If there is anything more moving than “New Slaves” unprecedented attack on institutionalized racism than the start of new slaves, I’ve never heard it. “My mommy was born in the era when clean water was served to the whiter skin” it is a little later when Kanye West spits out “You’re throwing contracts at me, you know we niggers can’t read.” He means not “niggers” not n—as, not nigga. West is saying something about racism, about how money for black people influences the way racism occurs not the racism itself. Frank Ocean takes over the track with a gorgeous melody and by the end of the song, West is coming on your Hampton wive’s sweater and can see the blood on the leaves, using it for the reason it was written and not the extended metaphor of break up and down love “Blood on The Leaves” three songs later on… Yeezus.
The problem with West is that he is as great as he says he is but not what he says he is great at: West is a genius modern pop music maker and nothing released this year sounds close to it” nothing, not hip hop, rap, Jay Z, Danny Brown, J Cole -nobody is doing this. Beyonce uses his influence for one song but otherwise this mix of harangued fury, industrial strength beats and wildly brilliant samples have lived alone with mostly rock critics and rap geeks flipping out and the rest of the world.
But West can’t sell his stuff any more, despite a genius live show I saw THREE TIMES (actually once was just before it dropped at Randall’s Island, a show I will never ever forget) and the album is a restrained, 40 minute, consistent album which never waivers in sound and in vision even with his ode to Kim, “Bound 2” . How this didn’t hit big is way beyond me.
I don’t know enough about West to say whether his Air Yeezy sneakers will change the game but I know when it comes to music he is light years ahead sonically yo the closest competitor working the mainstream street and I know Yeezus is a major achievement weakened because West is a blowhard. He claims there is a Deluxe version on its way for next year and it is already the album to beat in 2014.
You wanna buy J. Cole instead instead of West? It’s alright with me, “You’re tired, I’m tired, Jesus wept.”