My Gut Reaction: Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (November 22, 2010)

For those of you two in the States, you can relax: Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy has finally dropped. You can resume your normal Thanksgiving holiday as scheduled.  Everyone else in the world...um, enjoy your usual Thursday, I guess.

You're already familiar with the backstory for how Kanye West recorded his comeback album, so I'll only hit the high points for the sake of filling in some blank space. After interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye decided to take some time off to find himself, not unlike what young twenty-somethings do after they finish college but are unaware of the pressures the real world will impose. This wasn't surprising, as his mother had passed away recently, but Kanye never really got a chance to mourn, and on top of that, he apparently also broke up with a long-term girlfriend, which inspired his departure from hip hop, his Auto-Tuned 808's & Heartbreak, which I still say is much better than what most people give it credit for.

After bumming around the world for a while (being filthy rich affords you such luxuries), 'Ye quietly decided that what he really wanted to do was record another rap album. He found a studio in Hawaii that would be perfect for his needs: it provided space for productivity, but if he ever needed a break, he was already in one of the world's top vacation destinations, and also there's a lot of different type of weed that can be purchased there. However, upon his arrival, he was tricked by a local into completing three difficult tasks before he could access the studio's front door.

He completed the first, talking a suicidal bear down off of a window ledge, with ease, thanks to the assistance of a freshly-baked homemade pie that he carried around in his car for such an occasion. The second task proved a bit more challenging, as he was forced to judge a talent competition where the contestants were made up of space aliens from another galaxy: Kanye had to overcome both the obvious language barrier and his hatred of Spin Doctors standards, which seemed to dominate the proceedings. The third task coerced him into kidnapping an entire ballet company from Paris, which he accomplished by donning a fake wig and pretending to be Kurtis Blow, scouting performers for a bar mitzvah. Afterwards, he wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do with the ballerinas, so he decided to employ them himself as his newest backup dancers-slash-weed carriers.

After finally gaining the keys, 'Ye locked himself in the studio and decided to call up a slew of hip hop heavies to join him during the recording process of what was once supposed to be called Good Ass Job, but instead ended up being My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Names such as DJ Premier, The RZA, Pete Rock, and Madlib were thrown around with careless abandon, as they were all allegedly providing production for a guy who was already a producer-slash-rapper in his own right. Lord only knows what happened to those sessions: only Prince Rakeem made the final cut of the album, as Kanye suddenly realized that he embodies every characteristic of the egotistic and should probably handle the majority of the production for what was supposed to be his return to hip hop. He wasn't afraid of stacking the deck when it came to guests, however: in addition to the likes of Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Fergie, and Rihanna, all of whom would guarantee some extra scans for Def Jam Records (who allegedly spent over five million dollars on the recording of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy), Kanye also invited Raekwon, Elton John (no, seriously), La Roux's Elly Jackson, Chris Rock, Bon Iver, The-Dream, Drake, Ryan Leslie, and his own protégées John Legend, KiD CuDi, Big Sean (on a bonus track only), CyHi Da Prince, and his newest G.O.O.D. Music signee, Pusha T (from the coke-rap duo the Clipse).

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy leaked earlier this month, and overwhelmingly positive reviews came flooding in almost immediately, with many claiming this to be Kanye's masterpiece. (Side question: how many of you two actually enjoyed the thirty-five minute short film-slash-music video for "Runaway" (that's included in the deluxe release), and how many of you found it to be mildly interesting but mostly insufferable, like me?) The man is absolutely capable of putting out some compelling music: I will say that I did not see this career trajectory coming when he first spit his rhymed through a jaw that was wired shut after a near-fatal car accident (see: “Through The Wire”). But is My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, a rap album sequenced as a bleak fairytale describing the rise of a successful artist and the not-entirely-irrational fears that drive his everyday actions, really worthy of all of the praise it's been getting?

Well?

1. DARK FANTASY (FEAT. NICKI MINAJ, BON IVER, AMBER ROSE, & TEYANA TAYLOR)

After some bullshit introduction from the phony English-accented Nicki Minaj (who sounds about as bad as Madonna did when she was married to Guy Ritchie) that was also used for the "Runaway" short film-slash-music video, and a brief-but-pleasant chorus, Kanye West presents listeners with the best RZA beat that was never given to the Wu-Tang Clan. (The production is also credited to 'Ye and No I.D., but it's fairly obvious who did what.) Yeezy takes to the beat as if he never stopped rhyming in the first place, spitting two verses that are catchy as fuck (the “Too many Urkels on your team, that's why your wins-low” line, which also appeared during his BET freestyle cypher, still makes me laugh), so it's clear that he was relishing the opportunity to pretend that he was a legitimate part of the Clan. This is a fantastic way to kick things off, even with the bizarre spoken-word third verse added in midway through. I only wish that RZA's beat contained harder drums, so that it would have that much more of an impact when it finally kicks in. Oh well. I still loved this shit.

2. GORGEOUS (FEAT. KID CUDI, RAEKWON, & TONY WILLIAMS)

It seems more than a bit blasphemous to not include Raekwon on the song that The RZA co-produced, but whatever. The title of this song makes absolutely no sense, but aside from that minor complaint, this isn't bad, mainly because of the funky instrumental (handled by 'Ye, No I.D., and Mike Dean) and our host's three verses, in which he comes across as more lyrical than ever before. (He even uses up a bar to attack “a South Park writer with a fish stick”; based on this evidence and 'Ye's attack on Saturday Night Live during “Power”, it's obvious that he watches too much television.) CuDi, as always, is nowhere near essential for the song to be successful (yeah, I said it), but he only handles the chorus, which could have been worse. However, no matter how hard he tries, Kanye is outshined by the aforementioned guest star Chef Raekwon, who delivers a characteristically sleepy verse, but still manages to sound good because 'Ye had the brilliant idea of slightly distorting the vocals, so that you're hanging onto his every word instead of worrying about his overall health. “Ye does the same for his own vocals, too, so the consistency definitely adds to the overall experience.

3. POWER (FEAT. DWELE)

There isn't much I can say about “Power”, the first single from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, that I haven't already written, but I do still like it today. I do wonder if 'Ye will ever release the version with the alternate second verse that he performed on SNL. But it's not important enough for me to care for more than three sentences.

4. ALL OF THE LIGHTS (INTERLUDE)

A thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable musical interlude. Although I appreciate the fact that 'Ye was considerate enough to isolate it from the actual song it shares a title with, I actually wouldn't mind if the two tracks were combined.

5. ALL OF THE LIGHTS (FEAT. RIHANNA, ALICIA KEYS, FERGIE, THE-DREAM, RYAN LESLIE, ELTON JOHN, CHARLIE WILSON, KID CUDI, JOHN LEGEND, TONY WILLIAMS, DRAKE, ALVIN FIELDS, KEN LEWIS, & ELLY JACKSON)

Kanye West throws a dinner party, and instead of asking his guests to bring different dishes, he insists that they all contribute to this one song, which gives “All Of The Lights” the distinction of having the most bizarre guest list I've seen this week. (This track rivals some of the G.O.O.D. Friday releases when it comes to random combinations of artists.) Early word on this song, which leaked in several different versions before now (the leak pissed 'Ye off so much that he threatened to shut down the G.O.O.D. Friday offerings for good, but he had a change of heart after hearing the overall response) was fucking amazing, and I will say that I walked away from this final version with this shit stick in my head. But while the (awesome) instrumental and the female vocals mostly connect (even though my wife mentioned that she's sick of hearing Rihanna pop up on every rap song ever, a sentiment I strongly agree with), the male vocalists are all lost in the shuffle, aside from two: KiD CuDi channels Krayzie Bone for some reason, and Elton John manages to fit in pretty well. Also, the rhymes on here are alarmingly weak. Fergie's short verse is pretty bad and entirely horrible (par for the course for her, I must say), but the true offender on here is Kanye himself, whose verses are borderline horseshit. (The only line of his I liked was, “Her mother, brother, grandmother hate me (in that order)” (parentheses mine).) But I'll probably still play this song over and over again, as it does sound celebratory as fuck, and since it's supposed to be the next single, I'm sure I'll get sick of this track eventually. For now, though, I like it a lot, although I flat-out don't understand why some critics believe 'Ye's line “I'm headed home / I'm almost there” is so deep when it really isn't. Sadly, this song was very clearly recorded in small components and assembled together in the studio, so you will never hear The-Dream talk about what it was like to work alongside Elton John.

6. MONSTER (FEAT. JAY-Z, NICKI MINAJ, BON IVER, & RICK ROSS)

“Monster” is the first disappointment on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but not because it's a bad song or anything. Aside from a few newer flourishes, this is the exact same song that 'Ye unleashed as part of the G.O.O.D. Friday series. There are no new verses, and Rick Ross isn't suddenly rendered more interesting or anything: his intro actually sounds more unnecessary, if that's even possible. Although I'm still not a fan of hers, I've grown to appreciate the fact that Nicki Minaj stays on topic with her verse (even though it sounds like it was performed by approximately six of her multiple personalities), something that Kanye doesn't even bother to do. (He will “put the pussy in a sarcophagus”, though. Which absolutely doesn't mean what he wants it to mean.) The beat is still pretty good (if not exactly monstrous), and the performances from all the players (except Officer Ricky) are still a delight. My favorite part of this song is how one could easily misinterpret Jay-Z's lyrics: after he runs down a list of classic movie monsters, it's almost as though he tacks on “Christians” before asking “What do these all have in common?”. (And yes, I'm aware that Hova actually says “Question”. It's a joke, people.) Oddly, Charlie Wilson shared billing on the G.O.O.D. Friday track, and I swear I can still hear his vocals on the album version, but he isn't listed in the credits anywhere. Weird.

7. SO APPALLED (FEAT. JAY-Z, PUSHA T, CYHI DA PRINCE, THE RZA, & SWIZZ BEATZ)

The best G.O.O.D. Friday song thus far (yes, in my mind, this just edges out “Chain Heavy”) doesn't necessarily fit on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but this song is so fucking awesome that I really don't care. I'd love to see a video for this, maybe done as a direct sequel to Hova's “Run This Town”, given the similar sample and dark tones shared between the tracks. Jay-Z turns in the best guest verse on the entire album, with Pusha T coming in a close second. (The more talkative half of the Clipse even gets a slightly more majestic ending to his verse that he did on the free version, but it leads into an bonus Swizz Beatz recitation, so there is a downside.) It turns out that I didn't get my wish: The RZA still only does a glorified hook. But everyone with an actual verse sounds great over this dramatic, poignant instrumental. One of the best songs of the fucking year.

8. DEVIL IN A NEW DRESS (FEAT. RICK ROSS)

I thought this was the weakest G.O.O.D. Friday song when I did my write-up, but that was a bit of an unfair judgment, since what 'Ye leaked was an incomplete song. So here is the full version, which now inexplicably features a verse from Rick Ross, albeit one that is isolated from the rest of the track, so it sounds more like an afterthought than a true collaborative effort. Bink!'s instrumental still sounds like a poor early-Kanye West imitation (although I liked the mid-song instrumental break), and Officer Ricky's verse isn't anything special (I don't see the appeal, and the fact that he now seems to ad-lib “uh” within his verses like The Notorious B.I.G. used to do makes me want to Hulk out), so maybe my original opinion is still valid: this is still pretty weak. It is what it is.

9. RUNAWAY (FEAT. PUSHA T, THE-DREAM, & TONY WILLIAMS)

Kanye takes his second single and goes all art-house on us, stretching it out to nine minutes in length by adding some annoying piano keys at the very beginning (so as to continue to concept of his live performances of the song, in which he appears to be crafting the a on the spot), throwing in some of the sampled vocals (huzzah!) from the live performances, changing the “girl” in his second bar to a “bitch” (that's a curious edit, by the way: it's not as though the song was clean before, so why alter that now? Maybe he was just trying to be more of an douchebag), and tacking on the same Auto-Tuned coda that you heard in the "Runaway" short film, in which it sounds like the machines have both become sentient and are dying from emphysema. So he kinda-sorta fucked up a great song. It's still okay, but there was really no reason that he should have allowed his artistic tendencies to get the best of him in this way. Besides, we'll always have the single edit. Pusha T still sounds fantastic on here, though.

10. HELL OF A LIFE (FEAT. TEYANA TAYLOR & THE-DREAM)

Our host's instrumental on here is fucking awesome, but the lyrics leave me feeling empty, since Kanye's hedonistic tendencies get the best of him, turning some of his bars into a poorly written Penthouse Forum letter. The beat on here is so sleazy-good that you may have to steam clean Yeezy's sperm out of your carpet after you're done listening to it. Also, the man should absolutely step the fuck away from the Auto-Tune (which he uses to sing his own chorus), and I say that even though I actually liked 808's & Heartbreak a great deal. The track is also a bit too long for its own good. But the music on here is so fucking good, it comes pretty close to overriding all of my criticism.

11. BLAME GAME (FEAT. JOHN LEGEND, CHRIS ROCK, & SALMA KENAS)

An early tracklisting of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy listed Pusha T as a collaborator for this track, so I was a bit disappointed to find that he isn't actually on here. This track is nearly eight minutes long because of an extended interlude at the end, but the music on here is so fucking great that I didn't mind. Kanye and John Legend (who sings the words “bitch” and “motherfucker” as if he was Motown's answer to Nate Dogg) use the melancholy piano keys and strings (liberally borrowed from Aphex Twin's “Avril 14th”)to stare objectively at a dying relationship, and this shit is actually pretty powerful stuff. Which is why it's almost derailed when Chris Rock appears at the end as the other man, but luckily that risk ultimately pays off, since he's funny, but not so funny that he distracts the listener from the overall point of the song. Thanks to the music, this is some gut-wrenching stuff. Kudos, 'Ye.

12. LOST IN THE WORLD (FEAT. BON IVER)

“Paranoid” was the song on 808's & Heartbreak that could qualify as a club banger: “Lost In The World” is My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy's bid. I understand that's an odd generalization to make, given that this song features samples from both Bon Iver (“The Woods” - although he also appears on the song itself, so that's interesting) and Gil Scott Heron's “Comment #1”, but it's true. This track certainly isn't bad, as it beautifully encompasses 'Ye's growing disconnect with the world around him, but it only really consists of one verse and a shitload of distractions.

13. WHO WILL SURVIVE IN AMERICA (FEAT. BON IVER, CHARLIE WILSON, KAY FOX, TONY WILLIAMS, ALICIA KEYS, & ELLY JACKSON)

The Gil Scott Heron sample that was used on the last track plays out a bit longer to act as an outro to both “Lost In The World” and the album in general. You two should already know how I feel about spoken word outros, but the fact that 'Ye set this one to music makes it interesting to hear at least the once.

The iTunes version of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy contains the following bonus track.

14. SEE ME NOW (FEAT. BEYONCE, CHARLIE WILSON, & BIG SEAN)

“See Me Now” was a terrible song that 'Ye leaked himself, and he was so encouraged by the response that he decided to create the G.O.O.D. Friday series, so I guess some good came of it. However, I never liked this song because it sounds boring as shit. The album version features a newly mastered sound and an additional verse from 'Ye's apprentice Big Sean, who spends the majority of his time defending his boss, like a good lackey should. But the song itself is still not very interesting, unless, once again, you really need to hear Bey sing the word “n---a”. By the way, has Charlie Wilson officially signed to G.O.O.D. Music? He sure does pop up on the free leaks an awful lot.

There was word on the Interweb of additional iTunes-exclusive bonus tracks for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: “Chain Heavy”, “Mama's Boyfriend”, “Power (Remix)”, and “Pure”. This news turned out to be false, although I wouldn't be surprised if “Mama's Boyfriend” (a song 'Ye talked up during the recording process) and “Pure” (a collaboration with Mr. Hudson that nobody had ever even considered before it popped up on the fake tracklisting) ended up leaking down the line. (The other two tracks are already freely available as a part of G.O.O.D. Friday, although the “album” version of “Chain Heavy” was allegedly going to feature M.I.A., so who knows what will happen.)

THE LAST WORD: So is Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy the masterpiece that other critics are making it out to be? Unsurprisingly, not so much. 'Ye's return to hip hop makes for a really good album, at times even great, but it isn't an instant classic, as it's missing the cohesion necessary for the project to flow properly, thanks in part to our host's insistence on including a handful of the already-released G.O.O.D. Friday songs. (I wonder what this might have sounded like if, say, “Monster” was a bonus track, instead of being a part of the centerpiece.) Musically, Kanye's soundscapes (with occasional assists from others) sound like nothing else in our chosen genre: they don't even sound like anything the man has even done in the past, they are that forward-thinking. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy plays out as a “fuck you” to everyone else in hip hop, almost as though 'Ye is daring the rest of the industry to follow in the footsteps of his ridiculous artistic tendencies, which, admittedly, work more often than not. He even shows restraint by limiting the main program to thirteen tracks (well, eleven songs, a musical interlude, and an outro), so this is clearly not the same guy who recorded The College Dropout and Late Registration, even though he does share a social security number with that person. My biggest problem with the album is with the lyrics: although there are a handful of performances that push the boundaries of what Kanye is capable of (“Dark Fantasy”, “So Appalled”, and “Power” come to mind), there are songs on here that would look like a fucking joke when transcribed (“All Of The Lights” specifically, although the lone verse on “Lost In The World” also qualifies). Most of 'Ye's lines are singularly focused on fucking, a subject that has always sounded a bit forced when coming from him. However, the music built around those two examples is strong enough to overcome all obstacles, so that's just a minor quibble regarding what will probably become the hip hop album of the year. There are missteps, sure, and I was left wishing that he didn't rely on so many guest artists at times (even though most of the outside contributions were pretty goddamn good), but I enjoyed My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, even though it isn't perfect. But was there any way it ever could have been, realistically? Good work, Kanye.

-Max

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