Yeezus

Look all over this amazon.com page, what do you see? In the "Customers who bought this album also bought..." you will see a slew of artist and genres from Techno/Industrial Daft Punk to laid back rapper Mac Miller. Then look at the reviews, you will see the "Kanye haters" , the "Kanye fan", and the "unbiased listeners". All of this should tell you that: a) Kanye is a growing, and ever progressing artist, and b) he still generates enough interest to get the haters to his page. Regardless, if you are not a fan of Kanye, then why let him provoke enough energy from you to write a review? Like a great lawyer defending a good client, Kanye defends his craft, and his genius throwing us off again (just when we accepted 808's and Heartbreaks).From the opening, dub-step-ish "On Sight", Kanye rips a gaping hole in traditional rap with low end frequency 808, 90-120 bpm background music and flows with his schizo-grandeur lyrics. It is hard to deny a man of talents of this sorts when he started rap on this road (check back to his collaboration with Daft Punk on "Stronger" from his 2007 Graduation album), and with many artist attempting to continue what he started...they are just sounding sickly. To be honest, for such polar ended genres like Industry and Hip-Hop to be meshed seamlessly, you need an artist who IS AN ARTIST...not just a rapper or producer. Credibility goes to this song, and I find it difficult to understand why this was not released as a single.Then comes "Black Skinhead", a song that is abrasive and truculent. With lyrics like "...if I knew what I knew in the past/ I would've been blacked out on yo' a**" going over a Gary Glitter-like sports beat, this song is meant to be intentionally off putting to the listener. The beat is very catchy, too! No two songs sound even remotely similar, and he chooses to rap about very different subjects on each song to keep the vibe fresh.I love the fact that Kanye is as confrentational and brutally honest as he is. Songs like "New Slaves" and "Blood on the Leaves" leaves Mr. West without a truth filter. As many rappers claim to be real, but yet rap about girls and money...Kanye is on target with his sarcasm of the Government, himself, and other people. He just tells it like it is, and like the old saying goes: "The truth hurts!". Cynicism about glamor and glitz that he chases in "New Slaves" gives you a glimpse into his inner conflict. Every human suffers conflicted emotions and competing interest...but from this album and its content, I get the feeling that Kanye may be a borderline schizo who constantly argues with himself. This is the reason he can put out such an experimental album such as this and continue to collaberate with/produce for other artist without influencing them with this flavor. This album is really, and genuinely unlike ALL of the songs you hear on the radio, and to be honest I personally dont think this album is "radio friendly (formulated and contrived)" which is why I fell for it the second listen.If you like experimental, off-the-radar music then you wont be let down by a perfectionist who made an experimental album. I do have the faint feeling that this will be Kanye's equivalent to The Beach Boy's "Pet Sounds; hated now, classic later.UPDATE:This album definitely does grow on you, as do the subtle messages he gives you!After several(hundred) listens...I cannot help but to get the underpinning of Kanye's rebellion against Jay-Z. I am putting all of the pieces together...the coment he said about "Suit & Tie" while in concert, the "Big Brother" song from Graduation, and not the Performance of "New Slaves on SNL. A lot of the subtleties are saying "My soul is NOT for sale, regardless of what I dress in". He even uses Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" as a sample for blood on the leaves...this dude is deep. We all know that Billie was not talking about apples hanging from the tree in her time, which makes me ponder why he used a strong sample as this, and at this particular time on this album.Rebellion against dumbed down mainstream and Jay-Z are not easy tasks to perform, but I understand Ye given his history with Jay, and his history of how media dragged him down at every turn they could . "Hold My liquor" is one of those songs where you catch lines here and there, and he meant it that way with the background music going near silent, or dropping when he has something to say. A line like "...since those skinny jeans, they aint never liked you", and "Everybody know that you brought real rap back"...those shots are directed at someone!"Guilt Trip", "Send it up", and "Bound 2" are excellent tracks that build great momentum in sequence, with "Bound 2" teasing the listener of what a Ye album would sound like without his new direction. He reverted back to the likes of "Late" on Late Registration with the sampling and old school flow.Stand out tracks are:On Sight (originality at its best)Im in itI am a GodHold my liquorBlood on the leavesI can also understand how the critics praise this album in black and white, on paper...but anyone with a voice in radio (which is all one mega channel pushing Jay-Z down our throats) would spew hatred on Ye...knowing that Jay is going to drop an album that will starkly resemble Ye's production and sometimes even his out-of-genre guest (remember the Chris Martin dilemma?). In that case, these DJ's should check out J.Cole's album where he blatantly states that he "Let Nas Down" by following Jay's direction, and later in the Born Sinner album, Cole goes off on some "Soul not for sale" tangent also. Anyone seeing a pattern here? Why are these dudes who are so associated with Def Jam/ Roc-A-Fella fighting for their souls...and rebelling at this point? I dont buy into conspiracies, but I do think they saw something they wish they could "un-see" and are now putting these tiny morsels of information out there until the complete picture is painted. Spilling music from the heart like these two (Ye and Cole) are doing are bound to make classics, even if they use two different vehicles to deliver them.

The media could not be loaded. The CD came in excellent condition. Initially, I was quite afraid about two things, the tape color, and the way I would get the CD out of the case, without ruining the tape. However, after asking the seller if the tape is going to be red, as it is in the cover, I was told that it is, and arrived just as they said. Also, in the challenge of opening the case, I initially thought that if I were to open the case from the bottom hinges, it would easily open it without ruining the art of the case. Luckily, after a brief one to two minutes of me attempting to open it via bottom hinges, which ultimately remained unsuccessful, I saw that there was a dashed slit on the side of the case, on the tape. I immediately went to opening it the regular way, carefully considering to be gentle in opening it without ripping the tape open. The moment I opened the case, I put it on my CD player and everything worked quite well. Overall, everything was just as I expected, from the color of the tape to opening the case without ruining it. I was quite happy with what I received and I enjoy having the CD in my possession now.

Great Quality and SelectionThe CDs arrived in excellent condition with no scratches or playback issues. Each one played clearly and delivered great sound quality. The selection offered exactly what I was looking for, and it's always a plus to have physical copies for collection and reliable playback. Whether for casual listening or adding to a music library, these CDs were a great buy. Very satisfied with the overall purchase.

I enjoyed this album. That being said, the lyrics can be sort of stupid sometimes "Don't Judge him Joe Brown!", but it's not like Kanye West records are a spiritual doctrine or anything, so no need to be too serious. That being said, I enjoyed the political messages in songs like "New Slaves" and "Black Skinhead." Kanye disses corporate control of the population in "New Slaves", which, even though he talks about his Benz in "Send it Up", it does make the listener look at the political issues therein. "Blood on the Leaves" is another track worth talking about. I'm not sure if I approve of the sentiment behind sampling Nina Simone's "Strange Fruit", after all it is an American classic with a chilling subject matter. Kanye's song has nothing to do with lynch mobs, but, then something more chilling, similar in vein to Simone's song became apparent. The song deals with the possibility of aborting an illegitimate child. I may be interpreting a bit much here but it seems like an anti-abortion song of sorts. The "Blood on the Leaves" could be of mother nature, the fetus's mother, ending the fetus's life. The image of fetuses hanging from a tree by the umbilical cord like the lynched that Simone's song refers to comes to mind. This could also have a more socially conscious meaning too, suggesting that too many African American babies are aborted. It's a good track regardless.As far as the production and the beats go, they can seem a bit rushed at times. Were I Kanye, I'd have waited a few more months to really solidify the beats. As they are, it's very clear that he's been influenced by alternative hip hop groups like Death Grips. I'm not sure he's quite fluent in the art of making these beats. It sounds like a poppier version of Death Grips. I think one of the strongest tracks on the album is similar to his earlier, soul sample work, "Bound 2." Either way, I like the direction in which he's headed.All in all, I'd recommend the album.

Came perfect, tape was orange which I didn't expect but was beautiful none the less.

It arrived 👍