#17 Kanye West, 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' (2010)
Previously #353
The sixth and surely final entry by Kanye West, an artist that has had an incredible run in this list. “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!” Remember that famous incident? Kanye’s public storming of the stage following Taylor Swift’s Best Female Video VMAs win for ‘You Belong To Me’ is one of the most infamous pop culture incidents of recent times. This tarnished his public image majorly and he later cited extreme exhaustion as his reasoning. Nevertheless, he took a hiatus from public life and retreated to Hawaii. It was there that West threw himself completely into the next record. He completely booked out Avex Recording Studio and imported an A-List selection of guest musicians and producers. West would bounce from room to room, working on various songs at a time; a rhyme in one room a beat in the next, not sleeping one full night throughout the sessions, but rather taking 90-minute power naps in studio chairs and on couches. There was a “no tweeting, no talking, no email” rule for those working on the record to avoid its leaking.
The result is widely regarded as West’s career-best work. Throughout the 13 tracks, West covers themes of celebrity, excess, escapism, sex, romance, decadence and self-doubt. The albums opens with Nicki Minaj narrating ‘Cinderella,’ a poem by Roald Dahl, in an English accent, before the opulent production kicks in, followed by the beats and introduction of West’s voice. This is the perfect snapshot into the record. West muses, “The plan was to drink until the pain over/But what's worse, the pain or the hangover?” This is West’s mindset. This is him bearing his soul. ‘Gorgeous’ into ‘Power’ into ‘All Of The Lights;’ each song bigger than the next, the production unrelenting. Culminating in the sparse piano intro of ‘Runaway,’ before evolving into the triumphant single, one of the biggest of his career. “Let's have a toast for the douche bags/Let's have a toast for the assholes/Let's have a toast for the scumbags/Every one of them that I know.” The A-List guests include Elton John, Kid Cudi, Raekwon, Jay-Z, Bon Iver, RZA, John Legend, plus a cast of incredible musicians. The album was nominated for 5 Grammys, winning 3. And thus ends my journey of Kanye West discovery. One that unfolded before your very eyes. “I’ve always had a complicated relationship with Kanye West. Not personally, of course, we’re not mates. For the most part, I’m not a fan of his music and don’t terribly care for him as a celebrity, but there have been some songs over the years that I’ll concede to liking,” is how I opened my review for his first entry, ‘Yeezuz’ (#269). And I’ll end this one by saying that over the course, I’ve learnt to understand & appreciate him, to respect him as a producer and an artist. This album made a major leap and that’s due to Kanye’s ubiquitous presence throughout music and popular culture over the past 17 years, and his subsequent influence.
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