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Yeezus is the upcoming sixth studio album by American hip hop recording artist Kanye West. It is set to be released on June 18, 2013, by Roc-A-Fella Records, with distribution by Def Jam Recordings. It was primarily recorded in Paris, with West enlisting various artists and close collaborators for work and production on the album. Initial promotion of Yeezus included worldwide video projections of the album's music and live television performances.

Background

In July 2012, producer No I.D. revealed that he had been working with West on the latter's sixth solo studio album and went on to state that it would be released after Cruel Summer (2012), a collaborative compilation album between members of West's record label GOOD Music. At a February 2013 concert in Paris, West himself acknowledged his work on the album and stated that he would "be back in about a couple months." Reports later emerged that he had moved to a loft in the city to work on the album. Describing the album's musical style, West explained:

It's like trap and drill and house. I knew that I wanted to have a deep Chicago influence on this album, and I would listen to like, old Chicago house music. I think that even 'Black Skinhead' could border on house, 'On Sight' sounds like acid house, and then 'I Am a God' obviously sounds, like, super house."

West enlisted several close collaborators, including singer-songwriter The-Dream and spoken word artist Malik Yusef, to contribute to the album. The album's recording process was described as "very raw" by Thomas Bangalter of French electronic duo Daft Punk, who produced two songs for the album. Other artists reported to have worked with West include S1, The Heatmakerz, Mike Dean, Hudson Mohawke, Skrillex, Young Chop, Chief Keef, Frank Ocean, Odd Future, Travis Scott, King L, John Legend, James Blake, RZA, Mase and Pusha T. On May 18, 2013, Hot 97 radio host Peter Rosenberg stated that Def Jam Recordings executives had listened to the final product, describing the album as "dark."

West made several last-minute alterations to Yeezus, enlisting Rick Rubin as an executive producer for additional recording mere days before its release. This included re-recording whole songs or rewriting entire verses within days of the albums release date. Rubin spoke on the recording process with West on Yeezus saying, "the album was to be turned in two days later. Kanye was planning to go to Milan that night. Five songs still needed vocals and two or three of them still needed lyrics. In the two hours before had to run out to catch the plane, he did exactly that: finished all lyrics." On June 12, 2013, a short video was released on West's website of him recording "I Am a God" in Malibu with Rick Rubin.

Release and promotion

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. On May 17, he began promotion of the album by unveiling the previously unreleased song "New Slaves" through video projections in sixty-six 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." He subsequently revealed the album's cover and title, Yeezus, on his official website. The iTunes Store made Yeezus available for pre-order on May 20, but the listing was subsequently taken down for unknown reasons. On May 29, A.P.C. founder Jean Touitou unveiled an advertisement for Yeezus which stated that the album would not be available for pre-order. Speaking about the album's minimal promotion, West stated: "With this album, we ain't drop no single to radio. We ain't got no NBA campaign, nothing like that. Shit, we ain't even got no cover. We just made some real music." He spoke of radio play and said "But honestly, at this point, when I listen to radio, that ain't what I wanna be no more." The final Yeezus track listing was confirmed by the French branch of Amazon.com on June 12.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
New York Daily News
The Independent
Rolling Stone
USA Today

Jim Farber of the New York Daily News, in an early review of the leaked edition of Yeezus, called the record "a chutzpah classic," elaborating that "the entire disc rethinks industrial rock of the early ’90s for both a new era and genre." Steve Jones of USA Today called the album "immediately stunning he created a polarizing, multi-layered body of work that probably will be debated all summer." Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone called Yeezus a "brilliant, obsessive-compulsive career auto-correct," comparing it to similarly abrasive records: "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."

Track listing

Samples

• "On Sight" contains interpolations of "He'll Give Us What We Really Need" by Holy Name of Mary Choral Family.
• "I Am a 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.
• "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", written by Norman Whiteside, and performed by Wee; samples of "Bound", written by Bobby Massey and B. Duke, and performed by Ponderosa Twins Plus One; and samples of "Sweet Nothin's", performed by Brenda Lee.

Release history

References

1. Markman, Rob (July 5, 2012). "Kanye West To Drop Solo LP After G.O.O.D.'s Cruel Summer". MTV News. MTV. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
2. Sargent, Jordan (February 26, 2013). "Watch Kanye West Fuel His New Album's Rumor Mill in Paris". Spin. New York. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
3. Sieczkowski, Cavan (March 4, 2013). "Kanye West, Kim Kardashian Moving To Paris So He Can Work On New Album (Report)". The Huffington Post. New York. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
4. ^ Caramanica, Jon (June 11, 2013). "Behind Kanye's Mask". The New York Times. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
5. Ryan, Sean (February 13, 2013). "Kanye West Enlists The-Dream, Malik Yusef For New Solo Album". HipHopDX. Cheri Media Group. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
6. Weiner, Jonah (April 13, 2013). "Daft Punk Reveal Secrets of New Album – Exclusive". Rolling Stone. New York. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
7. Diep, Eric (April 15, 2013). "Here Are the Artists Working on Kanye West's Next Album So Far". XXL. New York. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
8. Martinez, Erika (May 17, 2013). "Kanye West: Everything We Know About His Upcoming Album (Infographic)". Billboard. Los Angeles. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
9. Pearlman, Mischa (June 11, 2013). "Kanye West, 'Yeezus', Track-By-Track First Listen". NME. London. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
10. ^ "Kanye West to Release New Album 'Yeezus' on June 18". Rap-Up. Los Angeles. May 18, 2013. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
11. ^ Michaels, Sean (June 11, 2013). "Kanye West still working on Yeezus even though it's due out next week". The Guardian. London. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
12. http://www.complex.com/music/2013/06/rick-rubin-kanye-west-yeezus-two-hours
13. Gleckman, Alexander (June 12, 2013). "Watch Kanye West Record 'I Am A God'". Complex. New York. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
14. Wood, Mikael (May 2, 2013). "Kanye West reveals June 18 as ... something". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
15. Battan, Carrie (May 17, 2013). "Watch: Kanye West Projects New Video "New Slaves" on Buildings Around the World". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
16. Coleman, Miriam (May 19, 2013). "Kanye West Unleashes the Fury of 'Black Skinhead' on 'SNL'". Rolling Stone. New York. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
17. "Kanye West Unveils 'Yeezus' Artwork". Rap-Up. Los Angeles. May 18, 2013. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
18. Battan, Carrie (May 20, 2013). "Update: Kanye's Yeezus Listing Removed From iTunes". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
19. Ahmed, Insanul (May 29, 2013). "Looks Like Kanye West's 'Yeezus' Won't Be Available For Pre-Order". Complex. New York. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
20. http://www.complex.com/music/2013/06/kanye-west-yeezus-leak-reaction/songs-for-radio
21. ^ "Yeezus: Kanye West" (in French). Amazon.fr. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
22. ^ Jim Farber (June 14, 2013). "Review: Yeezus". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 14, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
23. Hardeep Phull (June 14, 2013). "Review: Yeezus". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 14, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
24. ^ Jon Dolan (June 14, 2013). "Review: Yeezus". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 14, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
25. ^ Steve Jones (June 14, 2013). "Review: Yeezus". USA Today. Retrieved June 14, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
26. http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2013/06/kanye-wests-yeezus-hits-the-internet-four-days-early/
27. "Chaos over Kanye's album". New York Post. June 10, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
28. ^ Yeezus (Media notes). Def Jam Recordings. 2013. {{cite AV media notes}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |artist= ignored (|others= suggested) (help)
29. Minsker, Evan (June 10, 2013). "Kanye Confirms Daft Punk, Justin Vernon, TNGHT, Chief Keef, Rick Rubin Worked on Yeezus". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
30. Montgomery, James (June 4, 2013). "Who's Kanye West Sampling In Retro Yeezus Preview?". MTV News. MTV. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
31. "Yeezus – West, Kanye". JB Hi-Fi. Archived from the original on June 14, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
32. Fritz, Ben (December 15, 2008). "IMDb links up with Box Office". Variety.
33. "Yeezus, Kanye West". June 14, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
34. "Hear Ye". Hits Daily Double. June 12, 2013. Archived from the original on June 14, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2013.

External links

• Official website

• Pages with empty short description
• 2013 albums
• Kanye West albums
• Albums produced by Kanye West
• Def Jam Recordings albums
• English-language albums
• Roc-A-Fella Records albums
• Upcoming albums
• Hip hop albums by American artists
• Albums produced by Rick Rubin
• Albums produced by Rza
• Albums produced by No I.D.
• Albums produced by The Heatmakerz
• Albums produced by Young Chop
• Albums produced by Mike Dean