Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Review

Few positives spring to mind for the perceived artistic peak of Kanye West. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is a solid album preceded by a trio of greater albums, for their collaborative pull and for their sampling success. Big names, bigger attempts at bringing in the public controversies which surrounded his image before the turn of the century, West exiles himself from the real world. It may have been the tipping point for where his music, and the man, find themselves. He has left the out-there thoughts of Dark Fantasy lingering on his mind, caring too much about what people believe or say of him to the point he now flutters between unrepentant and volatile. It can be heard on this hour and ten of what is seen as his best effort. 

Another reference to Family Matters on Dark Fantasy may craft images of a Hawaii-bound West watching hours and hours of Urkel episodes but it hints at his childhood once more. Exceptional beats provide the groundwork, and it is by far the most interesting part of the bulk of this recording. Here are the moves of an artist whose mixing and instrumentals, the muffled vocals of Gorgeous, mark more interest than the lyrical textures. This is West in a place where listeners may never hear him again, saddled with self-doubt and looking out, as much as he can, for advice from his contemporaries. Everyone from Elton John to Kid Cudi and members of Gang Starr and East Coast hip-hop history lends a hand. Those latter hip-hop stylings feel prevalent and lend themselves to immediate classics like POWER, or the essential electrics of Devil In A New Dress. 

All of the Lights holds a similar tone to Keys to My Life, which featured on Vultures fourteen years later, though the latter lacks these impressive mixing consistencies and a lyrical punch which justifies the rage or discomfort found at its core. But this marks a rarity for West, a patch of indifference as he meddles with bits and pieces, admitting he “crossed the line” and perceiving himself as the titular Monster. But the dull tones and faux rage from Nicki Minaj do little to mount much of a long-lasting emotional core. Follow-up So Appalled are fixtures of dealing with outrage though feel deflated and indifferent to the reactions. Rightly so to some degree, but then why detail it if the topic gives West a pause or stutter on his thoughts? He is not as confident here as he is elsewhere but credit to him for attempting to address controversy which followed his image at the time.

We are now in a period where West is not stopped by anxieties, which gave My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy the edge it needed to leave an impact. David Crosby may have hated the self-interest and confidence West has in his material and influence, but to those who listen in keenly enough, it is hard to deny My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy earned its reputation before release. One of the most expensive albums recorded, pooling the thoughts of legends of any genre, providing a host of self-satisfied and ever-belief-filled examples even when a power-napping West was wounded and susceptible to giving in to influences which could have torn a hole through this release.