DRUMROLL TO YEEZUS

The opening line in the lead item of Page Six this morning seemed plausible enough—inevitable, even. “Kanye West is driving Island Def Jam executives ‘crazy’ with last-minute changes, a new producer and legal issues over his new album, Yeezus.” But then comes a bona fide revelation.

Sources tell the Post that West brought in Rick Rubin to help lay down additional tracks for the record last week—just two weeks before the album drops on June 18. “Even by Kanye West standards, this is pushing it,” said a music biz source.

Rubin will be listed as executive producer, according to the story. And that brings up an interesting question: How does the label make changes to a package that presumably has already been printed, or to a disc that has already been mastered and manufactured, less than two weeks before the physical release? Will IDJ be forced to release Yeezus digitally next week and the CD as soon as it's been redone?

Meanwhile, the story continues, Def Jam spent the week haggling over rights for a vocal sample West used on his song “Onsite.” It’s an old recording of kids in a Chicago church choir. IDJ lawyers apparently had to track down the choir director and members of the Holy Name of Mary Church choir on the South Side of West’s hometown to get clearance for the vocals. The clearance issue became such a major concern at this late date that a different choir singing the same lines was laid down just in case. By the end of the day Friday,sources told the Post, West decided to play it safe and use the new recording.

West celebrated his birthday on Saturday night at Miss Lily’s in Greenwich Village with Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Nas. Kim Kardashian wasn’t able to attend because she can no longer fly ahead of her due date next month.

West’s busy week ended with a headlining performance at the Governors Ball Music Festival on Randalls Island, during which he busted out a whole bunch of material from the new album. Arriving 20 minutes late—early by his standards—West opened the set with the powerful combo of “Black Skinhead” and“New Slaves” (the songs he premiered recently on SNL), as footage of attack dogs and sinister figures clad in black KKK-style hoods were projected behind him.

That provocative feel was one Kanye returned to frequently during the early part ofthe set,” wrote the Post’s Hardeep Phull in his review. “One new cut showcased a blizzard of cold but mesmeric techno beats, while another scintillating number (‘I Am a God’) was built on a searing bass throb and featured a noise breakdown consisting mainly of Kanye’s feral screams.

“It felt less like watching a supremely confident hip-hop star than it did seeing a punk rocker disappear into self-destruction—something which the man himself would undoubtedly take as a huge compliment.”

Toward the end, Phull noted, West offered some justification of where he is headed, hinting that he’d deliberately avoided radio fodder for the new album. “We just made some real music,” he explained. “Honestly, when I listen to the radio, I don’t wanna be there no more. I don’t give a fuck about outside opinions.”

This oughta be some fun…