Skip to footer

Yeezus: New album is 'all about giving,' says Kanye

'Yeezus,' the latest offering from Kanye West, is coming out June 18. 'Yeezus' has a dark, moody vibe that represents a departure from his earlier work.

|
Evan Agostini / AP / File
Kanye West, seen here at a Metropolitan Museum of Art gala last May, is releasing his new album, 'Yeezus,' on June 18. He performed some tracks from the album Sunday night, including 'Black Skinhead' and 'New Slaves.'
  • By Mesfin Fekadu Associated Press

| NEW YORK

Kanye West says his new album is all about giving.

The multiplatinum rapper held a listening for "Yeezus" late Monday in New York City. Jay-Z and wife Beyoncé were among the few hundred attendees.

West said his sixth effort will showcase his growth over the last two years and that he "had to learn about giving ... this whole process is all about giving."

"I feel like I know who I am," said West, who turned 36 on Saturday.

"Yeezus" is out June 18. It has a dark, moody vibe that expands beyond his last two solo efforts, 2010's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" and 2008's "808s & Heartbreak." It's also a departure from his first three albums, which featured a plethora of radio hits.

West held the listening in the loading dock of Milk Studios in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. The room was dark as lights burst onto the walls to display colorful visuals that assisted the 10 songs the rapper played.

Busta Rhymes also attended the listening. West's new album features Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and rapper Chief Keef.

West and girlfriend Kim Kardashian are expecting their first child.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Yeezus: New album is 'all about giving,' says Kanye
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0613/Yeezus-New-album-is-all-about-giving-says-Kanye
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe