Music critics believe in Kanye West's "Yeezus"
After a months of hype, an unforgettable performance on "Saturday Night Live" and a baby with Kim Kardashian, Kanye West's sixth solo album, "Yeezus," has risen. Leading up to the release, critics and fans were jarred by West's unorthodox album promotion and also unsure as to how he would answer his 2010 album, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy." But the reviews are in -- and many music critics are praising "Yeezus."
West is back with his hardest, most exhilarating release yet. He brings us some of his most ludicrous rhymes -- like his gentle request for French pastries -- and personal stories to date, busting out what may be his most complete album yet coming in at only 40 minutes. He leaves listeners wanting more, but as the choir in "On Sight" declares, "He'll give us what we need / It may not be what we want."
"Yeezus" may not be what the world expected, but with Kanye West, when is it?
Take a look at what the critics have to say:
Randall Roberts of Los Angeles Times gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars: "'Yeezus' is the most musically adventurous album West has ever released, a wildly experimental work that features tracks produced by Daft Punk, Hudson Mohawke, Rick Rubin and others. It's also West's most narcissistic, defiant, abrasive and unforgiving. Musically, this exploration is fascinating. "Yeezus" is minimal but powerful, a record filled with more aural space than anything on 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,' his excellent 2010 album.
Glenn Gamboa of Newsday gave the album an A: "He has long dismissed the importance of awards shows and then complained that he deserves more awards. He has fiercely defended his privacy and then forged a relationship with Kim Kardashian, perhaps the least private person in the world. They announced their baby's gender -- it's a girl! -- on Kardashian's reality show. All of this would be incredibly maddening if 'Yeezus' wasn't so incredibly good."
Ray Rahman of Entertainment Weekly graded "Yeezus" an A-: "In some ways it's a 180 on 808s: Where that album was, on the surface, his softest and most vulnerable, 'Yeezus' comes off as his hardest -- designed, as the man himself says on 'Black Skinhead,' to 'f--- up your whole afternoon.' Believe it or not, that's just 'Ye being modest: This album has the potential to mess with your whole year."
Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars: "'Yeezus' is the darkest, most extreme music Kanye has ever cooked up, an extravagantly abrasive album full of grinding electro, pummeling minimalist hip-hop, drone-y wooz and industrial gear-grind. Every mad genius has to make a record like this at least once in his career--at its nastiest, his makes Kid A or In Utero or Trans all look like Bruno Mars."
Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork wrote that the album marks "a blunt break with the filigreed maximalism he nailed on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye's sixth solo album trades smooth soul and anthemic choruses for jarring electro, acid house, and industrial grind while delivering some of his most lewd and heart-crushing tales yet."
Hardeep Phull of The Independent (U.K.): "It's not quite godlike, but Yeezus certainly feels like it was created by a higher power."
Peter Tabakis of Pretty Much Amazing: "Kanye West doesn't give the listener a second to realize the album is more a masterly response to a masterpiece than a masterpiece itself. 'Yeezus' turns the focus back on Yeezy's immense talent. No, West isn't the Second Coming of Steve Jobs or Walt Disney. But he may be the most exciting and unpredictable music maker working in America today."
Justin Hunte of HipHopDX: "'Yeezus' -- like 'Yeezy' -- is jarring, uncomfortable, uncompromising and courageous -- all the things that initially made Hip Hop great."
Tell us: What do you think of "Yeezus"?