First off, I want to recognize two things: 1. Pointing out the rampant devaluing of women in popular music (and rap specifically) borders on Lloyd Christmas’ moon landing announcement; and 2. Comparing Kanye West to D.W. Griffith is somewhat outlandish but if he gets to declare himself a “new slave” I get to engage in a little hyperbole too. Mr. West’s new record Yeezus is daring in both genre and convention, a technical marvel of studio prowess and song construction. It’s also such an unintentional masterpiece of egotism and cartoonish arrogance that it’s damn near impossible to take seriously. From track one, Yeezus ventures deep into the wormhole of clownish self-importance. I know I’m iconoclastic by nature but I can’t be the only one to regard West as a magnificent buffoon can I? What to make of lyrics like: I keep it 300 like the Romans 300 bitches, where’s the Trojans? “Greek” doesn’t rhyme with “Trojans” so fair enough but you would think a “close high” to the “most high” would do a little research anyway? Nope. Kanye has evolved (or rather, was created) beyond a mere mortal’s historical record. George Carlin once said, and I’m paraphrasing, that when you don’t go to college you spend the rest of your life trying to prove you’re smart. From one college dropout to another, please Kanye, you’re not helping. Cheap shots aside, what I’m really interested in here is the second line of that verse. “300 bitches, where’s the Trojans?” I understand the word “bitch” has or can be applied in a positive, respectful manner. Words change their meaning over time, I’m not going to focus on that. What I am questioning, and indeed, what I would like to point out is that time and time again, women (or bitches) on Yeezus are reduced to the possessions of men. To be fornicated upon as an aggressive act of retaliation. From New Slaves: Fuck you and your Hampton house I’ll fuck your Hampton spouse Came on her Hampton blouse And in her Hampton mouth Godhead Incarnate Kanye isn’t going to take his aggression out sexually on a man because, as he implied earlier in New Slaves, “I’d rather be a dick than a swallower” – that would be super gay. He is, however, going to ravish their wives without a second thought. To Kanye, Peace Be Unto Him, making the sex with a record exec’s wife is little more than keying his car or breaking his watch. Since women are interchangeable with possessions, let’s switch them: Fuck you and your brand new Porsche I’ll shit on your Hampton Porch And light the doo-doo torch Then run while the bag gets scorched Okay so it lacks the emotional gravitas of borderline rape but you get the point. When women aren’t simply avatars for retribution or metaphors for weaker men than His Holiness, Kanye Of West, they’re points on a score board. Collective reinforcements of The Supreme Leader’s transcendent awesomeness. From I’m In It: Black girl sipping on white wine Put my fist in her like the civil rights sign I get that flagrant woman-hating is endemic in much of the genre’s culture (I say much because there are many, many artists who keep a strong distance from it) but I don’t think that’s reason enough to utterly dismiss the overt chauvinism on display here. The reviews for Yeezus are overwhelmingly positive; nay, glowing. Pitchfork gives it a 9.5 out of 10. Rolling Stone 4.5 out of 5. SPIN an 8 out of 10. All treat its views on women as a fairly innocuous component of Kanye’s character. Their job is to review an album, not necessarily to condemn an Artist’s misogyny, but it’s interesting how little anyone is moved by the vitriol. Are we so tone deaf to the denigration of women that we don’t hear it? Do we not care? Or do...