How Kanye West Made the Most Polarizing Album of His Career

7 min readMay 13, 2016

Hi, I’m Alex Green! For the next 12 weeks I’m going to get in-depth on 12 albums. Well, almost. Just past the tip of the curiosity so you’ll be in the mood to go all in & listen to the album.

Yeezus is Kanye West’s sixth studio album, released on June 18th, 2013. It was produced over the course of roughly eight months in Kanye’s loft apartment in Rue Tronchet, 8th arrondissement, Paris.

The producers on the album include No I.D.(Who first met 15-year-old Kanye after his mother got a hand on his phone number, and has been a mentor to him ever since), Mike Dean, who has collaborated on every Kanye album, Evian Christ, Noah Goldstein (who first collab’d on with ‘Ye on Watch the Throne. Jay Z calls on him on Who Gon’ Stop Me), Thomas Bangalter & Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk, Anthony Kilhoffer (who’s been Team Yeezy since The College Dropout and has produced for most G.O.O.D. musicians), Travi$ Scott, and Lupe Fiasco(remember how he got weird and political?).

In the last month of the album’s production, Rick Rubin was brought in to reduce the album. The producers worked on the songs more or less independently throughout the day in the loft studio, then reconvened to give comments, edit, and work with Kanye throughout the night. Neighbors complained about the loud bass, but never about the biblical flow.

“On Sight” is one of four songs co-produced by Thomas Banglater & Guy-Manuel. Lou Reed commented on it in his Talkhouse review of the album :

“But why he starts the album off with that typical synth buzzsaw sound is beyond me, but what a sound it is, all gussied up and processed. I can’t figure out why he would do that. It’s like farting. It’s another dare — I dare you to like this. Very perverse.”

The producers mentioned that this was moved to the front of the album to symbolize how radically different it would be from Kanye’s previous work. The changeup around one minute into the song is a melody from “He’ll Give Us What We Really Need” by the Holy Name of Mary Choral Family(Sample: 1:06). Def Jam Recording execs were worried about having time to get clearance, so Kanye ultimately hired a choir to cover the song and used that.

🔥 Lyric:

Everybody wanna live at the top of the mountain
Took her to the ‘Bleau, she tried to sip the fountain
That when David Grutman kicked her out
But I got her back in and put my dick in her mouth

“Black Skinhead” or “BLKKK SKKKN HEAD” is the second song on the album, first performed live on the May 18th showing of SNL, Season 40.

Produced by Bangalter & de Homem-Christo, alongside longtime collaborators No ID & Mike Dean.

🔥 Lyric:

Enter the kingdom (black)
But watch who you bring home
They see a black man with a white woman
At the top floor they gone come to kill King Kong

“I Am A God” debuted at the 2013 May MET Gala. The intro contains a sample of “Forward Inna Dem Clothes”, performed by Capleton. It features vocals from Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, who first worked with Kanye on 2010’s My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy, after allowing Kanye to sample Bon Iver’s “Woods” for Kanye’s “Lost in the World”.

Produced by Hudson Mohawke, Daft Punk, & Mike Dean.

🔥 Lyric:

Hurry up with my damn massage
Hurry up with my damn ménage
Get the Porsche out the damn garage
I am a god
Since the tight jeans they ain’t never liked you
Pink-ass polos with a fuckin’ backpack
But everybody know you brought real rap back
Nobody had swag, man, we the Rat Pack

“New Slaves” features Frank Ocean. This song samples “Gyöngyhajú lány” by Omega, a Hungarian rock band formed in the 60s. I mean sure, there’s underground samples, and then there’s music you could only find if you were in a fever dream in a back room of Amoeba at 4 in the morning. But ok, it’s neat. Kanye uses a twist on lyrics from one of his early unreleased songs, “Gossip Files”. Ye has actually done this before with a few spoken-word songs that he performed on Def Jam Poetry that became tracks on The College Dropout.

Produced by Mike Dean & Travi$ Scott — who was basically homeless when he was flown out from LA to Paris to work on the album, having freshly released Owl Pharaoh(which is still a weird name for an album).

🔥 Lyric (the whole song obvs but):

You see it’s broke nigga racism
That’s that “Don’t touch anything in the store”
And it’s rich nigga racism
That’s that “Come in, please buy more”
“What you want, a Bentley? Fur coat? A diamond chain?
All you blacks want all the same things”
Used to only be niggas, now everybody playin’

“Hold my Liquor” features Chief Keef & Justin Vernon. Uses a slowed sample of “Feminine” by Arca. I can’t handle my liquor either, so this one’s short & sweet.

💁 Lyric:

Pussy had me floatin’
Feel like Deepak Chopra

“I’m In It” has a chopped & screwed sample of “Lately” by Kenny Lattimore(babymaking music, for real) . The song originally featured a different sample and was originally six minutes long. Justin Vernon mentioned in the Pitchfork Yeezus story that he didn’t even know what he was singing apart from the ‘Star Fucker’ line, but this is his style. He’s always had that beautiful primal vocal murmuring thing down to an artform since he got mono. The reggae artist singing during the chorus is Assassin. Produced by Evian Christ.

✊ Lyric:

Uh, I know you need that reptile
Uh, she cut from a different textile
Uh, she love different kinds of sex now
Uh, black girl sippin’ white wine
Put my fist in her like a civil rights sign

“Blood on the Leaves” uses a sample of “Strange Fruit” sung by Nina Simone, the original written by Billie Holiday. It also incorporates the hard hitting horns from “R U Ready?” by TNGHT(Hudson Mohawke & Lunice) at around one minute in. This was originally going to be the first song on the album, but was moved in order to have “On Sight” represent the message of the album: anti-radio and braggadocio.

👯 Lyric:

She Instagram herself like #BadBitchAlert
He Instagram his watch like #MadRichAlert
He only wanna see that ass in reverse
Two-thousand-dollar bag with no cash in your purse
Now you sittin’ courtside, wifey on the other side
Gotta keep ’em separated, I call that apartheid

“Guilt Trip” samples Popcaan’s intro on “Blocka” by Pusha T. The second half of the song features a swelling orchestral composition contrasting the rest of the album. The Kid Cudi lines are actually from an earlier song from the GOOD Music vaults, and Kid Cudi didn’t even know he was on the album until he was messaged on Twitter. Kid Cudi mentioned that when asked by Kanye to collaborate on TLOP, he had to break bread and make peace with him.

🔥 Lyric:

Feelin’ lied to like parents never said you adopted
Your feelins like Zulu, then nothing is a Shaka
I hit her with Jamaican dick, I’m the new Shabba
She lookin’ for her daddy, call me Big Poppa

“Send It Up” has a sample of “Stop Live in De Pass” by reggaeton/dancehall artist Beenie Man. Features King Louie, another rapper from Chicago, more prominently in the drill rap scene. Big chune this.

🔥 Lyric:

It’s so packed I might ride around
On my bodyguard’s back like Prince in the club
She say “Can you get my friends in the club?”
I say “Can you get my Benz in the club?”
If not, treat your friends like my Benz
Park they ass outside ’til the evenin’ end

“Bound 2” is the only song on Yeezus which really brings back Kanye’s earlier work. Two things about Bound 2: the first being the hilariously strange music video featuring Kanye & Kim Kardashian riding on a motorcycle on a green screen. It’s hilariously bad, yet good? The intro is absolutely amazing though. The piano solo, sweeping nature shots, those horses fording a river — gets me feeling some type of way. The second being that the song “Bound” (1971) by the american soul group Ponderosa Twins Plus One, was used as the primary sample, along with interpolations from “Aeroplane” by Wee. Kanye was sued by the Ponderosa Twins for unlicensed use, and a settlement was reached outside of court.

🔥 Lyric:

What you doin’ in the club on a Thursday?
She say she only here for her girl birthday
They ordered champagne but still look thirsty
Rock Forever 21 but just turned thirty

The album’s pretty neat. To be honest, I hated it at first, but props to Kanye for going against the grain. After some repeated listens, the stark contrast from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy goes away, and Yeezus becomes a great legacy of production and lyricism in it’s own way.

Disclosure: There may be some inaccuracies here — feel free to let me know and I’ll correct them.

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