Big Risks and Big Rewards: Yeezus Rises

Yeezus album art...or lack thereof

Ever since I was in middle school, the sounds of Kanye West have been a big part of my life. For better and worse, he's constantly been a prominent part of American culture since 2004. His major albums over that time - The College Dropout (2004), Late Registration (2005), Graduation (2007), 808s & Heartbreak (2008), My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), and Watch the Throne (with Jay-Z) (2011) - have all been wild successes, each carrying a different brand of hip-hop, emotion, attitude, and style. However, his newest (and blasphemously named) album - Yeezus (2013) - may be his most radical artistic endeavor yet.
When Yeezus became available this past Good Friday via internet leak, I couldn't resist taking an early listen. At first, I wasn't sure if I had downloaded the right file, or this was even a Kanye album. It's jarringly different than his previous work - an almost-visceral, anger-filled in-your-face affair to be exact. And at only 10 songs long (most of Kanye's are in the 13-15 range), its over in a hurry (40ish min). It's hard to process and unpack every song the first time through, but after a few dozen  listens (the car at high volume is the best place), I've found that Yeezus, despite being one of the larger musical risks Kanye has taken, is really an excellent album. It might even be one of my favorites from him yet.
I could bore you with every detail of each track, but it's really better if you just give it a listen yourself. I will, however, provide some quick notes and highlights in the form of a two tier-ranking system:
Must-listens: "Black Skinhead" will probably be the most commercially popular song of this not-commercially friendly album simply because, well, its the catchiest - a driving, pumped-up beat that (if edited) could probably be played in stadiums or arenas. "New Slaves" is maybe the most important song - released early on buildings around the world, it's filled with anti-everything rants and defines the dark anger brewing throughout Yeezus. My personal favorite is "Blood On the Leaves", not only for an awesomely-powerful song sample of Nina Simone's take on "Strange Fruit" (it's a pretty sad song, so be warned), but when the heavy horns and drums come in a little after a minute, they truly blow you away. Easily the most quotable (to a comic level) is the over-the-top "I am a God"....all I can say is that next time I'm "in a French-ass restaurant", I'll be sure to shout "HURRY UP WITH MY DAMN CROISSANTS!" As a side note: stuff like this is why I love Kanye. Nobody is better at being intentionally unintentionally hilarious. A master of self-awareness, he's always in on the joke we don't think he's in on because we're the one making it about him in disbelief. I mean, come on, who else would name their album Yeezus?! 
Also-rans: "On Sight", "Bound 2", "Send it Up", "Guilt Trip", "Hold my Liquor", "I'm in it"... in that order. None of them are particularly bad, but they don't reach the level the aforementioned 4 others do. I'm not going to spend more time on these, but be sure to check them out and let me know what you think.
Overall, Yeezus is a huge-yet-successful risk. It certainly holds up well with his other albums, even though nothing will every touch My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Like I said before, Kanye always picks new directions with each album, and so far he hasn't missed. There are rumors or a Yeezus tour, so if you're really into it hit up the concert. I went to the Watch the Throne tour and I think Kanye is the best live-act there is. In other news, Kanye just became a father...and I can't wait to see how that factors into his next album.