Arrogant, gifted and brave; those are just three of the adjectives that describe the controversial rapper, Kanye West. West's arrogance is shown from quotes like one in 2009, when he pronounced himself as "the New King of Pop." Although the statement might not be true, he's still very gifted, evidenced by his longevity in music industry from a production standpoint, in addition to his first two albums, The College Dropout and Late Registration, which were heralded as hip-hop classics by many. And 808's and Heartbreaks was a sign of his bravery, as he stepped out of the box to create an album composed completely from auto-tune. So what adjective can be tacked onto West's name after listening to his fifth album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy?How about ingenious? With My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, West has earned the label of "musical genius" in my mind, as I think this LP joins his first two efforts as classic albums. However, if this was judged on just rapping, I wouldn't have it in the conversation. Although the actual rapping isn't bad, it's not nearly as good as it was on The College Dropout or Late Registration. What makes this a classic though, is the production and his objective of what he wanted the album to represent.
The album starts with Nicki Minaj explaining what to expect throughout the entire LP, before a female voice cries out "can we get much higher?" with another following her, before an entire choir joins to create something that would you'd imagine be heard during church. The beat for Dark Fantasy then drops, as West describes his early years in Chicago and eventually makes a Family Matters reference saying "too many Urkels on your team, that's why your Winslow", which has a double-meaning to it.
A guitar riff comes in to introduce the second track, Gorgeous, with G.O.O.D. Music label-mate Kid Cudi responsible for hook duties. West mainly goes after the government in this song, claiming racial issues are America's downfall. Then in the next song, Power, he shifts the subject from just typical egotistical boasting, to a shot at Saturday Night Live for making fun of him, to contemplating suicide in the outro behind a beat sampled from British rock band King Crimison.
A piano and cello accompany each other on the interlude of All of the Lights, as they play a slowed-down melody of the actual track. Horns then introduce the start of the song and Rihanna lays down a great hook, singing about how the spotlight is always on celebrities. West follows that up with verses saying how he abused his celebrity status, which is referring to the Taylor Swift incident. He also gathered up a group of artists to make appearances through the song, whether it's a short verse from Fergie or a piano solo from Elton John.
Bon Iver kills the bright mood from All of the Lights with his first line in Monster, singing "I shoot the lights out." The beat is dark and scary, with thunderous bass only adding onto the "monster" theme. Kanye and Jay-Z deliver some impressive verses, but they are outshined by Nicki Minaj, who's ever-shifting voice is perfect for the subject matter. She mainly is taking shots at the people who claim she - mainly her body - is fake, but like I said, her voice just portrays the theme of the song perfectly.
So Appalled is just another track with numerous impressive guest appearances, but Jay-Z steals the show with one of his best verses of the year (his verse on Free Mason isn't going to be topped). This verse also started the strange beef between Hov and MC Hammer, with the line, "I lost 30 mil, so I spent another 30/cause unlike Hammer, 30 million can't hurt me." Then on the next track, Devil in a New Dress, another great guest feature comes through with Rick Ross on the third verse. This really surprised me, because I'm not a fan whatsoever of the former correctional officer, but even I have to admit he did his thing.
Runaway was the song that started it all, when West chose to debut it at the MTV Video Music Awards earlier this year. He admits that he has a problem with women throughout the song and although he tells the woman he's referring to (more than likely on and off-again girlfriend Amber Rose) to runaway from him, he doesn't know what he'd do without her. And I might be in the minority here, but I feel like the three-minute outro with Kanye using the vocoder is the best part of the song. You can't make out what he's saying, but that's the point, because it's showing how he's struggles to be understood, not only by the media but by the women in past relationships. You can feel the emotion coming through the vocoder as the orchestra keeps their melody.
From admitting his faults with women to marrying a porn star; no wonder this is a beautiful, twisted, dark fantasy. Hell of a Life opens up with a confession, with Kanye revealing he's fell in love with a porn star. This song takes you in many directions, with some out-of-this-world lyrics that will make you want to do a double-take. The hook is very, very catchy and a little wood block solo leads you into the next track, which is the best song on the album and one of the best in West's discography.
Blame Game starts with a piano playing Avril 14th from Aphex Twin while the drums and strings come in just seconds after the first note. John Legend lends his smooth R&B vocals for the hook, singing about how the blame game works, before West makes his intro. Again he struggles to decide what he wants from his girlfriend, whether to stay with her despite their constant fighting or to cheat on her. His full verse explains the abusive relationship they are in, but it also is a metaphor to his relationship with fame. He abused his fame with all the incidents throughout the last few years, but he felt like he had no choice. After another hook and outro by Legend, Kanye fades out once he says he called his girlfriend and she didn't pick up. However, she unknowingly calls him right back and the phone conversation is a hilarious skit from Chris Rock, who asks this woman all these questions about how she became so skilled at sexual intercourse, in which she would reply with "Yeezy taught me."
Bon Iver leads off the final full track, Lost in the World, before the hook comes in twice. West continues his struggle with the woman he's been speaking about in most of the second-half tracks, saying she brings out the best and worst in him with lines such as: "you're my devil, you're my angel" and "you're my freedom, you're my jail." As the track ends, the beat shifts right into the outro, Who Will Survive in America, which is an excerpt from Gil-Scott Heron's poem Comment #1. It's truly an epic ending to an epic album.
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is not supposed to be your average album; it's a movie with the script coming through your speakers/headphones while you visualize what's happening in your mind. Or you can just watch his 35-minute short film, Runaway, which might not make sense the first time you watch it. However, once you closely listen to the album and recognize the subject matter of each song, the symbolism in the film will fall right into place and only will make you appreciate the album that much more.
Before this album, Kanye West probably could have gone down as one of the greatest music artists of the 21st century. But with the addition of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy among his classics The College Dropout and Late Registration, West has not only cemented his place on that list, but also is on track to put his name among some of the greatest artists of all-time.
1.) Dark Fantasy - 5
2.) Gorgeous ft. Kid Cudi & Raekwon - 4.5
3.) Power ft. Dwele - 4.5
4.) All of the Lights Interlude - 4
5.) All of the Lights ft. Alicia Keys, Charlie Wilson, Elton John, Fergie, John Legend, Kid Cudi, Rihanna, Ryan Leslie, The Dream & Tony Williams - 4.5
6.) Monster ft. Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver - 5
7.) So Appalled ft. Jay-Z, Pusha T, Cyhi the Prince, RZA & Swizz Beatz - 4.5
8.) Devil in a New Dress ft. Rick Ross - 4.5
9.) Runaway ft. Pusha T - 5
10.) Hell of a Life - 4.5
11.) Blame Game ft. John Legend - 5
12.) Lost in the World ft. Bon Iver - 4.5
13.) Who Will Survive in America - 5
Overall: 4.65/5
Almost perfect? I think not.
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