Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy ALBUM REVIEW

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Kanye West has been a very polarizing figure for the past couple of decades, and if you know his name, I certainly don’t need to tell you why. The first rap album I had listened to the whole way through was Watch The Throne, his collaborative effort with Jay-Z. It ain’t a masterpiece by any means (except for “No Church in the Wild,” that song will always bang), but Watch the Throne opened up this gauntlet of music that I’d never thought I’d be up to listen to. Funny enough, on the day of this writing, Yeezus is celebrating its seventh anniversary (!!). So, since I haven’t reviewed a Kanye record on here yet, what better album to review than his 2010 comeback album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Let’s get into it.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is a hip-hop record with influences of art-pop throughout the record. A word to describe this album would be BIG. If this album were a movie, this would have the budget of a Marvel film and would look just as good. Every single instrumental has layers to it that can be peeled back and could work completely on its own. Kanye also employs his features well. Multiple features from Bon Iver, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Pusha-T, and as well as a star-making verse from the then-upcoming Nicki Minaj, make up a great deal of MBDTF’s content, but that doesn’t stop it from being an album made by Kanye West. Even with his side performers, this is still his show and he proves it. “POWER” is one of the greatest comeback singles ever, “All of the Lights” is a star-studded masterclass, and “So Appalled” cemented himself as a great curator. In my opinion, the star of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is “Devil in a New Dress.” West’s performance is classic, Rick Ross’s verse is widely regarded as one of the best features of the 2010s, and Mike Dean’s production turned him into a star and frequent West collaborator. Even if it is a little overrated, “Runaway” is still a great track. I just think it should’ve been trimmed down a bit. There is one low point for me, though, and that belongs to “Blame Game.” It’s still a decent song, and I like John Legend, but why is Chris Rock on here? I still don’t know why, but whenever I get to the part where he says “I FUCKED PARTS OF YOUR PUSSY I’VE NEVER FUCKED BEFORE,” I just always burst into laughter and all is right in Kanye’s world.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is an extreme look into Kanye’s psyche, and overall, it works on nearly all levels. Writing, production, concept, it’s all there. It’s just that a couple tracks bog the album down and that “Runaway” didn’t have to be 10 minutes long, but that doesn’t stop this album from being great. It’s supposed to be extreme, it’s supposed to be overlong sometimes, and that’s okay. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy isn’t my favorite Kanye album, believe it or not, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t flawless.


10/10


Stream My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy here

Spotify

Apple Music

YouTube Music



You’ll find out what my favorite Kanye album is on Monday. ;)

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