By Ray Rahman

Yes, Kanye West has gone rogue again. Did you expect anything less?

Five years ago, the Chicago native — known at the time for top-shelf but ultimately traditional hip-hop — confounded scores of fans and critics with his emotional electro opus 808s & Heartbreak. At the time it was an anomaly not just within his own catalog but within the larger landscape of radio rap. Today, in the age of Drake and Frank Ocean, it’s hard to imagine that landscape without the confessional bedroom-beats style that West first brought to the mainstream.

The job of an innovator, of course, is to keep innovating. And while 2010’s superlative My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy deepened his sonic palate, and 2011’s Jay-Z collab Watch the Throne reveled in luxury rap, West’s sixth solo effort plunges directly into the darker crevices of his psyche. In some ways it’s a 180 on 808s: Where that album was, on the surface, his softest and most vulnerable, Yeezus comes off as his hardest — designed, as the man himself says on ”Black Skinhead,” to ”f— up your whole afternoon.” Believe it or not, that’s just ‘Ye being modest: This album has the potential to mess with your whole year.

Read More Kanye West, Yeezus Album Review | Music Reviews and News | Summer Must List | EW.com.