Dissect - S8E12 - Finale: The YEEZUS Tour

Episode Date: July 29, 2021

In our Season 8 finale, we dissect the narrative and stage design of Kanye West's 2013 Yeezus Tour. In this five act show, Kanye uses songs from his entire catalog to mythologize his life Follow Cole's new show Key Notes on Spotify. Limited Season 8 merchandise is available at shop.dissectpodcast.com. Follow @dissectpodcast on Twitter and Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey everyone, a couple announcements before today's episode. This week, we're celebrating the eight-year anniversary of Yeezis with a few special events, including a live taping of our next Dysect episode, and a brand-new animated analysis video all about how Kanye West tells stories through his samples. To find out more about these events, follow at Dysect podcast on Twitter or Instagram, where we have all the dates and times posted. Also, last week I announced a new show that I created and will be hosting called Keynotes. Keynotes is an interactive music.

show where full songs play seamlessly with my original analysis. It's a really cool format where I'll be analyzing multiple artists and genres per episode unified by a central theme. So definitely follow Keynotes on Spotify now using the link in the show notes or just search Keynotes. That's two words, key notes on Spotify. The first episode of Keynotes premieres Tuesday, June 29th and will fill the gap between seasons of Dysect. So definitely check it out. All right, that's everything. Enjoy today's episode. From Spotify, this is Dissect, long-form musical analysis broken into short digestible episodes. I'm your host, Cole Kushner.

Today we conclude our season-long analysis of Yeez-Sys by Kanye West. On our last episode, we dissected the album's final track, Bound 2, the conclusion of the Yeez's character's album-long journey. After failing to overthrow the corporations that control society through materialism, Yisus descended into a world of sex and drugs, using his celebrity to escape the pain he concealed with a mask, a machismo. The album's centerpiece Blood on the Leaves revealed that a

woman Yeezus once loved was stolen by the limelight, and we understood that his revolutionary ideas were not just socially motivated, they were personal too. Following this emotional breakthrough, Guilt Trip showed Yeezus preparing to move on, while send it up found Yeezus back in the club,

indulging in all the ways we know are problematic for him. Then, on the album's final track, Bound 2, Yisis finally meets the one girl worth a thousand of those other girls he'd been sleeping. with. Uh-huh, honey. Close your eyes and let the word paint a thousand pictures.

One good girl is worth a thousand bitches. Bam! Both sonically and narratively, Boundtou paid off on all the major motifs set up throughout the album. The song's major key tonality and soul sample sound resolved the album musically. Meanwhile, Yeezus, meeting the love of his life, resolved God giving us what we need foreshadowed on onsite, and the arrival of a divine woman foreshadowed on new slaves. Now, normally on our finale episodes, we begin with an extended recap of the album,

but today we're actually going to do things a little differently. Instead of recapping the album, we're going to dissect the Yeez's tour, the elaborate 2013 show that expands the narrative of Yeez's to encompass Kanye's entire catalog as well as key stage props, symbolic lighting elements, and projections. Unpacking these additional elements will enhance our understanding of the Yeez's album and the larger message Kanye West's storyteller was trying to convey in this period. period of his artistic career. And so, for the final time this season, let's dissect. The Yeez's tour was a massive production. Its elaborate stage setup centered around an enormous

50-foot-tall mountain with a large circular projection screen behind it. At the foot of the mountain, a narrow walkway that resembled a fashion show catwalk extended out to a second, smaller, triangular stage placed toward the middle of the arena. This ambitious setup was utilized similar to a Broadway show, as it becomes the backdrop for an elaborate story that takes place over the course of the two-hour-plus performance. While the Yiz's album itself contains a pretty clear narrative arc, Kanye and his creative team expanded this arc to create a five-act structure segmented by title cards, fighting, rising, falling, searching, and finding. Kanye and his team also drew inspiration from other stories to embellish and provide additional

context to the show. Elon Rutberg, the creative director for the tour, stated on Twitter that the show was a quote, peers splicing together of Dante's Inferno and the story of King David in the Bible, unquote. As such, a basic understanding of these stories will provide valuable context to our analysis of both the Jesus tour and the album itself. Dante's Inferno is the first part of a three-part epic

known as the Divine Comedy. Written in 1320, it's a timeless allegory about life and death told as a pilgrimage from hell to heaven. The inferno begins on Good Friday, the day that commemorates Christ's crucifixion, presenting us with the narrator Dante, whose life has gone astray, as he finds himself lost in a dark forest. Seeing the sun shining down on a holy mountain, Dante attempts to

climb it, but his path is blocked by three beasts. With a mountain representative of the path toward God and heaven, these beasts are generally understood to represent the sins, lust, pride, and greed, the very things that block our path to heaven. Frightened and helpless, Dante returns to the dark woods and encounters the ghost of Virgil, a great Roman poet, who has come to guide Dante back to his proper path. Virgil says that their journey will take them through hell, and that they will eventually reach heaven, where Dante's beloved Beatrice waits. Virgil adds that it was Beatrice who sent him to guide Dante after seeing him lost in the woods. The majority of Inferno continues with a long account of Dante's tour of hell. Dante and Virgil witnessed the horrific

punishments playing out upon the souls that have been sent there for living in sin while on earth. The levels of hell are described as rings that get more narrow the lower you go, like an inverted mountain. As the two descend lower and lower, the light grows dimmer, and the punishments get more and more gruesome and extreme, matching the level of sin committed. The story ends with Dante and Virgil reaching the lowest depths of hell, encountering the Bible's fallen angel Lucifer, then emerging back to Earth on Easter morning, the day of Jesus' resurrection, struck by the beauty of the stars and the heavens above. It's not until Dante witnesses God's sense of divine retribution and the horrors that result from a life of sin,

that he's able to correct himself and return to the proper path toward heaven. Of course, a lot of this resonates with the Yeezus character, a prideful man whose celebrity inflames his ego and allows him unending access to sin. Jesus then underwent his own journey through a kind of hellish landscape, only to be saved by a divine woman who helps realign his life back on the proper path. Next we turn to the biblical King David, the second story that inspired the Jesus tour narrative. The majority of David's story is told in the book of Samuel, which contrasts the rise and fall of Saul with the rise and eventual fall of David. Saul is exalted to the king of the Israelites,

but because he is dishonest, prideful, and lacks integrity, he disobeys God's commands, beginning a painful fall from power. As Saul is descending, David simultaneously ascends. David is a young, humble sheepherder, and the last person one might expect to be exalted to king. But despite his quote-unquote weaknesses, David defeats a giant named Goliath, who is bad-mouthing God. Despite no one else challenging Goliath due to his massive size, young David stepped to the challenge and even refused to wear armor because his faith in God was so strong. David receives adoration and respect from the Israelites. Threatened, Saul attempts to kill David multiple times, and despite having multiple opportunities to kill Saul,

David chooses not to, trusting that God will deal with Saul appropriately. Eventually, Saul is killed and David becomes king. The contrast between Saul and David becomes to exemplify the two approaches to power and responsibility. One leads with arrogance, pride, and dishonesty, serving himself over his people and God, while the other leads with humility, loyalty and love, putting his people and God first. But everything changes for King David when one day he sees a woman named Bathsheba bathing. Bathsheba was the wife of one of David's most loyal army general's Uriah, but despite this, David, overcome by lust, summons Bathsheba and takes advantage of his power and has sex with her. He also commands that Yariah be moved to the front line, where he's

killed in battle. King David and Bathsheba marry and eventually have children. As after these sins of lust, trail and abuse of power, that things start to fall apart for David. While David repents and God forgives him, God does not spare him punishment. Both of David's sons are eventually murdered, and he spends his last days on the throne a broken, depressed man. The stories of Saul and David are seen as character studies that are meant to show how we need to reflect on our flaws and deal with our dark side in order to live life on the proper path, and that God exalts high those who are low, who are humble, and punishes those who are prideful and immoral. And so in viewing both Dante's Inferno and the story of David, we can find a number of similarities.

Both feature protagonists who lost their path toward God, adrift in the proverbial dark forest, and both utilize a rising and falling motif to exhibit how humans must humble themselves and trust in God in order to be exalted high, both on earth and in the heavens. In Inferno, this expresses itself most prominently in the tall mountain that leads to the heavens, which is juxtaposed with the inverted mountain that leads down to hell. After living in sin, Dante lost his way and had to go low into the depths of hell and witnessed the eternal terror he would face if he continued his way were living before he could rise again.

Meanwhile, David first exemplified God's ideal of humility and faith, which brought him blessings and led to his ascension to kingship. He was low, so God exalted him high. But while on the throne, while high, David abused his power, lusted and betrayed. And as we know from Dante's story, there are punishments for the sins we commit. and David's life crumbles as God brought him low again. And so it's with these two stories and central motifs in mind that we dive into our analysis of the Yeezus Tour narrative.

In the opening moments of the tour, the arena would black out while an excerpt of Mozart's Lacrimosa played. Then a narrow cylindrical beam of light would shine down from above as if from the heavens onto the center stage. Twelve women dressed in plain white gowns and nude-colored nylon masks obscuring their faces would then walk onto the stage and surround this narrow beam of heavenly light. On the large projector screen above the enormous mountain, a black and white slide introduces the show's first act, titled Fighting. A female narrator reads its definition,

which is also displayed on the projector screen. Fighting, noun, violence or conflict, adjective, displaying combat or aggression, pugnacious, truculent, belligerent, bellicose. The narrator then quotes a passage from the Gospel of John, quote, light beamed into the world. but men and women ran toward darkness. After this is read, a brief unreleased track by Kanye begins to play, though Kanye himself is still nowhere to be found. Playing off voicemail message recordings, Kanye says, I am not here right now, I am not home.

Leave a message after the life, after I'm gone. It's after this brief intro that the opening moments of OnSight begin playing. For the first time, the women turn up. away from the light beam, now looking around at what this grimy distorted synth might be signaling. And of course, it's Yeezy approaching. He walks through the women and steps into the light beam precisely when he begins to rap. Yeezy season approaching, fuck whatever y'all been here. Fuck what, fuck whatever y'all been when a monster about to come alive again.

Jesus is wearing a mask designed by Mason Martin Margella. While we might take this moment for granted now, we have to imagine being in the audience expecting to see a a Kanye West concert. The fact that he's wearing a mask that completely obscures his face for nearly the entire show should signal to us that Kanye is in some sense playing a character, just as the women who are on stage with him. And it's here that we can pause to assess the opening moments of the show, as it's loaded with symbolism, thematic motifs, and narrative context that set up the entire concert, as well as add additional context to our analysis of Yeezus and general. The opening music from Mozart is part of a larger piece titled Requiem in D minor, which is means.

Music literally written for someone who's died. The specific part we heard comes from the Lacrimosa section and contains these lyrics, mournful that day when from the ashes shall rise a guilty man to be judged. Lord have mercy on him, gentle Lord Jesus, grant them eternal rest, amen. Couple this with Kanye's own unreleased track in which he states he's not here right now and cites the end of his life, a flatline tone, and we're getting pretty clear contextual clues that the Jesus' character is metaphorically dead inside, or perhaps spiritually dead, someone shrouded in darkness, as the Bible passage said.

We actually talked about this idea in our last episode when discussing the biblical story of Jesus resurrecting Lazarus from the dead. It also relates to Dante's state at the beginning of Inferno, a man lost in the dark woods whose spiritual death takes him on a three-day tour of hell. This motif of a spiritual death or being dead inside seems to be at least one reason why Kanye wears a mask, what we are seeing, what he presents to the external world. is a cover for what's truly inside. It's also a reason why the heavenly light beam plays a central part of the show.

Given the opening quote, light beamed into the world but men and women ran toward darkness, it's safe to assume this light beam represents in part the light of God. We should therefore expect darkness to represent the absence of God. This is the same dark light motif that runs throughout the Bible and through Dante's inferno. The lower into hell Dante went, the darker and darker it became.

Likewise, the Holy Mountain led to the world. to the light of the stars or heaven. It's fitting then that Jesus emerges from the darkness and that the women on stage turn away from the light as soon as they hear the opening moments of OnSight. This seems to display how men and women ran toward darkness despite the light that God beamed into the world. The fighting act encompassed the first four songs of the set.

On-site, new slaves, sign it up, and mercy. All of these tracks feature an aggressive energy that's befitting of the definition of fighting provided at the beginning of the act. We also suspect this group of songs' emphasis on ego and bravado are displaying qualities more like King Saul, an empowerment of self rather than a King David-like empowerment of God. Thus, within the context of the narrative, Yeasus is running towards darkness. Interestingly, when the gospel sample of On-site plays, the 12 women leave the main stage and disappear into the darkness, leaving Yeezus all alone. Given their angelic appearance dressed in all white, and the fact that there are 12 of them,

many have speculated these women allude to the 12 disciples or apostles of Jesus. The purpose of the apostles is described this way in Mark 314, quote, Then Jesus appointed 12 of his disciples and called them his apostles, and he would send them out to preach, giving them authority to cast out demons, unquote. It seems likely these women are in some sense taking on the role of the spirit guide Virgil in Dante's Inferno, guiding Yeezus on his journey. Also recall that it was Dante's beloved Beatrice that sent Virgil to guide him back on the correct path, and given that we know Yeezus the album ends with Kanye uniting with Kim, the emphasis on the divine feminine seems to make sense. More evidence for this interpretation

comes with what happens on the song New Slaves, which is performed directly after on site. It's here that the women reappear and ascend the large mountain in a single file line. Jesus follows them and performs new slaves while standing halfway up on the mountain. This recalls Dante's unsuccessful attempt to ascend the mountain at the beginning of Inferno. Fittingly, after the violent tirade of New Slaves' second verse, and the Hungarian Omega sample kicks in, Yizus sings about being too high and begins descending back down the mountain. This aligns with our analysis of the album narrative and how we interpreted the end of new slaves as a critical turning point in the story, signaling the defeat of Jesus' revolutionary ambitions.

After Yeezis reaches the main floor again, he performs the song Send It Up. This is the only instance of which a song on Yeez's appears wildly out of its original track order. On Yeez's the album, Send It Up is the second to last song, yet here in the concert narrative is the third song out of a total of 28. But as you know, Send It Up mirrors the on-site attitude, and its placement here in the tour seems to confirm this connection, helping to continue the establishment of the Yeez's character and his descent into darkness. toes again, tight dress there's a close to him, Yeezus just rose again. We get in this bitch up, it can't go down. After a performance of mercy, Yeezis leaves the stage, signaling the introduction of Act

2, Rising. Adjective, Airing for Flight. The narrator reads Rising, Adjective, going up, preparing for flight. Verb, Rebel, Revolt, Mutiny, Riot, Take Up Arms, Get Higher. It's proverbs 1618, pride always preludes the crash, the bigger the ego, the harder the fall. Rising here calls to mind the high-low motif that runs throughout the stories from both Inferno, King David, and the Bible more generally. While rising usually carries a positive connotation of ascension, the fact that it's paired here with violence, confrontation, and a forewarning about pride and ego causing a crash, we suspect the kind of rising that will be portrayed in the next batch of songs will not be towards God,

but the exaltation of one's own pride, the thing that led to Saul's demise. Interestingly, Proverbs 1618 continues with a few lines that were not read by the narrator, likely because they're so on the nose. Quote, It's better to live humbly among the poor than to live it up among the rich and famous. Fittingly, when Yeezus appears on the stage again, he emerges from behind the mountain and stands at the very top of it, performing the next song, Power. From the top of the mountain, Yeezus performs the song's refrain.

no one man should have all that power, the clock's ticking, I just count the hours. Stop tripping, I'm tripping off the power. In this context, it becomes a foreboding statement. Like the Bible quote that prefaced the act, these lyrics point to an unavoidable crash due to a power trip, an abuse of power, just like the story of Saul and David. Given that Jesus has reached the top of the mountain without the guidance of the 12 disciples, and that the song power more generally deals with Kanye's relationship with fame,

We suspect the mountain no longer represents the path toward God, but rather in this act, it symbolizes fame. It recalls the line from on-site, everyone want to live at the top of the mountain. That is, everyone wants fame, success, and wealth. And since Jesus has all those things, women cling to him and all his demands are met on sight at a moment's notice. The batch of songs that follow power all seem to portray how flame inflates Jesus' ego. He performs a run of songs from the Good Music compilation Cruel Summer,

cold, I don't like, and click, and returns with two Yeez's tracks, Black Skinhead and I Am a God. As you recall from our analysis, black skinhead was an aggressive expression of frustration that ultimately ends in a place of isolation. This then found him ramping himself up on I Am a God. In light of the story of Saul and David, I Am a God feels like the pinnacle expression of ego, of exalting man over God and abusing your power for your own selfish gain, like demanding massages, sports cars, menagerie twas, and croissants. During I Am a God, the 12 women returned to the stage. Only this time they're no longer dressed in angelic white garments.

Rather, they appear in nude spandex body suits, which from a distance makes it seem as if they're naked. The women surround Yeez-is in the same way they did the light of God at the beginning of the show. And then during the song's outro, they lift him up off the ground and raise him above their heads. Just like the symbolism of the mountain seemed to change from a holy mountain to a mountain of fame, the role of these women seem to change from apostles to the anonymous starfuckers who cling to Yeezus due to his status at the top of the mountain. Thus, the symbolism of the light changes too, from the light of God to the limelight of fame. The women elevate Yeezus into the air seemingly as a symbol of worship, but because he lays

flat on his back above them, the scene also resembles a funeral procession, like Paul ballbearers raising a casket, thus recalling the spiritually dead motif. Despite God's light, Jesus and these women chose darkness. They chose worshipping themselves. The remaining two songs begin the inevitable crash that was foreshadowed at the beginning of the act. Jesus performs can't tell me nothing, a song that reflects on Kanye's own stubbornness and the internal guilt he has when indulging in all that his celebrity affords him. Here Kanye reflects on his own relationship with the limelight. He knows the way he's living is counter to God, yet he can't help himself.

He still indulges and acts irresponsibly anyway. Within the context of the Yeez's tour narrative, this feels like direct commentary on the previous two acts. He continues the verse in this vein, rapping, I feel the pressure under more scrutiny, and what I do, act more stupidly, bought my more jewelry, more Louisville, my mama couldn't get through to me. His best friend and manager, Connie's mother Donda, had always been a stabilizing figure in his life. It's fitting then that the next song of the tour, the final song of this second act, is one he wrote about his mother. You know when I did that hour of graduation? I thought I couldn't know by to tell me nothing.

Then one day I landed in London and my friend walked up to me and had to tell me something. and what he said was that my mother had just passed away and it just felt like my life was spiraling out of control like I was losing my religion like I was making bad decisions headed for a collision and a lot of people don't know when I wrote the song about love.

Coldest winter is a striking contrast in both sound and theme to everything up until this point. Snow begins falling from the sky onto Yeezus as he performs the song. He lays backwards on his back, half his body hanging off the stage in what is a seriously heartbreaking image. You can feel his pain and get a real sense of the danger his own life was in following the death of his mother. The conclusion of Coldest Winter signals the transition to the Yeez's next act, Falling Verbe Detach, move downward, succumb, surrender, crash. Mere Mortals

can't ruin their own lives. Who will give me wings, I ask? Wings like a dove. Falling here follows rising, cementing the high-low motif central in the Bible and Dante's Inferno, as well as paying off on the inevitable crash that the narrator alluded to in the preface of the Rising Act. Interestingly, four out of the five songs during this falling act come from the Yeezus album. It begins with Hold My Liquor, the same song that began Act 2 in our interpretation of the album narrative. This is where Yeezus' journey turned inward, where we got a peek at the vulnerability behind the mask of machismo. Recall it was in this song that Eezis tried to drunkenly rekindle things with an ex-girlfriend and is ultimately rejected. Fittingly, it's during this track that the 12 nude women now return to the main stage, but Yizus pays them no mind,

instead dropping to his knees and looking up at the light beam shining down from the heavens, while the ethereal guitar solo echoes throughout the arena. Just like on the Yeezus album, Hold My Liquor is followed by I'm in it. In our analysis of this track, we saw this sexually charged song as a reaction to the heartbreak of Hold My Liquor, a downward plunge into sex and drugs, a misguided attempt to expunge his pain. These dynamics are heightened by the visuals on stage as Yeasas performs the track. The 12 nude women he just ignore now receive his full attention. After rapping the first explicit verse directly to them, the women arranged their bodies to make a human throne.

on which Yeezus sits and performs the chorus and second verse. Recall that it was during this song, we heard Yeas conflate his revolutionary ambitions with his sexual escapades, gleaning power and feeding its bruised ego through a sexual domination of women. If there was any doubt that this was the dynamic Kanye was attempting to convey on the track, now here in the live show, Yeezus literally sits on a throne, a chair for a king, that is composed of naked women. Interestingly, midway through his second verse, Yeasus's head bows to. down, like someone who is dejected or demoralized. It creates a striking contrast. The explicit sexual

acts are being described by a man who, still sitting on a throne of women, is clearly broken. It recalls the last days of King David, his life in ruins because of his sinful act of lust. Recall that we interpreted the song's refrain, I'm in it and I can't get out. That's why I'm in it and I can't. and I can't get out, as a description of not only sex, but also being in prison by lust. This second layer is put on display visually during the third and final verse of I'm in it. The naked women disassemble the human throne, then lay on the ground forming a large circle. Jesus lays on his back in the center of the circle, quite literally entrapped by these women, entrapped by his lust.

Jesus is no longer a king on a throne. He's at his lowest, on the same level as everyone else who has swept up in sex and materialism. Then in one of the more striking visuals of the show, the introduction of Gilchip begins while Yeez's and the naked women are still on the ground. One after another, the women crawl off stage. By the time Yeezus begins singing the opening lines, another one, something gone. He's laying there, sprawled out on the ground, all alone. Yizus performs most of Gilchip lying on the ground.

But when the song reaches its bridge, Yeezus stands up and looks at the projector screen that sits above the mountaintop. the screen is the real-time projection of himself performing. During our analysis of this cathartic section of the song, we speculated that Jesus was not only singing about the woman who broke his heart, but also singing to himself, asking why he lost himself to the women, to the drugs, to the lifestyle of the limelight. The visual here during this section of the song seems to confirm this duality, while likely adding a third layer of meaning. Because as Jesus sings upwards towards the heavens, we can't help but thinking he's

he's also pleading to God, asking why his life has gone so wayward. As the final moments of guilt trip ring out, Yis ascends partway up the mountain and sits down, his legs dangling over the edge, looking out onto the main stage. It's here he performs the song Heartless, continuing the theme of heartbreak in this act. It's during this song that a single woman dressed in a black gown appears on the stage. She seems to represent the woman that broke Yizes's heart. Her back is to Yeezus the entire time, and toward the end of the song, Yeezus and darkness descends down the mountain to approach her. By the time he reaches the stage and the lights turn on, she's gone. The lights then turn blood red, drenching Yeezus in a haunting crimson glow and triggering

the final song of the third act, Blood on the Leafs. During the song's explosive and commanding horn section, real bursts of fire erupt on stage, around the mountain. The screen above the mountain displays large menacing flames, and neon green and red ooze begin to drip down the side of the mountain, depicting a volcano erupting. Recall that in our analysis of blood on the leaves, we suspected the song to be the culminating cathartic moment of the album. It finally found Yeezus confronting the heartbreak that led him to put on the mask of machismo, setting his life on a disastrous path of indulgence and materialism. We also compared the song with the supreme ordeal stage of the hero's journey, a stage marked by

the hero growing through a process of death and rebirth and confronting their biggest fear, weakness, or roadblock. The catastrophic fire imagery here seems to confirm this interpretation, as traditionally fire is used to symbolize destruction, rebirth, resurrection, and purification. As the final song in an act titled Falling, this appears to be the rock-bottom moment for Yeezus. With everything he had loved, gone, including his mother and romantic partner, he will now need to rise from the ashes like the mythological phoenix. searching, verb, hunt, seek, pursue. The narrator introduces the show's fourth act, searching, quote,

verb, hunt, seek, pursue. It then cites Matthew 7.7. When you go looking for God, you won't be let down. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Suddenly, the mountain cracks down the center and splits open. A blinding, strobing white, light. emits from the gap between the two halves, and one by one the twelve women emerge from the center of the mountain.

The women are dressed again in their holy white gowns and now carry with them various ritual objects, including a large cross, long candles, thurbles, or censors, and the statue of the Virgin Mary. It seems clear this is depicting the grand entrance processional that commonly begins mass services in various Christian churches. Thus we can expect this processional to signal a dramatic turn in the show, as Jesus attempts to find God, as implied by the searching act title. Fittingly, the next song performed is Lost in the World, an introspective, humble song that expresses the waybrenness and confusion Kanye felt after losing his mother and the backlash of the VMAs.

It also contains the poem Kanye wrote for Kim Kardashian while she was still impossibly out of reach. Lost in the World is followed by another humbling song, Runaway, where he tells a girl a stand-in for the public to leave him, to just run away. It's a moment of self-reflection and accountability as Jesus begins to understand his ego-driven behavior drives people away, that he might need to relinquish this ego in order to find what he's searching for. This threat of reflection and vulnerability closes out this brief act with a performance of streetlights, one of the most solemn songs in Kanye's entire discography. After this run of songs that find Jesus lost, searching, humbled, and broken, we get

the final act, finding. The narrator reads, God arrives right on time. He's not hiding or sleeping, but on the move, revealing. He lifted me up out of the ditch, pulled me from deep mud. He stood me up on a solid rock and put a new song in my heart. Following this passage, Jesus goes on to perform stronger, which given everything we've witnessed in falling and searching, feels like an abrupt change of pace. Especially relevant is the song's refrain. Now that that don't kill me can only make me stronger. This dramatic sense of survival is carried out into the next song, Through the Wire, a track famously written directly after the car crash

that nearly killed Connie in October of 2002. Fittingly, he introduces the song by saying, "'Quote, sometimes I feel like I'm living a second life, because I remember the night I almost lost my life.'" And it's this notion of rebirth that makes a perfect segue into the pivotal scene that follows his performance of Through the Wire. Scored with angelic-sounding keyboards, a man depicting Jesus Christ

emerges from the split-open mountain, a wash and a glow of purple light. Jesus walks up to Yeezus, and for the first time some hour and 45 minutes into the show, Yeasus finally removes the mask covering his face. At some shows, Jesus would simply walk on stage and bless Kanye, but at other shows, they would actually have a conversation. Connie asks if it's really Jesus, to which the divine figure responds,

I've been here the whole time. I didn't come here to make bad people feel good. I came here to make dead people alive. To show people the light. That's all I need from you. To show people the light, the light of truth in you. Connie West drops to his knees. He no longer needs the mask of Jesus,

a mortal god full of pride, darkness, and ego. He has found Jesus, the immortal. mortal and true God of humility, light, and compassion. Appropriately, as Jesus walks off stage, the opening of Jesus Walks begins playing. Within the show's narrative, Jesus walks performed by a maskless Kanye West feels like the culminating moment. The remainder of the show rides this high, as Kanye performs songs all related to the light Jesus told him to show us, diamonds from Sierra Leone, flashing lights, all of the lights, and good life. The show then closed the with a performance of Bound 2,

which is, of course, also the last song on the Yeezus album. In our analysis of this song, we detailed how Bound 2 resolves the album's narrative both musically and thematically. Most notably, we recognize how the arrival of Kim paid off on the Hungarian sample that foreshadowed a divine woman that would resurrect the sun. It was also the fulfillment of God giving Kanye what he needed,

which is foreshadowed all the way back on the gospel sample of OnSight. Here in the show, these resolving moments are only made more intentional and clear following the appearance of Jesus taking Jesus' mask off. Recall that in the final line of the final verse of Bound 2, Kanye says, Jesus wept, citing the biblical story of Lazarus, who after being dead for four days was resurrected by Jesus. This seems to be the inspiration behind Jesus' message to Kanye and the audience, that he wants to, quote, make dead people alive again. This then creates a perfect transition to the show's closing moments. The gospel sample of onsite returns on a loop.

repeating its refrain over and over. He'll give us what we need. It may not be what you want. But no prayer and faith goes unanswered. He'll give us what we really need. As this plays on a loop, the 12 women return in their holy white gowns and assemble themselves on stage

just like they did at the beginning of the show. But instead of just a single beam of light shining down from the heavens, there are now three beams of light, symbolic of the Holy Trinity. Recall that the show began with the quote, light beamed into the world, but men and women ran toward darkness. No longer living in darkness, Kanye and the women turn around toward the mountain and kneel. Jesus now stands at the top of the

mountain, arms raised, a heavenly sky projected behind him. This is the closing image of the show. Resolving the high-low motif, Jesus replaces Jesus at the top of the mountain. Surrounded by apostles basking in the light of God, the now humbled Kanye West kneels and servitude. A dead man resurrected. We'll be back right after the break. Welcome back to Dysect. In the very first episode of this season, we talked extensively about Kanye West as a storyteller,

about how Kanye creates narrative albums based on his life at the time. One of the reasons we took the time to examine the Yeez-a's tour and its epic narrative is because it makes very explicit Kanye's interest in storytelling. There are defined acts, characters, a symbolic set design, and a clear beginning, middle, and end, with the bulk of the story being told through Kanye's songs and the strategic way they are ordered. It's a very thoughtful and powerful use of his catalog to express a mythological retelling of his life. While all the additional tour elements contribute to a powerful live experience,

the core of the tour narrative exists in the Yeezus album, which is a hero's journey about a heartbroken man whose protective mask of machismo erodes to a point where he can finally be vulnerable enough to both fall in love and relinquished control to a power higher than himself. It's about the flaws Kanye sees in society, the limits of his celebrity to change them, and how the resulting frustration affects his personal life and relationships. It's about the emptiness he felt after his mother's passing in a string of bad relationships, and the salvation he found with Kim and the family he was creating with her.

Like all of his albums, Yeez is Connie West expressing his emotions in the moment, and then examining those emotions to try and make sense of where he is and where he's going. Of course, these nuances can often be missed because of the sheer harshness of the album's sound, which, as you know, created quite the controversy upon its release in 2013. Recall we began episode one comparing Yisus to Igor Stravinsky's experimental ballet, The Ride of Spring, and to Bob Dylan's infamous conversion from acoustic folk to electrified rock and roll. Like Yis, these two controversial events stirred heated debate and sharp criticism in their day, but history has ultimately rendered them as critical turning points.

and music. Stravinsky's right of spring influenced the entire direction of 20th century classical music, while Dylan's electric conversion in the 1960s cemented a wider shift toward rock that would dominate the next several decades. Only time will tell if Yeez's is the specific album will look back on decades from now as a critical point in music history. But there's one thing I'm certain of, Kanye West is that artist. And to me, what Yeezes exemplifies most about Kanye is his willingness is to work outside arbitrary and constricting boundaries of genre when so many others play it safe. Yisus is a masterclass in creative fearlessness, staying true to who you are and what you feel when the entire world is listening, even when that means what you're doing won't be accepted

by all. From his pink polo to his leather kilt, from the autotune singing of Ada waits to the grimy sense of Yisis, Kanye is the artist who 100 years from now, we will study like we do, Stravinsky and Dylan, artists whose bravery throws lighter fluid on creative evolution, who shift culture and define entire eras, who quite literally changed the entire state of music and by proxy the world. You know, if you look at an interview for me from 10 years ago, everybody says, I love that interview. People didn't love it back then, though, because I was speaking to the future. I'm 10 years ahead mentally, and I'm trapped in today's time, and every now and then I crack you

a smile for 2013. But I'm cracking you a frown for 2020. and I'm focused on what it's going to be. Just mark my words. As I have Kanye West, you've seen my execution. Did I not become the biggest rock star on the planet? Did I not influence all musicians? That I not go and get the exact girl that I wanted. That I not start my family.

That I not ruffle the feathers of two presidents. That I not get a chance to work with my idol. That I not make Louis Vuittans. Did people not line up at the Yeezy store? That I not make the college dress. drop out, late registration, graduation, 808, Blueprint 1, Blueprint 3, Watch the Throne, Cruel Summer, Ann Yeezus, if you like it or not. I just want to know this.

What is the end result for Kanye was? What are you looking to be? Okay. In the movie, it would be a combination of Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Michael Angelo. That's it? Of course, the same fearless, uncompromising, rebellious, ambitious attitude that enables Kanye to create innovative art is the very same attitude that often gets him in trouble. That is to say, the same reason we love Kanye is the same reason he can frustrate us. But even at times when he

confuses, challenges, or disappoints me in his public-facing interactions, it's always Kanye's bare humanity that allows me patience. Because despite his sometimes overbearing ego or his public blunders, Kanye has always been equally willing to bear his flaws and to make mistakes while the entire world watches. and it's in his music where he most often reflects on those flaws and mistakes. And this is one of the many reasons I personally love the Yeez's album and tour so much, as it captures the duality of Kanye West so accurately. The album's opening tracks are all aggressive ego. It's what most think of Connie's personality.

But as you go deeper into the album, when you get a peek behind that mask, there's a human who's been hurt, who feels pain, who questions the mistakes he's made, who's had suicidal thoughts, who battles mental health issues, who is constantly striving to be better, who wants to love and be loved. There's someone forever reaching for the divine, and like the rest of us, constantly falling short, someone who genuinely wants to help the world but can often get in his own way.

Even though Kanye West can seem larger than life, Kanye West at his core is deeply human, both beautiful and flawed, at once disappointing and endlessly inspiring. And, you know, people can write, write, write all they want, but what are people doing? And if there's anybody that's out there doing, they know how hard it is to actually do. And I'm like a motivation of the doers. If everything I did failed, which it doesn't, it actually succeeds. But if everything I did failed, just the fact that I'm willing to fail is an inspiration.

People are so scared to lose that they don't even try. Like one thing that people can't say is they can't say I'm not trying. I'm not trying my hardest and I'm not trying to do it the best way that I know how with what little information I get. When this goes online or whatever it is, it really matters and it like really doesn't matter. What matters is, you know, the people who are sparked by it and the people who are like offended by it, it doesn't fucking matter. fuck you, you know, like, because it's about motivating the doers. And anyone that wants to sit around and talk shit, they're doing too much time, they're taking too much time talking shit about it instead of getting up off their ass

and following their dreams because I'm here to follow my dreams, you know, and help other people follow their dreams and inspire people who are dreamers. All right, everyone, now we turn to one of my favorite parts of every season, and that's hearing directly from you, dissect listeners, sharing your biggest takeaways from the album and season. We got some really thoughtful and moving responses, and I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. My name is Kai, and I'm from Philadelphia.

My biggest takeaway from Yeezus and this season of Dissect was that no matter how much wealth, power, and status you've attained, it almost doesn't matter unless you have the right person to share it with. No matter what you've accomplished in your life, if you don't have people around you that love you that you can share it with, it can feel very empty. and sometimes we forget that. Thank you, Cole, for another great season of the show.

Hi, I'm Lindsay in Washington, D.C., and my favorite takeaway from Yus is the reappearance of Jerome in the last few seconds of the album. I love that Kanye doesn't give us a neatly finished happy ending because those are never satisfying to me. They just don't reflect the true complexity of humanity. We're messy, we're complicated, and we all have Jerome's we won't ever fully get rid of.

But if we acknowledge our dark sides as Jesus does, we take a step towards forgiveness and true love for ourselves and can then hope to do the same for others. It's not an easy path to take, but it's more real. Thank you, Kanye, for speaking the truth, even when it may not be what we want. Yo, what's up, Cole, it's Thadius James from Orange County, California. What I took away from Yeezus in this season of Dissect is that, one, Kanye is an amazing storyteller, and two, it's better to acknowledge your flaws and mistakes you made in the past and accept that they happened, so you can move forward in life and better yourself as a person, as Yeez's did. I want to say thank you to, you, Cole, and also Chris, for showing me what Yeezus is all about. Back when I first heard it, I did not like it at all. But thanks to you guys, I've been listening to the whole thing

every day for the past month because it's so, so, so damn good. Can't wait for next season. Thank you. Hey, Cole, it's Jordan from Miami. I just wanted to take the time to talk about Yeezis, because that's an album that came out when I was in high school, so I definitely, you know, I didn't really appreciate it. I was one of those people that was like, oh, it's too far. far away from my beautiful dark twisted fantasy. But over the years, I've grown to really love that album. And hearing the way that you broke it down and really took a deep dive inside of the album, really gives a new appreciation for it.

So, yeah, thank you for this. And I can't wait for season nine. Here we go. Hey, this is Brent from Louisville, Kentucky. Shout out to Cole and the entire team for another amazing season. Kanye's dark fantasy literally changed my life and made me a Kanye fanatic. It's my excitement for Jesus was a... I listened to the first time with a friend of mine, and he absolutely hated it.

I always offended it, and this season gave me a much richer appreciation for the entire album. Eezis has definitely moved my ranking of Kanye albums into like the life-changing tier, and I'm eager to listen to it with that same friend, so I can show him how wrong he was and change his life too. Hey, Cole and Dysect Team. This is Kanan from FP South Florida, and my biggest takeaway from season eight was the rich storytelling that Kanye put forward and how he puts himself out there to reflect the narrative that we all kind of follow when we want to break away from a cycle and we take two steps forward only for Jerome to come in the house and we take two steps back

and giving that self-reflection and all we're realizing what we need is just a good person to love and to be loved and to find God and love him too keep up the great work guys hello I'm Nathaniel from England my biggest takeaway from this album is the theme of honesty as Yise's struggles being honest and vulnerable at various points throughout the album, and despite being in a good place by the end, he acknowledges that there is still room for him to grow,

fittingly ending this album with a statement that is somehow both grandiose and vulnerable at the same time. Kanye is my favourite artist, and I really enjoyed having someone talk me through this album in detail. So thank you and congratulations on another great season call. Hi, I'm Gina from Portland, Maine. Kanye is what he says he is, the black skinhead, the guy, the new slave, the liquor handler, the bound. These titles dissect the struggles of Jesus' routine through the lens of omnipotent existentialism.

All of the mortal struggles, vices, and interruptions throughout the album are faces of an existence, one of which Jesus is not a part of, but rather overseas. However, Love, the great equalizer, will humanize the coping facade of Jesus and return him to the mortal entity he was trying to escape. Hey, Cole, this is Bogdan from Switzerland. I loved Jesus from the first lesson.

Eight years later, thanks to this season, I can understand that one of the reasons is because it is a provocative piece of art purposely set on overturning the listener's expectation of what music can be. Shout out to Chris and Travis also. Keep rocking guys, looking forward to the Pablo season. Thank you. My name is Devin from Overland Park, Kansas. I heavily related with the Yeez's character in season 8 of Dissect. In my past, I haven't really been the most mature in relationships and in regards to it. intimacy or just overall interactions with women. But I can proudly say that I've been able to learn

from my mistakes and the woman I'm with now, I'm happy to say, will be the woman I end up marrying. So I heavily relate to the character that Kanye West has been trying to portray with us so that we can learn for our mistakes and move on for a better future. Hi, Cole and the whole Dyset crew. This is Nick James from Montreal. I got hooked on Dysect when you did BTI in season seven and proceeded to binge all the previous season. And Yeezus and season 8 of Dysak brought me all the way back to season one with Kendrick's mortal man. When shit hit the fan, is you still a fan?

And lately, that's been a tough question to answer. I still love Kanye's discography and probably always will, but struggle with his recent actions as a human being. Though through him of empathy, I hope that he is well and obviously wish him no ill will. We'd all be so lucky for him to continue to push artistic boundaries through his work. Thanks for everything. My name is Max from Northern New Jersey, and season eight of Dysect has taught me that no matter how deep in a hole you are, no matter how low you are or how much of a dark place you're in,

there will always be your perfect match, your soulmate, to lift you up out of that and to bring you into a better place. Hi, my name is Addison and I'm from Washington State. This season of Dysect really opened my mind to the masterpiece that is Yeezus. When I first heard the album, I was among the many who hated it, but over time I have grown a soft side for it. but I never appreciate it as much as I do now. After this season, I understand it to be one of the greatest albums of all time. I never thought too much about any story behind the album, but now it's like the gift that keeps on giving during every re-listen,

especially how it all pays off on Bound 2. So thank you, Cole, so much for the season, and keep up the great work. Hi, I'm Holly from Melbourne, Australia, and my biggest takeaway from Dysex Season 8 would be seen through Yuzis's mask of Rivado. We broke down Kanye's seemingly lack of vulnerability, which is exposed through his need for women from whole men liquor through to Brown too. As this side of Eus often felt overlooked through his hubris, Kushner's exploration of Kanye's softer references,

such as his subject's star signs, made me reflect differently on his hero's journey. Hey, Cole, Danny here from Ireland. I just wanted to thank you so much for covering Yeasus. I've always loved the album, but couldn't articulate why it felt so sophisticated in all's madness. Also, massive praise for explaining the relevance of all the samples used. This season, like all the others, has really shown how nothing great works of art are there by accident. And this has led me to take a closer look at my own work as well. There's been a blast call.

Thanks. Trevor from Hawaii, my biggest takeaway from Yisus is that although everyone faces demons, there's always hope on the other side of the struggle. It's humbling knowing that even godlike figures, no pun intended, such as Kanye have imperfections, it just makes them that much more relatable. And even despite Yeezus musically, feeling like Kanye's most robotic album, per se, in my opinion, it ironically feels like his most human album to date. So thank you, Cole, and the dissect team for providing more evidence to why this is my favorite Kanye album. What's up, Cole? This is Dan from New York. I remember first listening to Eezus and wondering what happened to the old Kanye and feeling confronted by the synth-heavy minimalist production.

But like all great art, Yisus was ahead of its time and has since been become one of my favorite Kanye West albums. It's a powerful reminder that we're all battling our own demons and that no matter what one status in society is, there's a price to pay when it comes to sending it up too often. Ultimately, EZUS is a universal tale of transformation, an expression of triumph over self-indulgence, and a reminder of the healing power of love.

Thanks for another great season, Cole. Hey, dissecting. Hey, listeners. This is Ned Hanley from Houston, Texas. The Yeez's dissection took my ears on a journey from rough, distorted confusion to humble recognition of masterful art. Thank you, Kanye, thank you dissect team. God bless the mission. Hello, my name is Etzen. I'm from Mozambique and currently live in Tokyo. After listening to Season 8 of Dissect, I have a much greater appreciation for an album already loved. Seeing how Kanye West really used the samples to effectively enhance the lyrics or even create new types of messaging,

Plus, using a lot of Jamaican artists or dance hall and reggae infused themes to connect to the ones that he already had in mind was such a revelation, really. And it's much greater appreciation again for the entire project. Hey guys, Sammy here from New York. I've listened to Bound 2 maybe 100 times and never had paid any mind to those closing lines. After listening to last episode, Jerome's in the house, watch her mouth, now stands out to me as a pivotal moment in Kanye's discography. I read this twist as Kanye saying that even though the Yeez's side of his persona may subside from time to time due to love or other life events, it will always still be part of him. This seems to me like incredible foreshadowing into his internal struggle on the life of Pablo and again on Yeh, when he ultimately acknowledges his bipolar disorder diagnosis. Hey, I'm Gabe from Colorado Springs, Colorado, and I want to say my biggest takeaway from season eight is just how unbelievably brilliant and detail-oriented Kanye is.

I also just want to give a thank you to Kanye for doing what he does and to Cole for doing what he does and also to a friend of a friend named Jesse who mentioned the dissect podcast at a friend's birthday party three years ago. I haven't seen him since and he'll never know the impact he had on my life. Hey, I'm Oz from Florida and I'm 25 years old. I remember barely liking Jesus to becoming one of my favorite albums of all time. Juxtaposing sentimental lyrics with brash ego-driven lines is a very welcome duality in the narrative. Letting the ego mask underlying emotions has been an endeavor I've been trying to overcome, and as someone in their mid-20s on the cuss of being who they want to be,

the determinants of this album certainly reflects the past few years in my life. And much like Yeezus, I still await the one that will help the sunshine again. On the new Slaves episode, I appreciated the dive into the person industrial system, and even as a person in color, there was so much I didn't know in that section. Thank you for that, Cole, and thanks for a great season. Hi, I'm Larry from Southern California. My biggest takeaway from the dissect Yeezus series is Yeezus's journey to his true love and how that can be salvation. Throughout his hero's journey, he's faced

with a troubled past and a series of failures that translates into a collection of chaotic and dark booming tracks. He distracts himself from his loneliness by partaking in meaningless parties and sex, but becomes whole once he finds his one and only. In my mind, my biggest takeaway is true love's saving grace, and how that could truly guide us to the right path. Hi, it's Gigi from St. Louis. I've always loved blood on the leaves. And I don't know what that says about me, but it wasn't until this season of Dysact. Did I appreciate some of the genius in this album? Hearing the message in I Am a God or getting chills to the twist ending of Bound 2 are exactly why Kanye and dissect are my favorite.

Thank you, Cole. Hello, my name is Cain and Judith. I'm an artist and I'm from Corona, California. Yes, that's the name. I now live in Houston, but my biggest takeaway is Kanye's ego. I was a huge Christian when the album dropped, so the name was triggering enough. But now knowing there's two sides to all stories is enticing, especially coming from Yeh. His Eagle, like you said before, in Season 2 is his defensive mechanism against haters, racists,

but love mostly because being open leads to all these vampires and blood suckers, but to the fact he's too weak to only be bound to one woman. Thank you, Cole, to this dissecting podcast. It's great. My name's James. I'm from Louisiana. and my takeaway from Yeezus is that my best friend's older brother showed him bound to right before he left for the army we were immediately enamored by that song we immediately looked up the album listened to the entire thing in full and just got a really good appreciation for it i spent years theorizing if any of my takeaways from this album were correct in this season overall really helped confirm a lot of those and helped give me really good

closure on the album thank you dissect and thank you cole Hey, so my name is Daxe from Blacksburg, and I've been a huge fan of Dysect. Honestly, for a while, I considered Giesis to be the Kanye album for Jim Nuts in a good way. After this season, I realize it's the album for both the gym and the Wedding Chapel. My biggest takeaway is that even in this album, there's so much going on musically, even if you think it's all nonsense. Even if Kanye and his collaborators didn't always know the music theory behind it all, the composition sounds rough, but actually makes a lot of sense. And that's the theme of this whole album, honestly.

It's smarter than it looks. My name is Elliot. I'm from Jackson, Michigan, and Yeezus has aged to my acquired musical taste in a sort of maturation process. As a recent, I have dipped into the techno-acid house scene, so producers such as Gasephelstein, Daft Punk, really resonated with me as pioneers of Electro House. And on Yeas, just like any techno set, it brings that hardcore breaks, those thrash rhythms, but tantalizing production that leaves me in a state of euphoria, every single full-run listen. and his experimental masterpiece. Hi guys, my name is Oliver and I'm from Bradford, England. I think my biggest takeaways with regards to the lyrical content of users.

I've always loved the creativity of the album as it's unlike anything I've ever heard. However, I thought lyrically it wasn't anywhere near Kanye's best, particularly after hearing certain lines. But this season opened my eyes to all the references and clever symbolism that Kanye weaved into the project and to the fact that those outlandish lines actually have great meaning. I also love the use of the hero's journey as a, all to frame the narrative. Thanks for another brilliant season to Colin the team. Hi everyone, I'm Colin and I'm from Boston. This season of dissect has revealed the true depth,

complexity and beauty of Yeezus. The display of emotions and the way that Kanye layers important political themes into the narrative is amazing to me. This season has helped me see Kanye's shocking and unconforming genius in releasing an album as cold and abrasive as Jesus. Thank you, Kanye, for being so bold and outspoken in your music and thank you, Cole, for helping me appreciate it. My name is Rubin, and I'm from the UK. I think the biggest takeaway from this season is the storytelling of Yisus.

When you hear songs like I am a god of Yeh, showing, oh, I'm a god, it's the context of the entire album that truly makes it genius when he piece it all together. Hey, Cole, it's Ben, from Franklin, Indiana. And I just like to say, thanks for dissecting Yuzis this season. It's my favorite albums of all time

and one of my favorite Kanye albums, for sure. But, you know, Yuz just has taught me a lot of things. Like, even when you're cocky and confident, you might be going down the wrong path. But the right woman can help you find your way, like how Kanye found his right woman and helped him lead him on the right path. Thanks, cool.

Thanks for everything you do. Appreciate it. Appreciate it, man. Hey, what's up? It's J. Poker Bean in front of Poker Beans' Colt, man, you did it again. I can say, like, 80% of all Kanye fans will put Yeez's at, like, the bottom of their favorite albums, But when you come to realize the whole thing is just an egotistical guy trying to find love.

It's just crazy. Man, I love your podcast. Keep doing what you're doing. And, man, you're inspiring me. One day, I'm going to make an album. I'm going to make a project so you can dissect my lyrics and my songs. Word up. Hey, guys.

My name's Rayon Roberts. I'm from BC, Canada. And this season of Dissect really showed me how much of a fan I was at Daft Punk Kanye, co-lab productions. I mean, all those songs are some of my favorite songs from the album. It also showed me that taking creative risks, as scary as they can be, can really come to show who has your back and cares. My time is on the step, so I'm going to hurry up with your damn croissant call. This is Ryan from Flower Mountain, Texas. This season of Dissect really helped me empathize with Kanye on his journey and his own personal struggles. When Yisus was released

in 2013, I was quick to dismiss it for various reasons. However, after listening to this season of Dissect and Cole's incredible work specifically on the episodes for Blood on the Leaves and Bound 2, this has now become my favorite Kanye album of all time. Thanks, Cole, and I can't wait for season 9 in your new show keynotes. Hi, this is Joy from New York City. I learned so much from this episode, but my main takeaway is seeing just how much love Kanye has for the black community. Many will have you think otherwise, but he is fighting battles that will disrupt systemically

racist industries and institutions like fashion. His goal is to get to the root of the problem and transform it for future generations and I for one am here for it. Go Kanye go. I see what Kanye's doing and I support it. Hi, my name is Keith from Ohio. My biggest takeaway from this season is just appreciating how perfectly calculated every sample and note was to help progress the narrative being told over the course of the album. I've loved this album since it came out. and I was excited to see how much of it was going over my head, and almost all of it was. And so thank you guys so much for dissecting this and doing such a good job to explain the masterpiece that Yus is.

This is Ian from Massachusetts. I have loved Kanye ever since I bought the college dropout CD 17 years ago. I have always known he was an unbelievable music maker, but I was unaware how he told such intricate stories, and I really had no idea how brilliantly he methodically weaved in samples that provided layers of complex context that aided in the storytelling. Thank you so much, Dysect Team, for bringing this to light. If you're a Kanye hater, as soon as you start to like him, he'll make you unlike him. But Dysectin, Ease has proved that one good album is worth a thousand missteps

and fortifies his musical genius. Thank you, Cole. Thank you, Kanye. Hey, Cole, this is Daniel from New York. First of all, I just wanted to say, I've been binging your podcast for the past few months, and it's made me appreciate the albums I love completely differently. EZIS is probably my favorite album of all time, and you've done an incredible job explaining how every song,

into overall narrative. Personally, why I love the revolutionary sound and the storyline Kanye tells about his life, what I love most about Yeez is how it contrasts vulnerability with self-confidence. One moment you're feeling a morale boost and I am a God, and the next you're evaluating your helplessness and hold my liquor. It's truly one of the most rawest and powerful albums ever made. Thank you for an amazing season. Hi everyone, my name is Josh and I'm from Florida. My biggest takeaway from Jesus is that we can always improve ourselves. No matter how flawed you may be, you have the power to work on yourself and achieve your dreams, whether that's leading revolution or simply loving someone. And that's what makes Kanye so special. He empowers us just by expressing his honest self. And to me, Jesus perfectly captures that essence of Kanye. I'm Jacob from Parker, Texas. My biggest takeaway from this season of Dysect was the importance of samples in the narrative of Jesus. Not just,

for their musicality and the lyrics seen in the song, but also for the importance of the context around the recording and musicians who created those samples and the lyrics not included in the sampled portion of the song. Hey guys, my name is Juliet and I'm from Peru, and one of my biggest takeaways from season eight is that it really amazes me how well Kanye thinks out the sampling. Like he always knows when it is that it's the best situation to put them, it always goes well within the theme of the song and it just amazes me like i already knew that kanya was a really good producer and really good with sampling but this just makes it even better

thank you cold so much for putting all your effort into the season it was great what's up guys my name is eli from minnesota and my biggest takeaway from dissect season eight was the weaving of introspection and societal critiquing specifically on new slaves and blood on the leaves, it inspired me to just like start critiquing myself and also getting at bigger ideas and learning what's really important in life and that's amazing. And the album also just sounds great. So thanks Cole and watching The Throne and thanks Kanye. Yuzis is number one.

Hey Cole, I'm Alex from Adelaide, South Australia. When you announced this season I was super excited since Yis is my favorite Kanye album, one of my favorite albums of all time. My biggest takeaway from the season is that there is a solid story tailored into all the songs, making it even better than I thought. I was under the belief that it was just a collection of bangers, so thank you for helping me and many others see it's even bigger and better than that. Yisus and Kanye himself have had a big impact on my personality and my confidence since I heard it. You've done such a great job this season proving why this album is amazing and I thank you for that mate.

Hey Cole, it's Loweck from Birmingham, England. Yisusis is one of my favourite album. It's Pete Kanye. As a self-proclaimed genius myself, this album has been under the pillars of my confidence since 2013. And like Jesus, my ego is oftentimes a shield for my insecurities and darkest demons. So thank you, Cole, for dissecting one of my favorite buddies of work ever. What's up, everybody? My name's Asha, and I'm from Toronto, Ontario. And my biggest takeaway from the dissection of Jesus has been the dissection. section on I'm in it and just realizing how intentional Kanye is with his music, from his samples

to his interpolations, to the features he has on the songs and the story that he's trying to tell, the cultural and the political significance of it and the struggles that he had through the fashion industry, I really had no idea how much meaning and thought was put behind this album and it's given me so much appreciation for it. Thank you for everything you do, Cole. Looking forward to season nine. Take care, everybody. Hi, my name is Sarvation. I'm from Dublin, Ohio. My biggest takeaway from season eight has to do with Kanye as a storyteller. From the devil on one shoulder, Angel and the other concept,

like Unho My Liquor, to the extremely intentional sample choices I never understood, like Nina Simone on Blood on the Leaves, to the Omnis Ending on Bound 2, wrapping up each of the album's key concepts, there's a lot more of a story than I ever imagine. Hi, my name is Julia, and I'm from Texas. My biggest takeaway from the use dissect was definitely how each song had a deep emotional conflict that Kanye disguised with his physical desires an appearance. And with each song, more of his understanding of what and who he really wanted

was more clear. Then Bound came on, and he got the chance to experience both the physical and emotional with the right person. It gave it ending that I think many of us want. Greetings. My name is Malik. I'm from Laude Hill, Florida. Coe, I just want to commend you on this great season. I love how you started it with Igor and the Rite of Passage and Bob Dylan. I thought that was a great opening for the first episode. By the way, I think this was the best season since season three, Channel Orange. I love season one. I love season two.

And I don't know, I remember in season two when you did My Beautiful Dark Twas Fantasy. I remember you mentioning that you wanted to do Yeez-Sys. So I was really happy, and I was crossing my fingers. So I'm so happy you chose Yeas and you did an incredible job. Thanks. I'm Michael from Philly. My takeaway is people suffer in silence. Even Yeezus, who Connie portrays as vile and unsypathetic.

You can feel the shroud of gloom as new slave shifts to hold my liquor. What's most tragic is that Jesus' advice destroys his own ability to help others and to improve the world around him. As a compulsive sex addict, I've done the same. Sometimes, though, a dark night of the soul, a la Jesus, is just what a person needs to break the silence.

When we hit our lowest point, we're up into the greatest change. Like Kendrick might say, choose weakness over wickedness and ask for help. With support and companionship and understanding, everyone can kick Jerome out of their house for good. Thank you, Cole.

Hey, this is Travis. I live in Chicago, and I help write this season of Dissect, with Cole and Chris. As I've seen the larger reaction to this season of Dissect on Twitter and just from people in my own life, I guess my takeaway for this season of dissect is ultimately one of hope. I just hope that people can see through the exterior of Kanye, you know, the way he's portrayed and the uglier parts of him that maybe we don't like.

And we can ultimately just recognize Kanye as a fellow human being. I mean, I don't agree with a lot of Connie's political opinions, just like everybody else, but I don't think he should be defined by those opinions. He can be judged, yes, and he should be held accountable, but that doesn't mean we can abandon someone like Kanye West. Kanye is somebody who grapples with deep mental struggles, just like I do, just like people in my life have, just like everyone else does. I think this season of Dysect Help Expose just how deep.

some of those troubles really ran for him and continue to run for him. And in that way, I think Jesus truly is the power of art on display. Ultimately, I think he wants to be embraced and understood through his art. Connie is an artist. He is somebody who uses music and storytelling to explore himself and to reveal things about himself. And I think he himself to work through things. and he's doing it all out in the open for us to see. And I think it's on us to understand that and to listen to him.

Again, not agree, but just listen. It can be so hard to listen sometimes. And to celebrate an artist's ability to make us feel like we're not alone in this crazy fucked up world. I think that's the power of art. You know, the power of Kanye, the power of Jesus. It reveals something, something. something we can connect with if we give ourselves over to it.

My name is Chris Lambert. I am the co-writer of this season of Dysect. And when I first heard Yeezus, I even know it was happening. I had just moved to the state of Iowa from Ohio and had been there for a couple weeks, just really adjusting but out of the loop from life completely. And I woke up one morning and saw suddenly there was a new Kanye album. And I was freaking out, rushed out, to the store, got it, and I had a week of doing a writing conference at the University of Iowa, the summer writers workshop. And it was an hour drive each way, which was perfect, because

Yeezus was just under an hour. And I would go back and forth driving for a week, an hour there, an hour back, just jamming out to Yeezus the entire time, and really tripped up by it in a great way because it had that mix of aggression and tragedy and triumph that resonated with me at the time. My mom had just passed away a year prior in July of 2012, and I was still reeling from that, much in the way that I first connected to 808s and heartbreak a few months after my dad had passed away, or a year after my dad had passed away. So there's something about Connie albums and how they're infused with that sense. of loss and prosperity and determination to keep going despite these roadblocks that hit your

way, even if you create them for yourself or that life just throws at you, that I've just always found so engaging, so inspiring, and so humanizing. And this album, despite how ugly I think a lot of people think it is, is to me and has always been completely beautiful. And I'm so glad I was able to share the sense I have about this album with all of you this season. All right, thanks, everyone. I hope you enjoyed those as much as I did. And a huge thank you to Chris Lambert and Travis Bean for co-writing this season. They did amazing work, and if you want to hear more from them,

you can follow their podcast Watching The Throne, a conversational show that analyzes every song from Kanye's entire catalog from start to finish. A big thank you to Beirocratic for another great theme song this season, and to So Wiley for scoring the season intro. Thanks as always to Eric Bass for audio editing and Andrew Atwood for the amazing song recreations. And an extra special thanks to everyone behind the scenes at Spotify, including Dan Behar, Casey Simonson, Robert Adler, Julietta Ramirez, and Cheryl Crosby. And of course, thanks to you, my loyal Dysect listeners, who make all this possible each and every season. Follow me at Dysect podcast on Twitter or Instagram so we can stay connected over the break.

Oh, and if you haven't already, follow my new show Keynotes on Spotify. That show will be filling the gaps between full seasons of Dissect. I'm really excited to share it with you all. All right, I think that's everything. Thanks again, everyone. I'll talk to you next season, when we'll dissect another modern masterwork song by song, line by line, note by note,

because great art deserves more than a swipe.