One of my resolutions for 2014 is to listen to more music. As it to actually listen to it. When I was little, I would lay down and do nothing but listen to music. These days, it tends to be more of a background activity. Something to put on while I do the washing up or drive to work or clean out my guinea pigs or play games or something else.
This afternoon, I turned off my phone, loaded up Spotify and put on Kanye West’s album Yeezus. I chose this album partly because of my continuing quest to broaden my horizons and partly because it was top or near the top of a large number of best albums of 2013 lists.
To my knowledge, I’d not consciously listened to any Kanye before. At least, not knowing that it was him. As with a lot of my cultural knowledge, all I knew about Kanye I had learnt from South Park. So I knew that he had finally admitted to being a gay fish and is dating a Kardasian who looks like a hobbit.
I make no secret that I think the three best rappers I’ve heard are all in the Beastie Boys which may be seen as a flippant statement but it’s one I agree with. I do listen to rap when I’m in the mood and I’m especially fond of Mos Def but come on, he’s no Ad Rock, is he?
As such, it might be difficult for Kanye to win a place in my affections but I went into this with an open mind, wanting to like it.
Musically the album is okay. In fact, it is exceptional in places, sounding at times like music from a sci-fi dsytopia. There are certain things he does which, musically, are incredible and even occasionally haunting. I was quite enjoying Yeezus but then four things ruined it for me.
1. Autotune. I was aware that Kanye uses autotune. I’m not sure that anyone has ever pointed out that it is the most horrible sounding thing imaginable. I would guess that he uses it because he can’t actually sing. It must be pretty embarrassing to not be the best singer on your own record. Like seriously, it’s just so annoying and he uses it so much. I wonder if he ever actually listens to his own records?
2. Jumping from style to style. There are a couple of points where a song on this album will just shift entirely in style and won’t flow. I know that it’s probably trying to be quirky or cool or something like that, but music primarily is meant to be enjoyable. It’s not too enjoyable if it feels uncomfortable.
3. Kanye’s sense of self importance. I was aware from South Park and the claim that he is the next Nelson Mandela that Kanye thinks he is pretty much the most important person the the planet. There is a song on Yeezus called I am a god. The lyrics go “I am a god, I am a god, I am a god, I am a god.” In my opinion, delusions of grandeur are only cool when they are funny.
4. Misogynism. All of the above complaints pale into insignificance compared to the inherent misogyny on the album. I have no idea how many times the word “bitch” is said on this album. I estimate it to be roughly one metric fucktonne. The worst line is probably “one more fuck and I can own ya” which shows that Kanye values and respects women and sees them as a valuable human being in their own right. Oh wait, no, sorry. I think I got that wrong. I’m sure Kanye thinks he’s being a lyrical genius with lines such as “I’d rather be a dick than a swallower” but really it makes him just sound like an idiot.
Now there may be layers of meaning in his lyrics that I’m ignoring. He may well be trying to make cutting social commentary as one or two reviews claim but still, I can’t get past the fact that he just sounds moronic.
It is a little bit annoying really, because there is quite a bit that musically, I enjoy but really, I can’t listen to this album again for the above reasons. I’m not sure how so many critics and listeners can get past these things and rate the album so highly.
Apparently Midnight Memories by One Direction was the best selling album in the UK last year. I might have to tackle that next.