a bunch like the egomaniacal character of this record is maybe... less of a character than people thought it was when this was released haha Still the 'studio' skill is impressive and it definitely /sounds/ good. I think it's easy to hear this and long for Kanye's earlier stuff sampling soul records and being a bit chill.

Amazing album. The use of such abrasive instruments and implementing them in rap was very inventive for the time. Also, it has this sort of sustained, calculated energy that I don't see in too many albums. In terms of lyrics and themes, I am kind of a fan of Kanye shifting between feeling like a God and feeling vulnerable - it's a very human experience that he imprints in this album. Either way. Super fun to listen to, as always.

Not going to listen to Kanye

While this is nowhere near his best album in my opinion, its still interesting and was kind of ahead of its time Favourite tracks: Black Skinhead, New Slaves, Blood on the Leaves

Wow, those are the most obnoxious samples I've ever heard on a hiphop album. And then there's Kanye West to top it off.

I can do with our most of this album but can't help but admire the talent on Bound 2; seems like the culmination of his talent as well as the starting point of his descent into madness.

This is the first album that I've been given that I had already listened to previously. 8/10

Previously rated: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2/5) The College Dropout (2/5) ********************************************** This album isn’t just annoying, it’s aggressively and abrasively annoying. Made by a moron that believes he’s a genius. Listened to and enjoyed by people of similar intelligence. Song isn’t perfect yet? Hey Kanye, have you considered adding some more filthy lyrics, auto-tune, or loud buzzing noises? Oh, you have? BRILLIANT! Absolutely nothing worth listening to a second time.

Wow...here we are. I had to go back and read my review of MBDTW (and you should, too) to see how I reviewed that album. I go back and forth between that and Yeezus as my favorite Kanye album. That review spends more time discussing separating the art from the artist which I think frees me up to dive deeper into this album. I don't want that, or the following stories to give the impression that Yeezus is my favorite, though I won't fault you for thinking so because it might be true. This album came out in June of 2013 which would have been about a month after I graduated college, was newly single, and was living with my brother alone in Greeley, Colorado. At this time, I specifically remember that I was still at the house, I think Stevie may have gone home for the summer already. There was an empty room not being used we had then moved to friend Kyle. So this was a transition time for myself. I was alone, sweating it out in a house with no A/C. All of us boys were on Xbox one night and I don't remember how it came up, but Stevie had told me the album came out. Apple music wasn't a thing back then so I think it had been released on youtube as one long audio or something. I don't remember much more in terms of external stuff, but at some point I pressed play and I listened the whole way through. It was late at night, all the lights in the house were off and the only glow was from my laptop and the TV. I lost my mind listening to this album and I think in a weird way this was the album that made me a Kanye fan. I introed with caution, but I think it is fair to say that and that in this moment as I type it's my favorite of his albums. Is it his best? Maybe that is reserved for MBDTF, but the memories surrounding listening to this, and the raw depravity of this album just struck a chord with me. Dungeon hip hop. Something about that whether it's hearing a trash can bang in Slipknot or beats that sound like they were made in a bunker here. It's totally unlike anything he had done before, and it was at a time where (and I realize the irony) he was beginning to fall off. The trajectory is actually pretty wild. Going from proving himself in his first couple, then kind of getting into his feelings, and then reaching an apex with MBDTF and then plunging down deep underground for Yeezus and when he came up he shifted to the religious side and slowly started unraveling with his last few things. You might say that he didn't stop enough times on his ascent from the ocean floor to depressurize his dive suit. This really is an album you could make at the bottom of the sea in one of those steel bases in Aquaman 2. Beats rattling off the metal walls as you're slowly going insane wondering how long you've been down there. Everything is pitch black save for some bioluminescent sea life. All of that to say that it felt like we were simultaneously witnesses the rise and fall of one of the greats. It was very difficult for people to process that, they either hated or loved this album. This might be the only album of his I have on vinyl and it's a bootleg I got from my brother because the seller accidentally sold him two. Unfortunately these copies were missing the final track which is one I really enjoy so that was a bummer but it was still an amazing souvenir of that time. In a stroke of fate, I have time to kill before I leave housesitting today so I will do a track by track free write as I listen. On Sight: It's funny, in the office I'm typing in there is a buzz coming from one of the wifi devices or something and so I put on headphones with my ear buds underneath blocking that sound out. As this track starts I am right back hearing that with these deadly beats. "Get this bitch shaking like parkinson's", damn. He just comes out the gate swinging taking no prisoners as he invades this bunker. "How much do I not give a fuck? Let me show you right now before you give it up". We are being murdered with these laser beams. Black Skinhead: Absolutely epic intro and this attached itself to the Wolf of Wall Street Trailer. Sounds like wolves running honestly. "They see a black man with a white woman at the top floor they gon' come to kill King Kong". "I keep it 300 like the Romans". The shift from the fast hits to the long hums is so good. The production on this album is fantastic. Another aggressive song. I Am a God (feat. God): This song opens up with a beat and feeling that, every time and especially the first, took me right to the Poughkeepsie Tapes. A found footage movie about a serial killer and the police find all these tapes he made. In one, he is crawling on the floor wearing two masks so you can't tell if he is looking up or down as he crawls towards the camera, and victim tied to a chair. I think I may have even brought the movie up to time it with the music and it worked. Terrifying. This song is the one that really told me he was losing it, sure he was trying to prove a point and calling that whole idea out, but there's always truth behind that. The screaming at the end too really ties into that serial killer chase vibe. I don't know if I've ever thought long about why that is, to have that type of music to say he is a god. Because the god's he is conjuring with this type of music probably isn't the same he is repenting to in future albums. New Slaves: Woah Kanye said my name! Never realized that. But this song is a great call out to very common racial issues. This song is also a little slimy with the beats and some of the lyrics. Not the type of song you can sing, more so to just sit your ass down and listen. "I know that we the new slaves, I see the blood on the leaves" call out to future song. Those shifts from one beat to another or to him singing a totally different way. This one is an eye opener. Hold My Liquor: I don't listen to this one as often so no real raw reactions, the beginning kind of sounds like Bon Iver but I'm not sure. These are where I concede MBDTF has the edge. I'm In It: I do love the second half of this song, and we get Bon Iver for sure. Great beats and I can't remember if I've heard it since in a show or commercial. Blood On the Leaves: Phenomenal sample. I love the calm before the storm when the beat drops. His auto-tune at the end is great, too. Guilt Trip: Somehow I immediately saw the movie poster of Barbara Streisand and Seth Rogan in the movie of the same title. Funny, too, because I mentioned Barbara Streisand in the MBDTF review. This is another I don't listen to as much which I always lament because Cudi is in this one. Send it Up: This one also reminded me of Poughkeepsie Tapes. Now that I think of it, I made a Vine of both of these songs with the movie, that's what it was. Too bad that doesn't exists anymore, maybe those videos are on my computer hiding in the bowels of my picture folders. "This the cray-ist shit in the club, since 'In Da Club'" epic. "Can you get my friends in the club, can you get my Benz in the club?" Fantastic burn. Bound 2: I love this song because of the shift from him to "I know you're tired of loving with nobody to love". The contrast is amazing and worth the song. I'm pretty sure this one is about Kim and there's a few lines here where I know cracks were probably forming in their relationship prior to the full crazy divorce part. Like, "I do these things, but it's fine" and she's probably not thinking that way, my guy. That was great listening through. I stand by my statements prior, I think my "fav" is this, but MBDTF is better. I think that statement lets me enjoy this one, but also always want to listen to the other to see if it will take it's spot. Maybe one day.

Life-changer alert. I wrote in my review of Channel Orange how that album changed my life, and mentioned Yeezus - this album is the yang to the yin, the second in the one-two punch of 2013 that made me reevaluate my relationship with music entirely. Even more important, this one gave me a curiosity and appetite for hip hop like no other. An odd album to make that occur, but hear me out. Prior to 2013, I was a casual fan of rap music, I had a taste for guys like Ludacris, TI, and G-Unit when I was younger, and near the end of high school I was getting into Drake, B.o.B and Kid Cudi. All fine artists, but I wasn't really invested in the culture of hip hop. Then, on May 18, 2013, a weekend where I was home from college, I tuned into to SNL to see Kanye West as the musical guest, and he performed two new songs, "New Slaves" and "Black Skinhead." I was floored. Electrifying performances, aggressive lyrics, it all seemed so punk or metal or I don't know what. But my first thought was: he makes music like THIS? Hip hop can do THIS? I had no idea. It made me embarassed that I hadn't listened to Kanye's catalog, and that I really hadn't taken time to dive into hip hop in a serious manner. The album dropped not too long after that performance (I remember even listening to a leak on youtube), and it was just as electrifying. Rage, noise, vitriol. I hadn't heard anything like it, and when it comes to artists of his stature and fame, I haven't since. Some call it a ripoff of Death Grips, but I disagree - it's more melodic, more Kanye if you will - and whether that works for you may depend on what you like about their music. For me, it's perfect and brilliant. Will always be one of my favorites from Kanye. Favorite tracks: All of them, but songs like New Slaves, Blood on the Leaves, On Sight, Send It Up are forever seared in my mind. Album art: Billed as the "open casket funeral" for the CD format by Kanye and Virgil Abloh. Again, it's aggressive, it's brilliant. Truly iconic. 5/5

4.3 dare i say my favourite kanye? maybe maybe 2nd but it's floating near the top faves: on sight, black skinhead, hold my liquor, bound 2

I am a Kanye fan and it’s been 11 years since I first heard this album. I still don’t know what to make of it. One day I like it and another day I think it’s complete garbage. It’s certainly a strange album. Not a classic just very weird. But good weird

Alfa Chad music

tantric bile- cursed conception (2024) is a better album than this.

Incredible, top 3 album of all time for me.

I love this album. Really raw and abrasive, just Kanye leaning into all the negative criticisms. Just owning it. It's all downhill from here though. It's a bummer what he is now. This is the "good" asshole Kanye, before he was the bigoted asshole Kanye. I miss this Kanye.

Bound2 =groooooves Everything else = no

Kanye is rich. Kanye is horny. Kanye is pissed off.

Thank you Jonah Hill. I Love You

2 brilliant songs, and a lot of very good ones, felt longer than it was

Arrogant bastard. Some songs are good, but worse than his previous stuff

Could this have been Kanye's final peak before everything inevitably came crashing down? I really don't know the details of his life story besides what they show on the news & social media (nor do I want to know the details), but this seems like Kanye at his most ambitious and at his most inventive. As soon as the album starts it's already creative as hell - On Sight begins like any electronica track, but then Kanye comes in rapping and it's like whiplash between the two sounds, but in a very good way. The rest of it is really cool too, with the blending of industrial and experimental music with his abrasive and belligerent bars. His last-minute decision to take a minimalist approach to this worked so well in his favor. Too bad for the person outside of this music but this is a genuinely awesome album, barring a few meh tracks. Standouts are Black Skinhead, New Slaves, Blood on the Leaves, and Bound 2.

Never thought I would take Kanye West shopping. Two songs in I worried if I was being too harsh on him, but turns out that's because they were the only good ones. A dog looked at me like it knew what I was listening to when I'm In It was on... the shame I felt

has some moments, but not the kind of music I like

Rating: 5/10 Mixed bag album. There are three great songs on here as well as a handful of interesting ideas, the rest of the album I find incredibly annoying and obnoxious, which is exactly the point since Kanye is flexing his ego to the maximum here. The songs that work incorporate electronic elements mostly while sounding different and catchy. Most of the other songs feel too experimental in nature without sounding musical, and with Kanye's awful lyrics it becomes a nuisance to listen to. Favorite songs: Black Skinhead, the end of New Slaves, Blood On The Leaves, Bound 2. Worst songs: I Am A God, I'm In It, Send It Up.

Starts out harder, better, faster, stronger. Then the last third drops off. Rounded up on stars.

Just kind of an insane record for an artist like Kanye to drop at the top of his popularity after MBDTF. Fuses so many genres with the hard industrial hip-hop sound (shout out to the Bon Iver feature!), and just makes pure bangers from it all. 9/10

This album is ok. I don't think I'll ever be a Kanye fan, but there were a few decent tracks on here. Not sure I'd choose to listen to it again though, so that puts it in the 2/5 territory.

I liked this album since it was released. It used to be a 5/5, but I think it's come down a bit because Ye is a fucking tool and I can't totally separate the art from the artist. Some of the tongue-in-cheek lines are probably not tongue-in-cheek and that makes it hit different. 4/5

The vibe here is too abrasive and crude for my taste and there isn't enough musical substance to offset how bad the lyrics are. Did not enjoy.

This is good. It’s also angry, which means my mood is dictating how I like listening to it.

Kanye has always been a confusing artist to me. This album has some really great lyrics and ideas. Some of the beats are a bit strange but they work and having this be my first Kanye album that I’ve listened to in years it was a good one.

Utter crap. I have no idea how this was even released.

Forgot how much I enjoyed this

twat. samples are really good but that's it - the nazism prevents that alone from bumping it to a 2.

I used to really like Kanye. His music always had more of a rock element to it than a lot of other rap music to me. This was really the last album of his that I thought was good. After this it was all down hill. Not my favorite album of his but certainly not the worst.

top 3 kanye album for me 4.5

6.7/10

I forgot how good this was, thanks for the reminder!

Has its moments for sure, but not as consistently good as the albums leading up to it.

Some bangers but not better than MBDTF or even TLOP, so 3.5 stars.

Unfortunately an artist that has been irreperaibly sullied by his recent decent into lunacy, racism, xenophobia and hatred. Will not give my time to him any more.

Not his best work

not even because he's a nazi, the album just sucks major dookie balls

I'm not even going to give this album more than one track. Totally shit. And I refuse to give Kanye any money from further youtube views.

This was my favorite Kanye album, then never listened to an album by him after this. Listening to it again, the lyrics are terrible, but the music is still amazing. What would have happened if he stayed as another timbaland? I don't know how to rate this because his influence is so large in the music culture. So many great musicians exist because of him. But man what a horrible piece of shit human. Since everyone gives a 1 or a five I'll split the difference

Oh, my god, he's lost it, he's totally lost it.

I do like this sound-wise for the most part. Content-wise, I think at the time it felt like, a fun kind of arrogance. and now it's just like... awww.

No me gusta la música de este señor.

Unfortunately a horrible person

Don't love the human being, but there's no denying the music is excellent.

More like Kanye Worst.

I liked some musical arrangements, but not a fan of lyrics and/or Kanye as a character

musically it's very good, the production is top quality, but it's difficult to enjoy this album now

Maybe it’s because I grew up around this era of Kanye forming, but this album feels so horrendously outdated already. Much like very generic pop, rap music can age the worst especially when it’s as commercial as this. The leather jeans and Pyrex references are as dated as the beat selection. Kanye for me is at his best when he combines his egocentrism with some humour such as on life of pablo, however there’s no real humour to be found here. Kanye isn’t really saying much and when he does such as on “new slaves” it’s instantly thrown away by lines like “I’d rather be a d*** than a swallower”. Kanye works best when he’s rapping over some crazy sample or some beautifully made beat but that’s not present here with the exception of “bound 2”, which is slightly more humourless and has aged somewhat better. Despite all this the rapping is relatively solid, I think musically it’s just aged badly.

lol

I enjoyed this one.

I believe in separating the art from the artist. Is Kanye West a terrible person? Yes. Is this album a 5/5? Also yes.

Just not a Kanye fan. Not my thing.

Offensive rage and misery chanting

Ditto to what everyone else said...

not listening

Ugh this guy. The music is good! Can’t question his creativity. When he wrote some of these songs he was clearly in a manic phase. The song “I Am a God” could be used in medical schools to help teach what mania is (I am a healthcare provider and have treated patients with bipolar disease). But as a woman, his misogyny is so off-putting that it dramatically impairs my enjoyment of this album. Actually makes it a difficult listen. Going to take some time to think how to rate this one tomorrow!

I was kind of hesitant to listen to this due to Kanye being just an all around terrible person. The production on this album is insane. The instrumentals are so unconventional for hip hop and honestly it works so well. I really don't love the lyrics on this album and they're even worse due to how bad of a person Kanye is. They're very misogynistic and egotistical which I don't care for at all. It's hard to give this album a score because the instrumentals are amazing and the production is amazing but I very much dislike Kanye and his lyrics in this record.

This is probably the most conflicted I've felt about an album since starting this project, so I'll start with what's great about it. It's impossible to deny the experimental and uniqueness of this record. From the pure standpoint of music composition, it's pretty freakin rad. He mixes all sorts of different sounds, instruments, beats. Each song is super unique from the rest, but the whole record flows into each song perfectly. He also uses autotune in a super cool way including having Justin Vernon on a few songs). He collabs with a lot of rad artists on this too, and they never really take over the song but add to the holistic nature of the record. He has reggae artists and other rappers jump in when needed. Overall, the music feels progressive, intense, heavy, but even spacey in a few places. It's constantly moving and never really feels dull. This is truly one of the most unique and influential rap albums. This is 100 degrees beyond what Grandmaster Flash started. What I'm conflicted with: it's impossible for me in 2024 to separate Kanye the artist and Kanye the narcissist. Rap has a long history of songs being a first person narrative. And often these lyrics are satirical, ironic, or commentary on social issues / norms. Always towing an ever thinning fine line. However, knowing what I know about Kanye, it's hard for me to get behind really any of the lyrics or story telling. I would typically receive "I Am A God" as ironic, but listening to it now, it feels very serious. Even the social commentary on "Black Skinhead" and "New Slaves" feels off, because I know that he's a conspiracy theorist. Even silly sex songs like "I'm In It" feel weird knowing that he's done and said some really weird sex things. The back half of the album does lighten up on a lot of these things, so its a little more palpable. However, I think Kanye is maybe tainted for life.

A lot of dumb lyrics but it goes hard

The words and rapping are dreadful but the music and production are interesting.