Kanye West’s fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, is the ultimate story of redemption and rejuvenation. At his all-time low, Ye makes a dreamlike comeback as he captivates listener’s hearts with his socially potent and personally aware songwriting. The album opens up with the line “I fantasized ’bout this back in Chicago,” and it makes you ask the question, what is Kanye actually fantasizing about? Is it having the world turned against him, the chance to recapture the hearts of millions, or lighting an untamable artistic fire, that has arisen Yeezy to this level of musical mastery? Behind the glorious soundtrack handled by himself, RZA, Mike Dean, No I.D., and many talented others, we find some shocking answers to this question. Covering issues such as racial injustice, suicide, and the fear to lose power, the charm and reliability Kanye’s early work was so renowned for is brought back. What’s different from this chewed-up and spat-out version of Ye from the polo-wearing backpack rapper he once was is that these conscious themes are utilized to mask his depression, resentment, and overall sociopathic mind state from the surface. Adding to this, with top-tier guest performances from names like Jay-Z, Rick Ross, and Pusha T, Kanye’s able to create the perfect dystopia. Being musically impeccable and sick within its themes, MBDTF truly lives up to its name.
Core Ideas:
- Recapturing the hearts of the ones who turned their back on you
- Showing the beauty within the madness and vise versa
Key Strengths:
- Kanye’s best lyrical performance
- A-List features make for an action-packed ride
- Emotional twists perfectly depict the sociopathic state of Kanye as a whole
- Immaculate score is one of the best the genres ever seen
Tracklist Ranked:
- Runaway
- Gorgeous
- Devil In a New Dress
- Power
- Dark Fantasy
- So Appalled
- All of the Lights
- Blame Game
- Monster
- All of the Lights (Interlude)
- Lost In the World
- Hell of a Life
- Who Will Survive In America
Rating: 9.6/10