page_title: Yeezus
section_title: Public reaction
hierarchical_section_title: Yeezus / Commercial performance / Public reaction
caption_attribution_description: English: Performing in New York City
context_page_description: Yeezus is the sixth studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on June 18, 2013, through Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. West gathered a number of artists and close collaborators for the production, including Mike Dean, Daft Punk, Noah Goldstein, Arca, Hudson Mohawke, and Travis Scott. The album also features guest vocals from Justin Vernon, Chief Keef, Kid Cudi, Assassin, King L, Charlie Wilson, and Frank Ocean.
  Fifteen days before its release date, West enlisted the help of producer Rick Rubin to strip down the sound of Yeezus in favor of a more minimalist approach. The album has been characterized as West's most experimental and sonically abrasive work. It draws from an array of genres, including industrial, acid house, electro, punk, and Chicago drill. West's unconventional use of samples is also contained, as on "Blood on the Leaves", which contains a sample from Nina Simone's 1965 rendition of "Strange Fruit".
  No album artwork is featured on the release of the former, and the physical CD edition was released in a clear jewel box with only a strip of red tape and sample credits.
context_section_description: Public reaction to Yeezus, including its unorthodox and deliberate lack of promotion as well as its brash and aggressive sound, was mixed. Yeezus was noted as one of the most anticipated releases of 2013 by major publications, but the lack of a major radio single was regarded as a risky move. Regardless, radio stations have still played tracks from Yeezus on air, despite it being a departure from the normal playlists found on hip-hop stations. "When I listen to radio, that ain't where I wanna be no more", stated West at his headlining June 9, 2013 Governor's Ball performance, where he unveiled several tracks from the record for the first time. Rolling Stone summarized the audience's response: "Half the crowd cheered, half almost audibly rolled their eyes". West's June 11 interview with Jon Caramanica of The New York Times was similarly viewed with a mixed reaction, with many outlets mocking West's seemingly vain statements. In the article, West compares himself to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and refers to himself as "the nucleus of all society".
  Within four days prior to the release, Yeezus was leaked online. The New York Times wrote that the leak "stirred up a Twitter frenzy" and received widespread media coverage. The Washington Post commented on the significance of the leak: "Kanye West’s new album didn’t leak online over the weekend. It gushed out into the pop ecosystem like a million barrels of renegade crude — ominous, mesmerizing and of great consequence". Critics were very kind to Yeezus regarding critical reviews, but others viewed the release as "musical and commercial suicide", and "fans live-blogged their own befuddlement on Twitter and Facebook". The New Yorker's Sasha Frere-Jones suggests that Yeezus may be preferred over any of West's previous works in coming decades by a new generation due to the "lean vibrancy" of the album. "One of the most fascinating aspects of Yeezus' arrival is the discursive crisis it's caused, produced by a fast-react culture colliding with a work of art so confounding", wrote The Atlantic's columnist Jack Hamilton.
  West was criticized by the UK and US Parkinson's disease Associations for controversial lyrics in lead-song "On Sight". Oasis lead member Liam Gallagher criticized Yeezus over its title, saying of West: "He's a fucking idiot. You'll never see Jesus banging his head". American rapper Hopsin dissed West over the album within the lyrics of his single "Hop Is Back" in October 2013, while the music video included Hopsin reenacting one of West's numerous encounters with the paparazzi. That same month, Hopsin went on to explain the diss, admitting that he is a fan of West who likes a lot of his older music and viewing Yeezus as West "on some straight up [bullshit]". Hopsin elaborated, stating: "The Godliness stuff, nah. He can do whatever he wants. He's a human. He's entitled to do whatever".
  Jay-Z described Yeezus as "polarizing", though claimed "that's what great art is" and that West "pushes the genre forward" with his experimentation. Expressing his thoughts on the mixed reception of the album in October 2013, fellow rapper Lupe Fiasco viewed himself as not facing a similar uphill battle. Lupe Fiasco continued, assuring that his then-upcoming studio album Tetsuo & Youth (2015) wouldn't be as open for interpretation as Yeezus. In February 2014, English singer Lily Allen announced that she would title her third studio album Sheezus. In an interview with Australian radio station Nova, Allen stated that she is terrified that West would think it's "a diss rather than a tribute". She said that she thinks West is brilliant and praised him for speaking his mind all the time. That same month, Jack White, a vocal advocate of analog recording, remarked that Yeezus "is obviously recorded on Pro Tools but sounds unbelievable, because it is very simple and there aren't a lot of components going on, and this really allows the songs to shine. Plus he mixed using analogue components". West went on to make the claim in October 2015 that despite many people rating My Beautiful Dark Twisted 
caption: West at the Governors Ball Music Festival, where he performed several tracks from Yeezus publicly for the first time.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "more from the show: http://normalmag.com/reviews/live-reviews/2013/06/09/photos-videos-kanye-west-performed-at-the-governors-ball-music-festival-nyc/", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5D Mark III", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.4 (Macintosh)", "Image DateTime": "2013:06:22 03:26:13", "Image ExifOffset": "378", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1008", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7728", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "1600", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "1600", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:06:09 23:05:24", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:06:09 23:05:24", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "995723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-3", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "105", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "85", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "160", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "160", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "4", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "152027004761", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[24, 105, 0/0, 0/0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "00001a9b5f"}