Photo: Ethan Miller(Getty Images)
Kanye West Yeezus is definitely the weirdest album the famed musician ever made, it drastically illustrates the habit of Kanye to completely switch up sounds between two major releases. Yeezus comes two years after the collab album with Jay-Z Watch the Throne (2011), which was preceded by the solo My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), and it wildly differs from them. As it does from the last album Kanye West dropped – The Life Of Pablo (2016).
The album Yeezus is very minimalistic, in every aspect, there are only 10 songs, the album cover is non-existent, the beats are not melodic, rather electronic and aggressive and the lyrics are pretty straightforward. So out of the 10, we picked five of the best, or to be frank, the good ones, as this is surely the lowest of the Kanye’s albums.
Kanye West Yeezus Best Songs
Not all songs are available on YouTube since artists and studios remove the unofficial uploads, so not all links are provided.
Black Skinhead
The most well-known track of the Kanye West Yeezus album, naturally, as it was the album’s first single and was released officially on YouTube. The track has a killer beat and a very tribal vibe to it, and it is pretty provocative and strong in its lyrics. The song is also stylized as “BLKKK SKKKN HEAD” so obviously the question of race is tackled in it. Daft Punk was involved in the production of the track, so we have them to thank for the awesome drums in it.
Blood on the Leaves
Surely the best track of the Kanye West Yeezus album, Blood on the Leaves doesn’t have a common sound of Yeezy, in a way that it is similar to what other rappers are doing. While still having some elements of the familiar Kanye, like the repeating back vocals and the singing Kanye. Yet the best is loud and explosive like nothing Kanye did before, so it’s a perfect song to blast out in the car. A pleasantly complex and long song has very contrasting parts that fit in a whole perfectly.
New Slaves
The linked live performance of this track on SNL is superior to the album track as Kanye spits his lines with a lot of more energy, a wildness, and the censorship is done brilliantly. The song itself has a very obvious minimalistic vibe in terms of the instrumental and the silent parts, which emphasizes the lyrics. And they, as in the most of the album, touch on the subjects of race and class relation with no holding back.
Send It Up
Industrial as rap songs can get, with Gesaffelstein and Daft Punk doing the production alongside Kanye and a few other names. It’s the best use of the chopped flow Kanye runs on throughout the whole album, as it really gels with the aggressive siren sound around which the track is built on. The contrasting end of the track emphasizes the message Kanye wanted to send out with Send It Up.
I’m In It
A mechanic beat sound yet again, but the chorus really breaks up the track and doesn’t make the song too difficult to listen, like some Yeezus songs are. The different types of vocals soften the track, and it becomes something really different than what the start announces. I’m In It features vocals by Justin Vernon and Assassin and is either truly chilled or viciously hype at moments, there’s no middle ground here. Which is the whole point of Kanye West’s Yeezus album.
What do you think of the Kanye West’s Yeezus album? What are your favorite tracks, do you agree with our top five?
