Chances are that if you’ve been even mildly following music in the past year, you’ve heard about Kanye West releasing his smash hit album “Yeezus.” “Yeezus” garnered major critical acclaim and success, reaching number one in 31 countries and maintaining an 85 out of 100 rating on Metacritic, which presents an average score normalized from major music critics. The album combines elements of pop, hip-hop (especially Chicago drill), and industrial music, making it innovative in the mainstream eye.
But was it really all that innovative? “Yeezus,” as an album, has been often compared to releases from experimental hip-hop trio Death Grips. But what’s a “Death Grip?”
Death Grips is a group that has grown from an underground phenomenon to number three on the Billboard US Top Heatseekers and within the top 50 lists of both the US Rap Albums and US Top Rock Albums seemingly overnight.
Like Kanye’s Yeezus, their albums combine elements of industrial and hip-hop, but their efforts tend to be far more abstract and experimental, both musically and lyrically. Because of their more intangible characteristics, I find the comparison to be reaching.
Instead, “Yeezus” has far more in common with an album titled “The Wilderness of North America,” which was released in 2008 by Texas rapper Michael LaCour, who goes by the stage name “B L A C K I E… In All Caps, With Spaces.” Like Kanye, LaCour can be heard rapping over beats that are abrasive and heavily distorted, but has been doing so nearly six years before West, and two years before Death Grips.
One thing the various music also shares is the “smash cuts” or glitch-like samples of songs that may seem out of place or dated in comparison to the way the rest of the song is presented (in West’s case this would be “Gyöngyhajú lány” by Omega being sampled in “New Slaves” while LaCour uses “Wild World” by Cat Stevens in “B L A C K I E… Is Still Alive.”)
Another commonality in the two releases is the lyrical content. In both cases, the albums discuss racism, consumerism and stereotypes.
There are, however, plenty of other albums that are notable for similar styles that are most definitely worth checking out.
Provided is a list of essential experimental hip-hop albums that arguably contributed to the sound of “Yeezus.” Some are more abstract than others, but all tend to maintain a general sense of “Well, I guess this could still be considered rap.”
