This was a comment placed on our site under the Kanye West Yeezus Album Review:
Prok says: I think you should start to put more intellectual effort in your reviews. Saying that an album is good or bad, or just comparing it to other artists (in this case Death Grips) is not enough. It also seems that you have not listened to Yeezus enough to really be able to express an informed opinion. I don’t get any perspective from you on samples used (e.g. Nina Simone’s strange fruit) or sudden shifts of some song’s message and vibe (e.g. I am a god) and what these things might mean, considering they were done on purpose. For instance, in the song black skinhead, Kanye is gasping himself after saying “you are not breathing, you are gasping”. As if he is often talking to himself in the mirror. Or take the “blood on the leaves” citations, which are clearly linked to the Abel Meerpol poem about lynching. I miss these types of analyses that are clearly needed if you want to discuss works from calibres like Kanye West. So, I must say, whilst being a fan of your reviews, recently I am a bit disappointed by the mediocre-ness of your analyses. Please step your game up.
Apparently, you didn’t watch or listen to the review very closely. We didn’t only say it was good or bad and then compare it to other artists. This is the issue I have with a lot of our viewers. When we, collectively, say we like an album (regardless of details) you praise us. When we, collectively, don’t like an album (again, regardless of details) we get a bunch of complaints and insults. It’s almost sad how fickle and see-through some of you are. If we all said “man, this Yeezus album is the truth” and went on throughout the video talking about just how much we loved it (again, regardless of details), your mouth would remain shut aside from, maybe, a “Great review, fellas! I agree!” But the fact that most of us disliked it, you felt the need to tell us to “step our game up.” Hahaha! So, if we’d mentioned all of the things you mentioned, but we still didn’t like it, I assume you expect me to believe that you’d be totally fine with the review? Or, be honest, would you just find something else that we said that you disagreed with so you’d have an excuse to complain about, what really boils down to, the fact that we just didn’t agree with your opinion? But you’re disappointed in us. OK.
The majority of us didn’t enjoy the album and we said why (the beats were poorly done, the content/lyrics were lackluster, the delivery was lame, the idea was weak). The comparison to DG was based on the fact that the overall idea of making this type of album didn’t come off sincere to me. It came off contrived and sounded (to me, mostly) that he took the idea from DG (as well as Saul Williams). I don’t remember one single time saying that the album actually sounded like Death Grips (and I challenge you send me a time on the video that contradicts that statement). I’m not a psychic and I wasn’t there when he made this album, but I’d be willing to bet that what went through his mind was “These guys are doing something different and it’s not that popular in my circle yet, so lemme put out something along those same lines. It’ll look like I started this shit. Kanye changes the game again!” But y’all really think he is just so genius that he came up with all this on his own…coincidentally around the same time that that particular sound was expanding and blowing up. And, coincidentally, after he put out an album that would have been almost impossible to follow up (production, lyrically and creatively). But you’re disappointed in us. OK.
I don’t know you, but, when I was talking about Stans…you are the type of person I was talking about. Comments like “calibres like Kanye West” just enforce my assumption that you are a standard Kanye fanatic who would accept a steaming corn-filled turd if Kanye handed it to you wrapped in canvas paper and told you it was this new thing he came up with called “shart.” (I just realized how genius “shart” is and copyrighted it, by the way, so don’t try to use it as your own or I’ll sue.) People like you totally skim over the points we made in favor of attempting to pretend that you’re in Kanye’s head, because, if you can convince someone that you get the depth of his genius, then you sound deep yourself. In reality, that’s the exact opposite of the case. I’m fine with you disagreeing with our assessment of the album, but your reply simply sounds like a Kanye super-fan bothered because we didn’t reinforce your opinion in our review. Just because we didn’t mention something during a 20 minute long (edited) video doesn’t mean we didn’t hear or get it. Your attempt to show that you grasped these incredibly basic elements that you think we missed is pretentious and presumptuous…and, needless to say, incorrect. But you’re disappointed in us. OK.
“I think you should start to put more intellectual effort in your reviews.” That’s hilarious that you think that because you knew a Nina Simone sample (because, God, Nina Simone references aren’t totally popular with pseudo-intellectual hip hop heads) or noticed a shift in the song’s “message and vibe” (so obvious it wasn’t worth mentioning) or because you know a hugely famous Abel “Meerpol” poem (which is about as basic as namedropping Langston Hughes nowadays) makes you sound intelligent. The references to “Strange Fruit” were painfully obvious and I, personally, saw no need to bring that up because understanding that poem isn’t going to make the song any better. That’s just that surface level deepness that we were talking about…but apparently it worked on some people. By the way, you spelled Meeropol wrong, Mr. Intellectual. But you’re disappointed in us. OK.
Sure, sometimes it totally helps you to understand an album once you get where the context of the album is coming from. But what it does not do is make an album good. It makes no difference where the samples came from, nor does it matter which poem certain lyrics/ideas were taken from (like this is the first time Kanye has reinterpreted or recited other’s poems). What matters is, at the end of the day, is it a good listen? The answer for us is “not really.” Everyone on this show is a Kanye West fan. The difference is we’re not going to let our fandom blind us to the point of accepting what we see as second-rate work as, instead, a work a genius. But you’re disappointed in us. OK.
I understand that people’s opinions rarely mirror each other so I enjoy it when people disagree with me. I especially enjoy it when they give detailed reasons that outline things that we may have overlooked. However, this whole thing from you comes across as one big “look how smart I am.” Shit like this is so transparent to me that it’s laughable. Had you presented these facts and ideas as “Hey, guys, did you know this?” versus “You guys are so dumb you didn’t know this, but I did because I’m smarter than you!” you would have actually accomplished something here aside from eliciting this long response from me…but, shit, I’m at work and bored so I figured…why not? Telling us to be more intellectual in a music review is, not only pompous, but totally ridiculous given the framework of the show. We don’t present ourselves as music historians. We are five average guys who happen to love music. Nothing more. We could sit around and talk about BPMs, note pitch or any musical misstep that a technical music nerd would notice, but none of those things matter and they’re not relevant to our show. We have a short period of time to keep you guys’ attention so we choose to simply discuss whether we liked an album and the basics of why or why not. But you’re disappointed in us. OK.
Like I’ve said, if you enjoy an album, that’s great. Don’t let anyone take that away from you. Especially dudes you don’t even know except through a computer screen. Be the biggest fan you can be and support that artist to the fullest. I feel that praise is totally necessary when you genuinely feel that the artist deserves your accolades. But when an artist puts out work that you feel doesn’t meet their potential, call them on it. The result is they don’t care, they progress or they quit. And looking at it from a music fan standpoint, I’d rather see an artist quit than diminish their catalog by putting out bullshit or remaining stagnant and not progressing the culture. So, regardless of the artist, what you’ll always get from us is an honest opinion. It may not be as detailed as you want it. It may not be as cohesive as you want it. It may not be as researched as you want it. Lastly, and most importantly, it may not be as imitative of your own opinion as you want it. But it will be honest. I hope you continue to watch, but if the aspects of our videos that I just laid out truly disappoint you, then, honestly, I have to say I’m happy to disappoint.
People need to actually listen to what you all are saying. I’m a big Budden and Slaughterhouse fan and when you all weren’t feeling them, I wasn’t mad. After listening to the albums, I agreed with some of what you said and disagreed with other parts. Fanboys need not apply here. We’re all here to listen to good music and everyone has a definition of that. There’s not enough respect in this world for opinions other than your own.
DUDE, THIS REPLY WAS POETIC GENIUS. “BUT YOU’RE DISSAPOINTED IN US. OK.” GENIUS. YOU GRILLED THIS MOTHERFUCKER.
Yeezus sucks, there is no more than that, people that liked it are wrong and that is the only truth. 🙂
Myke, you will always remain to be my favorite out of DEHH. I got love for everybody else too, Kinge, Beezy, Feefo and Modest Media.
Personally I liked Yeezus, though I admit it is the weakest LP in Kanye West’s catalog thus far. Kanye West will remain my favorite musical artist, and I am a huge fan of his, but Myke was right when saying we cannot let our fandom blind us of whats in front of us. I will never defend this album and say that it is the greatest or that everything Kanye makes is genius because he’s still human; he’s gonna make some missteps here and there. As an entire project, Yeezus is a mess with little to no concept involved, lacking in lyrics, and some of the weirdest beats Kanye has ever put on an album. But with that being said I can pop in the CD and still enjoy Yeezus because the music is enjoyable and fun to listen to despite the underwhelming subject matter.
The only thing I disagree in the review is the statement Myke said with “If Kanye didn’t make this album, people wouldn’t like it”. I’m on the fence about that remark because I strongly believe that no one else besides Kanye would be capable to make an album like this. Yes the production isn’t the most original, and industrial Hip Hop isn’t new either, but the music on this album is still true to Kanye’s personality and egoism that no one can imitate. He may not be pushing the boundaries of Hip Hop like he did with his past efforts, but he is pushing is own musical pallet and experimenting with sounds he hasn’t tried before which is what I always love about Kanye. Hate it or love it, Kanye will never give you the same thing twice. I can’t imagine anybody else making “I Am a God” or “Bound 2”. Some of the songs on this album are flat out stupid as far as lyrics go, and he could have thought of way more interesting topics to write about, but for the most part the production is still worth a listen in my opinion.
Anyways, shout out to Myke and the rest of DEHH, you guys keep everything 100 and stay honest in your reviews and I always respect your guys’s opinions. Don’t let the haters and narcissistic Hip Hop heads bring you guys down/
I legit agree with everything you said. I feel the same. I’m glad to hear an opinion that isn’t so black in white.
I feel like that is the biggest problem with Yeezus. I feel like when people praise this album, they only praise it for kanye’s personality. That’s why I liked both DEHH review and The Needle Drop’s review. They didn’t review it as a Kanye West album, they reviewed it as they would any other type of album and once they adopted that mindset, they found a bunch of flaws.
YALL ARE ALL WRONG! EVER HEARD OF THE ARTIST TRICKY?
I love Yeezus in the let me wild out to this crazy shit sense, hey! it’s the truth. But I Love the review for the simple fact that they took the time to do it for us. They seem like cool homies I get to hang with a couple of times a week and yeah they might be tripping imo sometimes but it’s all for the love of the culture at the end. I have had my eyes open to so much hip hop just from some of the name drops and of course reviews so I’m grateful. Usually it’s the underground stuff I learn about. The commercial reviews are always interesting but we all have our pre-conceived ideas about those artists in most cases. Which is why a lot of DEHH fans probably wait to here these guys agree with what they believe is the ish. and when they don’t, well. Probably why the requests come in the way they do. Most of us aren’t eager to watch a review of something we wouldn’t consider in the first place. ok I’m rambling now…… in short DEHH is like extended fam to me
Hey Enquisidor,
watch the new RA review, this one is really well done and does exactly what we are asking for. But hey, cannot neglect the fact that it feels great that at least one person came up that would somehow agree to my argument. I agree, the way I expressed it was not right. So it harmed my argument and made it too vulnerable. Lesson learned.
Forgot the link in my comment
http://www.reddit.com/r/hiphopheads/comments/1gnfht/yeezus_i_think_a_lot_of_you_guys_missed_the/
While the commenter you’re responding to doesn’t seem to have the greatest attitude, I agree that you missed out on bringing up the shifts in songs and the Nina Simone sample. I agree with a lot of your gripes with the album and I think your video made a lot of good points. But I would really love to hear your thoughts on the stuff you’re calling intellectual bullshit. Like, why don’t you think the NIna Simone sample worked? Why didn’t you enjoy the juxtaposition between the sample and the song’s lyrical content? Personally, I had to listen to that song a couple times over until I was able to accept that the sample might have actually worked because the emotional dissonance was just so great.
I’m posting a link to a thread below that I think might help you appreciate the album. I understand that you guys have a lot of pressure and not much time to prepare for the review, but I think this is a point you guys should have picked up on. Think of it this way: this is obviously a big marketing experiment for Kanye. At the same time, his baby was just born, and the content of the album covers a lot of different aspects of Kanye’s career. I know that in your reviews you’re just trying to tell us whether you enjoyed the album or not, and I respect that, but I think you guys all missed the fact that this is not an album Kanye wants people to enjoy. My personal theory is that he just wanted to get a bunch of shit off his chest that he didn’t want to address in his music after his kid was born, and also maybe he feels he’s fallen off a bit lately and he needed to make an attempt at something drastic to feel like he’s not gonna fall off as a father too. A lot of artists release breakup albums that are clearly not meant to be enjoyed, but we still listen to them and appreciate them for being interesting sidesteps in the artist’s career. Like, take Marvin Gaye’s Here My Dear. Other than Funky Space Reincarnation it’s not a very fun listen. But as the album that came after I Want You, it’s an incredibly emotional and engaging listen, because you are thinking to yourself ‘how did he get from there to here? what could have possibly happened in the middle?’ A lot of people have really deep personal connection to that album because they see themselves in that position, they ask themselves that same question.
I really liked the album. I love listening to it. I love that he put Bon Iver and Chief Keef on the same hook. I love that he put a gangsta reggae verse in I’m in It; it seemed like an evolution from Mercy. (In fact the reggae verses were my favorite part of the album, and I’m disappointed you didn’t mention them when you were talking about whether you enjoyed the album). I like that he repped his hometown through acid house, Chief Keef, and King Louie. I like the sequence from New Slaves to Guilt Trip, because it sounds surprisingly cohesive when you realize how often he changed up the flow and style of the songs. And that’s the kind of stuff I would have loved to hear from you guys. I don’t know why, but you seem to avoid that kind of stuff when you discuss some albums. Maybe you just didn’t have time to listen to it that carefully. I understand that, we all have busy lives. But on that point, I don’t think you guys should feel so pressured to do what people ask you. You could have taken another week to digest Yeezus if you needed to. If you end up with a better review it’ll outweigh the viewers you lose on the lateness. I think you guys think way too much about the demand and not enough about the quality of the supply. But then again, you haven’t been as active this year as last, and I’m curious about the reason for that. I was almost cringing watching the Crunk Muzik review because you guys seemed kinda nervous, and in a lot of the reviews earlier in the year you guys seem really depressed. I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes but if you’re on hard times you should tell us more about it because we’ll take your opinions less harshly. You guys have a loyal fanbase that cares about you. If you tell us more about the problems you’re not only will we respond better to your videos, we may actually be able to help you when you need it.
Forgot the link in my comment
http://www.reddit.com/r/hiphopheads/comments/1gnfht/yeezus_i_think_a_lot_of_you_guys_missed_the/
Also, after reading the comments the guy you’re responding to does seem like he has a good attitude. He said himself that he was pissed and the comment didn’t help. So sorry to that guy for saying you had a bad attitude.
What you get from DEHH is your traditionalist rap-fan buddies opinion. That is great for traditionalist rap records,but I cannot help thinking that some of the context of this record was lost on you. I hear the term term EDM mentioned once, but without any substance around it. I don’t get the impression that you are familiar with people like Hudson Mohawke or Evian Christ, instead you go the easy route of battering the Death Grips-argument. I wouldn’t expect it to change your opinion on the record, but I really missed some journalistic effort and research in this review.
Also, we know Kanye is a character by now, and I feel that expecting him to be deep is a bit too much. Personal, yes maybe, but his political ramblings are never gonna be coherent. On the contrary I do think he deserves props for sounding increasingly urgent by each album. Save for Run the Jewels, which rapper above 35 years of age sounds as urgent as Kanye?
Kanye is never going to be in front of the underground, but I think he has made a fresh-sounding, singular record. Like everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, this is mine…
You can’t make those assumptions based on not hearing Hudson or Evian brought up in this conversation. This album isn’t as deep as I believe everyone is making it out to be. And yes, you heard EDM, but the term Noise Hop was used as well. I’m sure Death Grips was used because he was the one people constantly used as a comparison to this album. It is therefore easy to say they’re taking the easy way out especially with us having two reviews on Death Grips which leads to an easy point of reference for discussion, particularly with Myke. However, I do recall Myke throwing Blackie’s name around as well. Nocando’s “Tits and Explosions”, Blu’s “No York”, Busdriver production on Flashbang Grenada’s album, or what about Shabazz Palaces. I mean, we can easily throw around names all day but that won’t color the conversation of Kanye’s album any differently.
I disagree. I don’t hear a sense of urgency from Kanye on this album. If you mean rushed, then you may have a point. This album does sound rushed and Rick Rubin hints at that in multiple interviews. Kanye is not urgent on this record.
I agree 100% Ken. This album to me sounds extremely rushed. When you hear my Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy it sounds like Kanye put a lot of thought and effort into that project. It sounded different than most projects and it was unique. This sounds like a rushed project that Rick Rubin forced from Kanye. Fuck this album honestly.
I, personally, didn’t care to argue the EDM label because that was never my point. It was Ken’s and I totally understood it. And I didn’t mention Hudson Mohawke or Evian Christ because, no, prior to now I had no idea who they were. And now that I’ve listened to them, I wish I was still completely ignorant to their music because I think everything I’ve heard was terrible. Furthermore, had I known who they were I still wouldn’t have mentioned them because there was no reason to. Nothing I heard on Kanye’s record sounded like them nor implied that he was going for that sound. I mentioned Death Grips because they were on a major, which means it is far more likely that Kanye heard them over BLACKIE, K The I, Dalek, Techno Animal, Marz, Clipping or anything else. I figured that would have been pretty easy to pick up on, but, apparently a LOT of people misunderstood that. So I’ll eat it. Your attempt to lump all of us in with “traditionalist rap-fans” is totally ignorant and incorrect. If you think all of us are traditionalist rap fans then clearly you’ve only watched a select few videos and know nothing about us. So, like you were a bit bothered by our review for certain reasons, I’ll put those same reasons back on you. Before you made these comments, you should have inserted some journalistic effort and research into us as people. Perhaps you wouldn’t have been so blindly presumptuous.
To answer your question about rappers over 35 who sound as urgent as Kanye…sure. Common, Nas, Black Thought, Aesop Rock, Slug, Ghostface…do I need to go on?
Again, it’s cool that you like the album, but stop acting like, because we didn’t, we’re missing something.
I Agree with Myke. If you like the album thats fine but If I say I dont like it dont start bitching. I personally thought Yeezus was a disaster. And I like weird music.. if its DONE WELL. To me the idea process was lame, it seemed rushed, and it seems like he was following a bandwagon. I would honestly rather listen to Mac Millers new project and thats pretty sad considering Kanyes previous albums. But if people like it then they like it. Either that or their stuck with this crazy idea that if Kanye puts out something its automatically amazing. All I can say is I thought it was a Disaster.
damn.
the reason i love DEHH is because they don’t pretend to be a bunch of smart-asses or spew intellectual whatever just to make themselves sound smart. they’re just a bunch of dudes who love hiphop on a very pure level, care about what each other has to say, and at the same time, really knows A LOT about hip hop. i haven’t watched ALL of your reviews but i’ve watched most of it and i don’t think you guys changed in the way you review at all. he doesn’t want to admit it but prok just mad ya’ll guys didn’t praise kanye and his genius and profound decision to gasp after the line “you are not breathing, you are gasping”. don’t change DEHH.
The fact that he ethered the shit out of this guy and went so hard I bet, just guessing here, is not cus this guy particularily was so outlandish and pissed him off that much. It’s that like I said in another comment, I’m the biggest kanye fan, but sooooo many people just take whatever he does and make up bs that he did not intend and make his music than what it is. All I hope from Kanye fans and music fans in general is to take a Yeezus and just be like hey if I like it. I liked it, probs his worst or close to worst album but it was still cool and interesting and i fuck with it. Nothing else, no saying kanye fell off and no saying other people are retarded for seeing the genius in this album.
To be honest, I wasn’t mad at all. I had fun with this. If I was mad, I wouldn’t have responded at all.
Yeah I’m another person who really liked Yeezus. I don’t see the point of losing my mind over someone not liking this album. Music is art and art is HIGHLY subjective. I knew right away that this album wouldn’t be for everyone. Couple that with the fact that Kanye has been a huge jackass in the media the last few years and people are just getting sick of him as a person. I personally think asshole Kanye is (unintentionally) hilarious but not everyone gets a kick out of his ridiculous antics. So congratulations on another great review and I’mma let you finish but… j/k. The funny thing is I probably hated 808’s and Heartbreaks just as much as you guys hated Yeezus so how could I be mad?
I can’t leave it with my little facebook comment, I am sorry. First of all I don’t like to get a stan stamp just because I am making an argument. The subject is more complicated than this. I am not even a Kanye fan. Which was not the point. The point was that many of your expressed opinions could have more substance to them. And yes, Myke, you might be one of the bunch doing that most often. But I was addressing my critique to the whole review, not you specifically. And I have the feeling that most reviews in 2011 and 2012 were more analytical and thus more fun that what I am seeing now. Maybe I am tryng to be a smart ass. Maybe my comment screams “look how smart I am”. But as a matter of fact, the amount of time you invested in responding proves that deep inside you know that I touched on a good point. Otherwise, why all the barking? Can’t I make grown ass man arguments without being called a stan? Can’t I defend an album even though I am not a fan of the artist per se? Or does that not fit with your very black and white point of views that make you categorize every liitle fart, shit even every subgengre of rap. I could do the same and just claim you don’t like the album just because you are a lame hipster trying hard to outsmart your team.
But hey, I am a fan of your show, and I love the reviews. But you gotta be a bit more analytical and intelligent to justify the “new voice of Hip Hop” claim in the right corner of your website. Give us the 2011 and 2012 flavor, where you still had the guts to disagree sometimes, without Feefo looking at what Myke would say and trying to preach to the choir, just because Myke likes to ether everyone making a point based on his perspective. I favor opinion over trying to be a smart oportunist or cliche rider.
Anyway, still a big fan of DEHH, but will not stop to just fucking post what I think.
I feel like you still don’t get the clue dude. It is sad. And no, you didn’t touched on any good point, and yes, the amount of time he invested in responding is clearly to show you, that you were wrong on each of your words. Easy
Okay. Maybe Myke was a little too eager to pursue someone who disagreed with DEHH’s analysis of Yeezus. Maybe he wasn’t. Before I make any judgement on you, or you as a music listener, or you as an advocate of Yeezus, let me ask you: do you think that DEHH’s failure to discuss these points has anything to do with their overall view of the rating? Had they recognized all of the points that you made, do you think they would have rated Yeezus more favorably?
That’s actually a really good question.
OK, my last comment on this, just to answer the one question. I have no issue if people dislike the album, in fact any album. I din’t even say I loved the album explicitly, which is why I was wondering about so many people giving me a stan stamp. But ok I was polemic so I guess I have to live with polemic responses. Fair enough. I was not disappointed by you guys not liking the album at all, I was disappointed by the lack of reason. “This is his fisher price of experimental music” was the smartest thing of those 20 min? C’mon, you can do better than that. You actually have put up good reasons later, more in the comments, not so much in the review.
whaaat?! feefo listened to the album before myke and he was already tweeting about how he doesn’t like it even before myke was actually able to listen to the album.
“without Feefo looking at what Myke would say and trying to preach to the choir, just because Myke likes to ether everyone making a point based on his perspective.”->this is the stupidest thing i’ve heard. feefo and myke have disagreed with each other more times than they’ve agreed with each other and they don’t care.
besides, what do u want? people arguing or opposing each other for the sake of it?!
The new voice of hip hop has nothing to do with being super analytical or overly in-depth. It has to do with being honest and open about how we feel about a project at that very moment. The fact is this, if you want to know about the Nina Simone sample or that freaking poem, go read about it on other review sites. They talk about it because they can’t say the things that we can say with the passion and honesty in which we do it. That’s why we’re the new voice of hip hop because we don’t play by industry rules.
There are reviews in which we have disagreed on an album such as Crucial, Cruel Summer, Pro Letarians, Chance The Rapper, etc. so how are we all agreeing on a project?
Here’s what I think about the sample: I don’t give a fuck. I saw it as people attempting to find or create a level of tension that’s not there. Nina has been sampled before. This is nothing new. The poem? Again, nothing new here. Billy Holiday recorded the song before in addition to Nina Simone but it’s possible and HIGHLY likely that he only used it because it was a good sample because that’s what Kanye do — SAMPLES SHIT! He did it because it sounded good and not for any thing deep. I mean, listen to the song. It’s not even addressing racism in any form or fashion. So if you wanted us to talk about that, it would not have been good at all. Come on man. Open your eyes. Kanye’s not that deep dog.
Sorry Kinge. I was a bit pissed when I wrote that and I take that back. It wasn’t even helping my argument. Mea culpa.
OK, since you felt the need to copy and paste your response from Facebook on here, I’ll do the same.
I think it’s sad just how ridiculous you sound. I’m a lame hipster trying to outsmart my team by saying I don’t like Kanye even though I praised every other album, including 808s as well as the GOOD Music comp, which most of the other guys didn’t care for. Good point where you’re, again, wrong. Kanye is one of my favorite rappers so trying to imply that I dogged this out as a means to get some sort of scene points is just adding to your list of idiotic sentiments. And you asked why all the barking? Bruh, that was far from barking. It was boredom at work and a desire to prove a point and clear the air. Not just to you…but to everyone who keeps regurgitating the same garbage. I replied to you because so many of you guys tend to say the same stupid shit over and over again thinking you’re pushing us into a corner. I did that write up not because you made a good point (biggest HA possible)…but because these weak statements (which you called “points”) were so painfully elementary that I felt the need to break them down to, hopefully, prevent more people like you from implying the same pretentious “I get Kanye and you don’t” bullshit. You didn’t get the Stan stamp because you made an argument. You got the Stan stamp because you really made no argument. All you did was try to insult us and show how you saw elements in the record that we didn’t see (cuz you’re so deep) simply based on the fact that we didn’t discuss those elements in the video. You tried to come at us on some “I’m smarter than you” type shit and it didn’t work…and now you’re upset. That’s life, bro. And, God, if being a smart ass was your purpose, you failed miserably. You’re probably better off quitting while you’re behind…but, hey, post what you think all you want. I doubt I’d waste any more time on it.
I only did that because you took it out on facebook in an (admittably nice) PR way, portraying me as a disgruntled Kanye fan. But ok, after having slept 2 nights over it I guess my initial comment was somewhat too insulting. But hey, I don’t think you got the shitstorm. I got it 🙂
I totally agree with everything you said here. Some people really need to re-evaluate what they think an ‘opinion’ is, and a lot of people have to stop treating music quality like it’s a measurable, factual thing. I’m just going to use this comment space to talk about my favorite kinds of comments under the Yeezus video.
“You didn’t listen enough to get it!” – This argument is pointless, because it implies that everyone will come to the conclusion that it is good if they simply listen to it enough. Which implies that any opinion on that album that isn’t, “Perfect album!” only exists because the listener hasn’t forced themselves to like it through repetition yet. Does this commenter buy that argument in any other artistic medium? If they go to a restaurant and don’t like the food they receive, would the waiter shouting, “COME BACK AND TRY IT AGAIN IT’S GOOD FOOD YOU’LL LIKE IT!” in their faces convince them otherwise?
“Kanye is trying something new and different, that doesn’t mean it’s bad!” – These guys didn’t watch the review. For some weird reason, even though you point out why this doesn’t quality as cutting-edge experimental music, they reach the conclusion that it’s just too experimental, and that clearly anyone who doesn’t like it is against experimental music. This one makes me want to punch myself in the face over and over again.
“You didn’t like THAT part?! THAT was intentional!” I’ve had this argument used against me when I said that Chief Keef being autotuned on ‘Hold my Liquor’ was intentional. They told me that Kanye West autotuned Chief Keef singing terrible lyrics to make a statement. Just because something is intentional or means something doesn’t mean that its inclusion isn’t horrible. by that logic, a 2 hour long album of fart sounds is artistic genius if the creator had a particular meaning behind every fart.
I don’t HATE this album, but I really do hate some of the half-assed arguments people are using in support of it. Instead of people saying, “The album is good because of X reason, Y reason, and Z reason.” I’m seeing people saying, “The album is good because you’re wrong if you think it’s bad!” Which is a mediocre argument.
I have heard plenty of weird music with some being good and some being bad. Repeat listens don’t change that at all. And doing something intentional does not make it good to all listeners.
Great response, man, I agree with everything you said. Well put.
Myke you should read this: http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/9157-the-yeezus-sessions/. None of them even listened to Death Grips while making Yeezus.
Yeah, so Noah Goldstein said that they didn’t listen to Death Grips during the recording of the album. That doesn’t mean that Kanye didn’t decide to go in this direction as a response to their sound.
John, not to be an asshole, but you seemed to have missed the entire point even though I’ve laid it out more than once (including in this article). I’m not saying that the producers listened to Death Grips. I’m saying that I believe, like hands575 said before me, that this album was a response to the “noise hop” sound and movement. It’s a pretty basic point.
Myke, don’t you understand? Kanye is a God, he can’t create something that isn’t perfect! Everything he touches is gold, everything he references is incredibly deep, intellectual and should be discussed for the following couple of decades! We’re just mere mortals in front of Yeezus and we could only hope to one day understand his music, which is way too complex for you if you don’t like it.
I’m working on grasping this understanding. But thank you. It’s taking time, but I’m getting there…
damn. he got ethered and take overed. take ethered.
Take ethered. hahaha
You guys are doing fine Myke. Do not give in to the stans. The review you guys gave was an honest one. Just because its Ye doesnt mean it has to be liked instantly. This album is not for everyone and while I personally enjoyed it I will not go on a tirade against people who dislike it. Everyone has their own taste and opinions. Thanks for the dope reviews! The show is incredible. Peace
That one kanye west fan articulated himself with more control and eloquence then any DEHH review i’ve ever seen. he actually made points rather than saying “HE COPIED DEATH GRIPS” “IT BUMPS IN THE WHIP” Kudos to for him being able to SUPPORT his opinion with DETAILS. You’re going to have to take this L on this one,fam.
Hahaha! Whatever you say, Stanley.
Who is Stanley?
I am the biggest fan of Kanye. I did not agree with a good amount of what myke was saying in the original review. But he made some good points and overall I gave this album a 7.2 on my blog so I thought this wasn’t a first fisher price experimental album lol (although that was funny) I thought yeezus was better and less remedial than what they were saying. HOWEVER on this post i AGREED with every thing he said about this fucker trying to hate on DEHH. It annoys me when people stan the shit out of Kanye cus it makes people say “he’s overrated” and that bothers me because I thought Yeezus had a good idea but overall lyrically weak and thematically inisignificant is what kept it from being great. But no, this guy just sounded like a guy who think he’s smart for noticing a couple of obvious samples and shit.. SMH stanley
And you are the type of viewer that I appreciate. I’m totally fine with people liking the album. I’m totally fine with people thinking I’m full of shit. I’m totally fine with people saying they don’t agree with me at all. But you be a dick, I’m gonna be a dick back. It’s that simple. My comments were not to everyone that likes this album, but to the people that know damn well they are only listening to this based on the person that made it. So, thanks, Rohan, for being an opinionated, but cool dude.
you slow, stanley
Are you even a hip hop fan?? My God Stanley is universal for a deranged fan who has crossed over from dick riding into a “single white female.”
Dude, stan from Eminem’s song Stan. In other words, “Dickrider”
Are you serious? He didn’t support anything that hasn’t been said before so none of his points were impressive. Do you know how many times I have seen people talk about the Nina Simone line? Come one man.