If you had describe
Yeezus in one word what would it be? Crazy? Dope? Whack? Dafuq? While all of those might be fitting, for me, one of the best answers would have to be “futuristic”. Kanye is always on the cutting edge and this album has a gritty, electronic oriented sound, which sounds straight out of 2025. Whether or not it is a “classic” remains to be seen, but I can tell you that despite whatever year or period a classic comes from, it is timeless. Personally, I don’t think
Yeezus is a legendary album that transcends an era, but I might be proved wrong; only time will tell. I know this mash-up of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” and Ye’s “New Slaves” is evidence against my argument. The fact that Kanye’s edgy cut seems to fit so perfectly with an 80’s classic might go along way in showing that, while definitely futuristic,
Yeezus just might be timeless too.
While this mash-up, created by Dan Chamberlain, is tearing up the internetz right now, there are a few more
Yeezus remixes that too deserve some attention. Like “Personal Yeezus” these two other mash-ups also go a long way in proving that there is more than meets the eye on the controversial album.
While it might be hard to believe, Kanye and Eminem have never done a song together. It seems odd that, arguably the two most well-known, impactful emcees have never teamed up; perhaps if they did the world would explode. By the way, I am not counting “Forever”, because that isn’t really their own song. While we can only imagine what an original collab would sound like, thanks to this mash-up of “Forgot About Dre” and “Black Skinhead” we can get an idea. While the vocals feel a little to sped up, I think Em’s energy is perfect for the cut. There aren’t too many emcees who could keep up with the frenetic, booming beat and would end up getting overwhelmed by the production. Em, however has one of the stronger, forceful flow in the game and could definitely do Kanye’s extreme production justice, as evident on this mash-up.
I remember when I heard the “Bound” sample on
Yeezus, I was like “WHY WONT KANYE SPIT OVER THIS????” The soul-sample Ye is much more my speed and while its nice to know he can still create a dope soul beat, it is quite frustrating that he doesn’t ever rap over them anymore. I know he is a trendsetter and never does the same thing twice, but damnit, I have been hankering for some old West for years now. This “Bound”/”Homecoming” mash-ups, more or less, gives me what I have been craving; while its not an original verse, it’ll have to do. It really shows his genus; Kanye can make something this dope and only use it as a small section as part of something larger. Most rappers would kill for that beat, but for Kanye it is only a stepping-stone.
Given the popularity of “Personal Yeezus” I expect that it wont be too long until there are a million-zillion (yes that is a real number) more mash-ups that come out. I am not complaining though, its always fun to hear a song be given new life. While there might be many-a-copycats, I don’t think anyone will match Chamberlain’s effort; the songs sound like they were made for each other and he deserves a ton of credit for fusing them so perfectly.
Nathan Update: Saw this one, throwing it in as well:
Nathan Update 2: A lot more
here.