My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Dear Kanye,

It's been a rough year for you. We all know that. You lost your Mum, the whole Taylor Swift Fiasco, South Park, Obama calling you a jackass and as you so eloquently put it on Gorgeous "I will never ever let you live this down". But despite all this you still came back and put together this new album and GOD DAMN. When I downloaded this album from Amazon this morning (for only 4 dollars!) I was kind of worried it would be like 808 and Heartbreak, a decent album but really not that memorable. But from the moment Dark Fantasy began I had to keep looking down at my Ipod to make sure this was actually Kanye West.

The lead song Dark Fantasy fucking. brilliant. Nicki Minaj begins with a mini monologue:

"You might think you've picked a scene
But you haven't
The real ones far to mean
The watered down one, The one you know
Was made up centuries ago
It made it sound all wack and corny
Yes, it's all full blasted boring
Twisted fiction, Sick addiction
Well gather round children
Zip it listen!"

This part of the song lasts only seconds, but in my opinion is the perfect intro to this album. After spending years in the background producing for other artists and being passed over by Roc-a-fella cause he didn't appear "hard" enough, Kanye has finally had the chance to produce his masterpiece. After defining himself in The College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation and 808 and Heartbreak as well as a number of tracks accompanying other artists Kanye has established himself at the top of the hip-hop game. However, nothing he has done compares to what he has put together on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The monologue ends with a zip it! as to tell the audience to ignore everything else he's done and just listen to the music. Dark Fantasy asks "Can we get much higher?" and after hearing the lead song, you might wonder if he actually can. A beautiful choral harmony leads into Kanye's first verse on the album. It's fresh and intelligent and sets the stage for the entire album.

The album is EXTREMELY cocky, but I would expect nothing else from Kanye at this point in his career. The second song, Gorgeous lashes back at South Park with "Choke a South Park writer with a fish stick". Power takes on SNL "Fuck SNL and the whole cast. Tell 'em Yeezy said they can kiss my whole ass". These are only samples of the many retorts to negative press he's been gotten scattered throughout this album. This isn't just a diss album though, its incredibly well put together and as Kanye says "I know damn well ya'll feeling this shit".

However Kanye does know where he needs to humble himself a little, in Power he spits out "they say I was the abomination of Obamanation of Obama's nation; well that's a pretty bad way to start the conversation". Not really an apology, but as close as you'll get on this album.

So Appalled features Jay-Z, Pusha T, Prynce Cy Hi, Swizz Beats, and the RZA. This is a solid kinda generic hip-hop track. Jay-Z asks "How should I begin this; I'm just so offended; How am I even mentioned by all these fuckin beginners? I'm so appalled I might buy the mall just to show niggas how much more I have in store".The song is a familiar message from the top of the hip-hop community that they're up on top and "that shit is fucking ridiculous". While not the most original song on the album, it will still stick with you.

The album lacks the amount of skits that made up a major part of The College Dropout, but there is a brief skit on The Blame Game. I laughed out loud on this track (it get's a little more graphic then I want this blog to be) but its hilarious. Let's leave it at that.

So "Let's have a toast to the Douchebag's, to the Assholes" and a toast to Kanye West. This album is fantastic and I cannot recommend it enough. I know all the reviews are feeling this album real hard (a 10 from pitchfork, 5 stars from rolling stone, 9/10 on Spin etc.) But it's for good reason, this album is intelligent, cocky, catchy, and extremely well put together.

Kanye aspires to be the next Michael Jackson, a lofty goal but this latest album brings him one step closer to achieving that dream.


Favorite Track: Power



Grab your can's with the best bass and "Zip it, Listen!"

Rating: 40/40. Love it.