I just wanted people to like me more, but fuck that, bro!

, a quote from Kanyes

VMAs Video Vanguard speech in 2015, best defines the Yeezus era in its entirety. But
before we get to that, lets rewind a few years.

Once upon a time, in a different world (like Cree Summers) far, far away, there
lived a beat maker who made 5 beats a day for 3 summers. In the midst of a genre
where you could rap about guns, sex, lies, videotape, but if you talk about God, your
record wont get played, arose that beat maker. That beat maker picked up a mic
and spit it so hot, you got tanned. His impact was immediately seen and became
viewed as a real soulful dude, a dropout keeping kids in the school, a breath of air
so fresh, that when he dropped it was polos and backpacks, and would be viewed as
so for years to come. Well, that did not last forever.

A critical turning point in Kanyes career befell when his mother suffered a tragic
incident during a cosmetic surgery Kanye had suggested himself. Whilst already
riddled with guilt, his then fiance, Alexis Phifer, ended her engagement with him.
This resulted in Kanye scrapping his planned follow up to Graduation, Universe City,
in favor for an album that, in his words, was therapeutic it's lonely at the top,
808s & Heartbreak; howbeit, this was only the beginning. Less than a year after, the
infamous 2009 VMAs made its mark on Kanyes career forever. Between these two
incidents came about a new Kanye West, the Kanye West that created one of the
most critically acclaimed albums of our generation, My Beauty Dark Twisted
Fantasy. On Fantasy, Kanye leads us through the narrative, stylistically delivered as
a fairytale, of how America had manifested itself as a man-eating jungle, losing
himself in the process. Kanye states the focus of the album in his 2013 interview
with New York Times, Let me show you guys what I can do, and please accept me
back. You want to have me on your shelves. Even before then, from his Runaway
performance in the next years VMAs, it became clear the album was Kanyes
apology letter to America. The need to feel accepted and liked had finally been
engraved into his system. Although music would have never been enough to win
back the majority of the people he turned against him, the music world had once
again crowned him king, and just like before, this did not last; however, this time it
was under his own terms. Somewhere between then and 2013, the chip that had
restrained Kanye was snapped off. Perhaps this came from Kanyes venture into the
fashion world, or maybe it was his desires on Hell Of A Life being fulfilled with Kim
Kardashian, but regardless of the specific moment, the Kanye West from Fantasy
was dead.

Despite what his contemporaries may strive for, Kanyes ambition as an artist does
not reside in his massive success, both commercially and critically, but his progress
and contribution on a wider scale, reaching for summits that have yet to be
touched. I am Warhol. I am the number one most impactful artist of our
generation, rants Kanye during an interview on Sway In The Morning immediately

after the release of Yeezus. Through an obscure Holy Name of Mary Choral Family
sample on the albums introduction, On Sight, He'll give us what we need. It may
not be what we want, Kanye bluntly states his intention for the album. This plays
out accordingly as it replaces 808s & Heartbreak as the most polarizing album yet
in his highly acclaimed discography by fans and critics alike. Famously criticized for
his unique approach in art, Andy Warhol continued to refuse conformity and soon
transformed that criticism into influence, elevating him as perhaps the greatest
artist of the 20th century. With Yeezus, Kanye directs his ambitious efforts towards a
similar goal, hence the comparison. However, that is not to say the albums
intention is solely for this purpose. As a self-reflection, we can see Kanyes character
through the same scope. He does not hesitate to elaborate on this fresh off the
2009 VMAs when he begins his VH1 Storytellers performance; So many people get
caught up in trying to remake their first album and it's impossible for me to make
another College Dropout More than an artist, I'm a real person and real people
grow and I wanna just sing my growth, and despite how alienated his fan base has
become since the Dropout days, we continue to listen to his growth.

There is but a single word that describes Yeezus as an entity, and that same word
can also be used to describe Kanye West, the person, as well as what part of himself
he translates onto his music. That word is contrast. Yeezus beauty inhibits itself
between the thin spaces of contrast present throughout the entire album. He uses
exasperation as the albums fuel and does not fail to contradict himself throughout
the entire album. Words of a cynical misogynist can immediately be followed by an
ode of deep affection, just as she got more niggas off than Cochran is followed by
sociopolitical militancy. Although, these traits are not exhibited solely within the
albums lyricism, but even more effectively through its production. The album
pushes multiple music elements together that refuse to mesh; the brash bulk of
production On Sight breaks down into a beautiful Holy Name of Mary Choral
Family interlude; New Slaves minimalism trails into a Hungarian progressive rock
outro, sampled from Omega, capped off by a warm Frank Ocean falsetto; A
culturally significant Nina Simone Strange Fruit sample is cut into by TNGHTs
abrasive horns, and so forth. There can even be Dancehall vocals found throughout
the album being mixed into its industrial production. It should be noted that On
Sight, with its jarring mix of industrial production and soul sampling, is flipped on
the albums final track, Bound 2, using Charlie Wilsons cover of Ponderosa Twins
Plus Ones Bound, coated by heavy bass, to stray from its soulful bulk.

Continuing his speech from the top, I will die for the art, for what I believe in, and
the art ain't always polite. Simply put, Yeezus is the narrative of a man who had
faltered as a human, ready to show the world his return of form to his ideology.
Whereas Fantasy served as an apology letter to America, he shreds that letter and
plays its antithesis, embracing everything the media and general public knocks him
down for. His claws are sharpened as he leaves his superhero theme music and
retakes his role as Americas greatest antagonist.