Taylor's Choice:
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
To this day, I still don't get it.
Everything about Kanye West should make me hate him. He's an arrogant, self-idolizing asshole. He knows it too, and seems not the least bit ashamed. And he constantly keeps us this image of douchery as if his life and career depended upon it.
And yet...
Kanye is unlike any rapper in recent memory. He doesn't have a pseudonym or rap name, unlike essentially EVERY other artist in the genre's history. He creates music with the highest ambition in mind, not settling for anything less than his artistic vision, which distinguishes him from most other mainstream rappers: he views his music as art rather than commodity. He is, above all else, for better and for worse, true to himself. And despite his less than savory image, he's made some pretty damn good music.
His first two albums (especially his sophomore release Late Registration) are among the best albums of the 2000's; their sprawling yet focused scope provided the decade with some of it's most captivating music, and to this day sound unlike anything else in the genre. And while his recent electro-pop detours were less thrilling, people who worked with West on his latest album began to talk excitedly, including DJ Premier who stated that West was "totally done with electro. You're gonna be surprised by what you hear."
Then "Power" leaked.
Built on a beautifully-used sample of "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson, the song was a surprising sudden comeback; it managed to be both self-aggrandizing and self-effacing, showing off both West's strengths and shortcomings. And that is essentially what the entirety of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is like; it's Kanye's love letter and roast to himself. He's been known in the past to write a few humble songs as a contradiction to his image, but never as much as he does here. He identifies himself as a "Monster," and still finds himself "addicted to the hood rats," even when he can find himself a "good girl." Kanye knows he's a fuck up, and he either doesn't know how to change or doesn't want to. In any case, Kanye has never been this open in his music before, and that's saying a lot about a guy who's constantly talking about... well, himself. Just look at that album cover; it says more than words ever could.
The production on these songs is brilliant; not a single one chooses to feed into the notion that the mainstream is stuck in a musical stasis, and each has it's own distinct feel and vibe that makes it stand out on it's own. All the subtleties and pokes at minimalism are completely shattered; Kanye goes after the biggest, grandest sounds on here. The guests pairings are pretty head-spinning, too: Raekwon and Kid Cudi? Jay-Z and RZA? Somehow even the craziest moments on this album come together as a whole and seem to make sense, which speaks to Kanye's talent as, if I may be so bold, an artist.
Alright, this is officially the longest review I've ever written, so I'm going to wrap this up: In essence, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is the most grandiose, most flawed, most perfect album of Kanye West's career. It's not his best album, but it is his most defining and thematically consistent. It opens up Kanye for the world to see, and how much you care affects how you enjoy the album. But you and I both know that you do want to look, if even just a little bit.
Everything about Kanye West should make me hate him. He's an arrogant, self-idolizing asshole. He knows it too, and seems not the least bit ashamed. And he constantly keeps us this image of douchery as if his life and career depended upon it.
And yet...
Kanye is unlike any rapper in recent memory. He doesn't have a pseudonym or rap name, unlike essentially EVERY other artist in the genre's history. He creates music with the highest ambition in mind, not settling for anything less than his artistic vision, which distinguishes him from most other mainstream rappers: he views his music as art rather than commodity. He is, above all else, for better and for worse, true to himself. And despite his less than savory image, he's made some pretty damn good music.
His first two albums (especially his sophomore release Late Registration) are among the best albums of the 2000's; their sprawling yet focused scope provided the decade with some of it's most captivating music, and to this day sound unlike anything else in the genre. And while his recent electro-pop detours were less thrilling, people who worked with West on his latest album began to talk excitedly, including DJ Premier who stated that West was "totally done with electro. You're gonna be surprised by what you hear."
Then "Power" leaked.
Built on a beautifully-used sample of "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson, the song was a surprising sudden comeback; it managed to be both self-aggrandizing and self-effacing, showing off both West's strengths and shortcomings. And that is essentially what the entirety of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is like; it's Kanye's love letter and roast to himself. He's been known in the past to write a few humble songs as a contradiction to his image, but never as much as he does here. He identifies himself as a "Monster," and still finds himself "addicted to the hood rats," even when he can find himself a "good girl." Kanye knows he's a fuck up, and he either doesn't know how to change or doesn't want to. In any case, Kanye has never been this open in his music before, and that's saying a lot about a guy who's constantly talking about... well, himself. Just look at that album cover; it says more than words ever could.
The production on these songs is brilliant; not a single one chooses to feed into the notion that the mainstream is stuck in a musical stasis, and each has it's own distinct feel and vibe that makes it stand out on it's own. All the subtleties and pokes at minimalism are completely shattered; Kanye goes after the biggest, grandest sounds on here. The guests pairings are pretty head-spinning, too: Raekwon and Kid Cudi? Jay-Z and RZA? Somehow even the craziest moments on this album come together as a whole and seem to make sense, which speaks to Kanye's talent as, if I may be so bold, an artist.
Alright, this is officially the longest review I've ever written, so I'm going to wrap this up: In essence, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is the most grandiose, most flawed, most perfect album of Kanye West's career. It's not his best album, but it is his most defining and thematically consistent. It opens up Kanye for the world to see, and how much you care affects how you enjoy the album. But you and I both know that you do want to look, if even just a little bit.
Hipster Rating:
9.0
Friend Review:
Happy New Year! I hope you are doing well.
Hip-hop has always been more of Taylor’s thing than mine. However I was excited to listen to this album after seeing all the hype it got on /mu/. This decade’s ITAOTS, whodathunkit? Then I saw Kanye West perform on Saturday Night Live. HOLY FUDGE. That was seriously one of the greatest SNL performances I’ve ever seen them. If you didn’t catch it, YouTube it right now. No seriously, open up a new tab and watch it right now, he performed “Power” and “Runaway”.
The only real contact I have with hip-hop is the shit that gets played on the radio, usually heard when I’m bumming a ride off a friend. The biggest fact I know about hip-hop is that I hate that crap. There are moments in this album that very much resemble the hits that all the kids are singing out there today. Rihanna’s part in “All of the Lights” is straight up painful to listen to. The greatest moments on MBDTF are when West is aggressive and has his own distinctive sound. Listen to “Dark Fantasy”, “Power”, “Monster”, “So Appalled”, and “Runaway”. These pieces are straight-up MOVING. I know this is probably the most hyped album of the year, and when I listen to these tracks I completely understand and at some points agree, but seeing as it only comprises about half of the album, I don’t think it makes up for the slower parts of the album which just feel like filler to me.
Hip-hop has always been more of Taylor’s thing than mine. However I was excited to listen to this album after seeing all the hype it got on /mu/. This decade’s ITAOTS, whodathunkit? Then I saw Kanye West perform on Saturday Night Live. HOLY FUDGE. That was seriously one of the greatest SNL performances I’ve ever seen them. If you didn’t catch it, YouTube it right now. No seriously, open up a new tab and watch it right now, he performed “Power” and “Runaway”.
The only real contact I have with hip-hop is the shit that gets played on the radio, usually heard when I’m bumming a ride off a friend. The biggest fact I know about hip-hop is that I hate that crap. There are moments in this album that very much resemble the hits that all the kids are singing out there today. Rihanna’s part in “All of the Lights” is straight up painful to listen to. The greatest moments on MBDTF are when West is aggressive and has his own distinctive sound. Listen to “Dark Fantasy”, “Power”, “Monster”, “So Appalled”, and “Runaway”. These pieces are straight-up MOVING. I know this is probably the most hyped album of the year, and when I listen to these tracks I completely understand and at some points agree, but seeing as it only comprises about half of the album, I don’t think it makes up for the slower parts of the album which just feel like filler to me.
Friend Rating:
7.4
Coming up next, Belle & Sebastian Write About Love by Belle & Sebastian!
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment