Rick Rubin on the Possibility of a 'Yeezus' Sequel

One of the complaints raised by Kanye West fans about Yeezus was the length of the record. Taking the minimalistic route, Yeezy matched the album’s artwork with an equally sparse number of songs, ten in total. During Rick Rubin‘s interview with The Daily Beast, he revealed that West originally intended for the album to have 16 songs. Rubin recollects the breakthrough that led to the change and even admits the possibility of “another Yeezus.” Just because the material exists for a sequel, it is still highly unlikely. Each of Kanye West’s albums so far have taken on dramatically different themes, progressing further and further apart from their predecessor.

When he came to you with the record, did you have a sense of what needed to be done?

Initially, he thought there were going to be 16 songs on the album. But that first day, before he even asked me to work on it, I said, “Maybe you should make it more concise. Maybe this is two albums. Maybe this is just the first half.” That was one of the first breakthroughs. Kanye was like, “That’s what I came here today to hear! It could be 10 songs!”

So there might be another Yeezus in the pipeline?

Might be.

Read the full interview here, which touches on everything from The Beatles to NWA.