“I’m trying to right my wrongs/ But it’s funny, them same wrongs/ Helped me write this song” - from “Touch the Sky”Ī less comic but rather more heartfelt discussion of essentially the same point. The fact that Yeezus includes a song called “I Am a God” rather demonstrates that nothing has changed on that front, and this line is both hilarious and a neat summation of the entire Kanye West experience, for better or worse. Part of West’s endlessly confounding persona is the way he seems both aware of his own absurdity and also keen to take that absurdity to the greatest extremes possible. “In the French restaurant/ Hurry up with my damn croissants!” - from “I Am a God” There are loads more, of course, so feel free to add your suggestions.

It seems like a good time, then, to survey both the best and worst of West’s lyricism from over the years. Yeezus is just like his other records in this respect, dispensing lines both strikingly good and strikingly awful, often in pretty close proximity.

It’s easy to ridicule West’s lyrics - and god knows sometimes they deserve it - but he often walks a fine line between genius and disaster, and both extremes are compelling in their own strange way. While only the terminally curmudgeonly doubt Kanye West’s abilities as a producer, he’s always been a more divisive figure on the microphone.

Rap genius kanye west dark fantasy