Yeezus - Kanye West Wiki - Fandom

Studio album by Kanye West

General information

Released

June 18, 2013

Recorded

2012 − June 2013

Studio

No Name Hotel (Paris) • Studios de la Seine (Paris) • Germano Studios (New York City) • Gee Jam Studios (Port Antonio) • Real World Studios (Box, Wiltshire) • Shangri-La (Malibu)

Genre

Hip-Hop • Industrial • Post-Punk

Length

40:01

Label(s)

Roc-A-Fella • Def Jam

Producer(s)

Kanye West • 88-Keys • Ackee Juice Rockers • Arca • Benji B • Carlos Broady • Brodinski • Ben Bronfman • Evian Christ • Eric Danchick • Daft Punk • Mike Dean • Dom Solo • Jack Donoghue • Gesaffelstein • Noah Goldstein • Lunice • Lupe Fiasco • Hudson Mohawke • No I.D. • Che Pope • Rick Rubin (exec.) • S1 • Travis Scott • Sham Joseph Albums chronology

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Cruel Summer	The Life Of Pablo

Singles

1. "Bound 2"Released Jun. 18, 2013 1. "Blood On The Leaves"Released Jun. 18, 2013 Yeezus is the sixth studio album released by Kanye West. It was released on June 18, 2013, through Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. The album contains appearances from Justin Vernon, Chief Keef, Kid Cudi, Assassin, King L, Charlie Wilson, and Frank Ocean, and contains production across songs from Mike Dean, Daft Punk, Noah Goldstein, Arca, Hudson Mohawke, and Travis Scott.[1]

The album's sound is sonically different than the rapper's previous efforts, taking inspiration from various genres such as chicago drill, dancehall, acid house, and industrial music. West was inspired by minimalism from design, including architecture, and was particularly interested in the works of Le Corbusier, and visited The Louvre several times while in Paris. Like his previous efforts, In this album, he uses unconventional samples including, most notably, the vocal refrain from Nina Simone's cover of "Strange Fruit".

Promotion for the album was included worldwide video projections of the album's music and live television performances, and West opted to not release singles out of the album in the United States until July, with the song "Black Skinhead". The song would be followed by "Bound 2", which would be released as the album's second single the following month.

Yeezus received acclaim from music critics who praised the different sound of the album. However, there was divided opinions from fans emerging after the album had an internet leak four days before the album was released. Yeezus debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 327,000 copies in its first week of release,[2] but sales soon diminished. It topped the charts of 30 other countries, including the United Kingdom and Australia. After less than two months of release, the album was certified gold by the RIAA.[3]

Contents

• 1 Background
• 2 Composition
  • 2.1 Music and Style
• 3 Cover art
• 4 Singles
• 5 Track listing
• 6 Sample credits
• 7 External links
• 8 References

Background[]

Along with his 2010 release My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, West collaborated with long time friend Jay-Z for Watch The Throne in 2011 and was apart of the compilation album of GOOD Music artist, Cruel Summer in 2012. Producer No ID announced that Kanye is working on a new album and will be released after Cruel Summer. West enlisted several collaborators, including Kid Cudi, Charlie Wilson, S1, The Heatmakerz, Mike Dean, Hudson Mohawke, Skrillex, Young Chop, Chief Keef, Frank Ocean, Odd Future, Travis Scott, The-Dream, Cyhi the Prynce, Malik Yusef, King L, John Legend, James Blake, RZA, Mase and Pusha T for Yeezus.[4]

The album was originally titled Thank God for Drugs, This title was officially confirmed in early 2020 when designer Joe Perez shared some concept artwork for the album on social media.[5] West began recording for the album in mid-2012 with collaborators including No ID and DJ Khaled. The first recording sessions began in January of 2013 in his own personal loft's living room at a Paris hotel, referred to in the album's credits as the "No Name Hotel". West kept compositions simple in order to hear the tracks more clearly; too much bass or complexity would simply overpower the room's poor acoustics. Neighbors complained over the beats emanating from the loft space, which sometimes lasted through the night and reportedly, him and his girlfriend Kim Kardashian had moved to the loft in order for West to begin work on the album.[6]

The atmosphere in the studio was described by Evian Christ as "very focused," and West once again brought in several close collaborators. All involved were given a song to work on and return the next day to sit and critique, a process Anthony Kilhoffer compared to an art class. West set parameters regarding sound and style, insisting that there be no "bass wobbles" reminiscent of dubstep. The album's recording process was described as "very raw" by Thomas Bangalter of the French electronic duo Daft Punk, who produced four songs for the album, adding that West was "rapping – kind of screaming primally, actually."

On May 1, 2013, West used the social networking site Twitter to post a single message reading "June Eighteen," leading several media outlets to speculate that the post referred to the release date of West's upcoming album.[7] On May 17, he began promotion of the album by unveiling the previously unreleased song "New Slaves" through video projections in 66 assorted locations. The following day, West appeared on the American late-night live television sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live and performed the songs "New Slaves" and "Black Skinhead."[8]

West made several last-minute alterations to Yeezus, enlisting Rick Rubin as an executive producer for additional recording mere days before its release; changes included re-recording whole songs and rewriting entire verses.[9] For several days in late May and early June 2013, West and a "rotating group of intimates, collaborators and hangers-on" holed up at Rubin's Shangri-La Studio in Malibu in service of completing the record. Rubin thought it impossible to meet the deadline and all involved ended up working long hours with no days off in order to complete the record. The rough cut played Rubin, originally with 16 tracks, ran nearly three and a half hours long. West's orders to Rubin were to take the music in a "stripped-down minimal direction", often removing elements already recorded. Rubin gave as example "Bound", which was "a more middle of the road R&B song, done in an adult contemporary style" before Kanye decided to replace the musical backing with a minimalistic sample, "a single note baseline in the hook which we processed to have a punk edge in the Suicide tradition." Two days before the album had to be delivered to the label, West wrote and sung lyrics to two songs while also recording the vocals to three others in just two hours.

On September 6, 2013, Kanye West announced The Yeezus Tour, a North American tour to take place between October 19 through December 7, 2013.[10] The tour was marketed as his "first solo tour in 5 years", and featured Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T, A Tribe Called Quest and Travis Scott as a supporting acts. On October 30, 2013 while on the road to Vancouver, a truck carrying custom-made video screens and equipment for the show was involved in a car accident, the crash damaged the equipment beyond repair. The tour resumed on November 16, 2013, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The missed Chicago and Detroit shows were rescheduled however, the rest of the missed dates were cancelled, Def Jam cited routing logistics as the reason.

Composition[]

Music and Style[]

The music of the album has been described by Charles Aaron of Spin as "a hip hop album, not a rap album", because of how its sounds and subject matter are assembled together, and although listeners can hear "'punk' or 'post-punk' or 'industrial'" throughout, "hip-hop has always been about noise and dissonance and dance music as agitation". Slant Magazine's Ted Scheinman wrote that, with the album, West reconceives the "notion of what kind of music (or noise) can underpin hip-hop." According to music critic Greg Kot, Yeezus is a "hostile, abrasive and intentionally off-putting" album that combines "the worlds of" 1980s Chicago acid-house and 2013 Chicago drill music, 1990s industrial music, and the "avant-rap" of Saul Williams, Death Grips and Odd Future. The record "most closely resembles" 1990s industrial rock, during which the genre had a significant pop culture impact, with artists such as Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, and Marilyn Manson gaining success. The industrial scene created a "vast global underground community," and Esquire notes that one of its epicenters was in Chicago, where West was raised.

The album is primarily electronic in nature, and boasts distorted drum machines and "synthesizers that sound like they're malfunctioning, low-resolution samplers that add a pixelated digital aura to the most analog sounds." To this end, the album incorporates glitches reminiscent of CD skips or corrupted MP3's, and Auto-Tuned vocals are modulated to a point in which they are difficult to decipher. Esquire cites "On Sight" as an early example of the album's connection to electronic music, citing its "droning synthesizer tone," which is "modulated until the signal starts throwing off harshly treble-heavy spikes and begins to clip, as if it were overloading a digital audio processor."

Yeezus continues West's practice of eclectic samples: he employs an obscure Hindi sample on "I Am a God", and a sample of 1970s Hungarian rock group Omega on "New Slaves". "On Sight" interpolates a melody from "Sermon (He'll Give Us What We Really Need)" by the Holy Name of Mary Choral Family, although the track originally sampled an old vocal track from the original recording. As late as a week prior to release, lawyers were forced to track down the choir director and members of the choir on the South Side of Chicago in order to get clearance for such a sample. Def Jam executives were significantly worried enough the deal would not be in place in time for the record's deadline, and producers re-recorded the vocals with a new choir as the sample could not be cleared in enough time.

Cover art[]

The minimalist cover was made by was made by Joe Perez and Virgil Abloh, It displays a CD with red tape on the side, appearing like many bargain bin disks would. One of Kanye's major influences going into the project was his newfound love of minimalist art. This minimalism is a stark contrast with his last album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which had 5 different covers and the whole album being an artistic statement.

The front cover for Thank God for Drugs is a CD in a clear case with the album's title on the top and a parental advisory sticker on the case. The back cover depicts a figure on the back of the case with pills being plunged into it. The figure can also be seen doing the peace sign with the left hand while gripping another pill in its right hand.

The front cover for TGFD, The artwork was done by George Condo, the artist behind the covers for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010).Digital cover artwork, CD copies are packaged as shown.

Singles[]

Def Jam confirmed in late June 2013 that "Black Skinhead" would be serviced to American radio as the album's first single on July 2, 2013 and that a music video for the track was being produced.

In August 2013, it was revealed that "Bound 2" would be released as the second single from Yeezus. Bound 2" features vocals from American soul singer Charlie Wilson and incorporates numerous samples into its production, including prominent elements of the song "Bound" (1971) by soul group Ponderosa Twins Plus One.

In November 2013, producer Hudson Mohawke revealed that "Blood on the Leaves" would serve as the album's third single. West subsequently made the announcement in an interview on New York's 92.3 NOW.

Track listing[]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1	On Sight	Che Smith, Cydel Young, Derick Watkins, Elon Rutberg, Daft Punk, Kanye West, Keith Carter, Sr., MIKE DEAN, Malik Jones	MIKE DEAN, Benji B, Kanye West	2:37
2	Black Skinhead	Cydel Young, Derick Watkins, Elon Rutberg, Daft Punk, Kanye West, MIKE DEAN, Malik Jones, Sakiya Sandifer, Wasalu Jaco	Kanye West	3:08
3	I Am A God (feat. God)	Anand Bakshi, Che Smith, Clifton Bailey, Cydel Young, Derek Watkins, Elon Rutberg, Harvel Hart, Justin Vernon, Kanye West, MIKE DEAN, Malik Jones, Rahul Burman, Ross Birchard	Hudson Mohawke, Daft Punk, MIKE DEAN, Kanye West	3:51
4	New Slaves (feat. Frank Ocean)	Anna Adamis, Ben Bronfman, Che Smith, Christopher Breaux, Cydell Young, Elon Rutberg, Gabor Presser. Kanye West, Louis Johnson, MIKE DEAN, Malik Jones, Sakiya Sandifer	Ben Bronfman, Che Smith, SAK PASE, Noah Goldstein, Travis Scott, MIKE DEAN, Kanye West	4:16
5	Hold My Liquor (feat. Chief Keef & Justin Vernon)	Alejandra Ghersi, Che Smith, Cydel Young, Derick Watkins, Elon Rutberg, Justin Vernon, Kanye West, Keith Cozart, MIKE DEAN, Malik Jonas	Noah Goldstein, Arca, MIKE DEAN, Kanye West	5:27
6	I'm In It (feat. Justin Vernon & Assassin)	Andre Harris, Carvin Haggins, Cydel Young, Elon Rutberg, Jeffrey Campbell, Jill Scott, Josh Leary, Justin Vernon, Kanye West, Kenny Lattimore, MIKE DEAN, Malik Jones, Sakiya Sandifer, Vidal Davis	Dom Solo, Evian Christ, Arca, Noah Goldstein, MIKE DEAN, Kanye West	3:55
7	Blood On the Leaves	Cydel Young, Elon Rutberg, Kanye West, Lewis Allen, MIKE DEAN, Malik Jones, Ross Birchard, Tony Williams	Arca, TNGHT, Carlos "6-July" Broady, MIKE DEAN, 88-Keys, Kanye West	6:00
8	Guilt Trip (feat. Kid Cudi)	Al Terik Wardrick, Chris Martin, Cydel Young, Dupre Kelly, Kanye West, Keith Elam, Kevin Hansford, Larry Griffin Jr., MIKE DEAN, Marlon Williams, Scott Mescudi, Terrence Thornton, Tyree Pittman	51, Ackeejuice Rockers, Travis Scott, MIKE DEAN, Kanye West	4:04
9	Send It Up (feat. King Louie)	Ab-Liva, Alejandra Ghersi, Colin York, Elon Rutberg, Kanye West, Louis Johnson, Lowell Dunbar, MIKE DEAN, Michael Levy, Moses Davis, Sakiya Sandifer	Brodinski, Gesaffelstein, Arca, Daft Punk, MIKE DEAN, Kanye West	2:58
10	Bound 2 (feat. Charlie Wilson)	Bobby Massey, Charlie Wilson, Che Smith, Cydel Young, Elon Rutberg, John Stephens, Kanye West, MIKE DEAN, Malik Jones, Norman Whiteside, Robert Dukes, Ronnie Self, Sakiya Sandifer	Eric Danchick, Che Smith, Noah Goldstein, MIKE DEAN, No I.D., Kanye West	3:49

Sample credits[]

• "On Sight" contains interpolations of "Sermon (He'll Give Us What We Really Need)", written by Keith Carter, Sr., and performed by Holy Name of Mary Choral Family, re-sung by a different choir.
• "I Am a God (feat. God)" contains samples of "Forward Inna Dem Clothes", written by Clifton Bailey III and H. Hart, and performed by Capleton; and samples of "Are Zindagi Hai Khel", written by Anand Bakshi and Rahul Burman, and performed by Burman, Manna Dey, and Asha Bhosle.
• "New Slaves" contains samples of "Gyöngyhajú lány", written by Gábor Presser and Anna Adamis, and performed by Omega.
• "Hold My Liquor" contains samples of "Feminine", written and performed by Arca.
• "I'm in It" contains samples of "Lately", written by Vidal Davis, Carvin Haggins, * Andre Harris, Kenny Lattimore, and Jill Scott, and performed by Lattimore.
• "Blood on the Leaves" contains samples of "Strange Fruit", written by Lewis Allan, and performed by Nina Simone; and samples of "R U Ready", written by Ross Birchard and Lunice Pierre, and performed by TNGHT.
• "Guilt Trip" contains interpolations of "Chief Rocka", written by Keith Elam, Kevin Hansford, Dupre Kelly, Christopher Martin, Alterick Wardrick and Marlon Williams, and performed by Lords of the Underground; and samples of "Blocka", written by Terrence Thornton and Tyree Pittman, and performed by Pusha T featuring Travis Scott and Popcaan.
• "Send It Up" contains samples of "Memories", written by Anthony Moses Davis, Collin York and Lowell Dunbar, and performed by Beenie Man.
• "Bound 2" contains samples of "Aeroplane (Reprise)", written by Norman Whiteside, and performed by Wee; samples of "Bound", written by Bobby Massey and Robert Dukes, and performed by Ponderosa Twins Plus One; and samples of "Sweet Nothin's", written by Ronnie Self, and performed by Brenda Lee.

External links[]

• Yeezus on Linkfire

References[]

1. ↑ https://tidal.com/album/20753857
2. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/its-official-kanye-wests-yeezus-sells-327000-debuts-at-no-1-on-billboard-1568152/
3. ↑ https://www.riaa.com/gold-%20platinum/?se=Kanye+west&tab_active=default-award&col=certification_date&ord=asc
4. ↑ https://www.joerperez.com/yeezus/
5. ↑ https://www.kanyetothe.com/threads/kanye-west-6th-solo-possible-title-thank-god-for-drugs.408312/
6. ↑ https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/04/kanye-west-kim-kardashian-paris_n_2806085.html
7. ↑ https://www.variancemagazine.com/23-the-latest/6277-kanye-wests-new-album-yeezus-due-june-18-will-debut-new-music-on-snl
8. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuhl6Ji5zHM
9. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jun/11/kanye-west-yeezus-last-minute
10. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/kanye-west-announces-the-yeezus-tour-5687102/