I'm living in that 21st century, doing something mean to it, doing better than anybody you ever seen do it, screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it, I guess every superhero need his theme music...
By now, you and just about every single person you know have heard those lyrics (other than maybe your grandparents, but there's probably still a chance they've heard it too). In case you're trying to recognize it, it's the cocky, in-your-face, explosive opening line of "Power" by Kanye West, the first single and third track on his new album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The major star figure dropped off the face of the earth about a year and a half ago after the famous incident at the MTV Video Music Awards. In May, he struck back with this song, and from then on it was a collision course; except while we usually think of a collision course as a bad thing, this was a full speed ride towards an album so good it's almost hard to believe.
The Breakdown
1. Dark Fantasy
The album begins with the odd swirls of holy opera underlying Nicki Minaj's powerfully odd voice, not rapping but introducing the story. "Twisted fiction / sick addiction / well gather round children / zip it / listen!" she declares, her voice growing increasingly forceful, as suddenly a slow build of female choir sings the hook. It builds and builds until finally collapsing into the main stretch of the song, Kanye rapping over an irresistible beat. Right off the bat he's lamenting about his night-time demons, and yet makes it sound undeniably cool - this sets up the whole album. It's one of the best tracks on the album, and an incredible way to start it off.
Best Line: "The plan was to drink until the pain over / But what's worse / The pain or the hangover?"
2. Gorgeous (feat. Kid Cudi & Raekwan)
After the choral finish of Dark Fantasy we're suddenly thrust into the dark swirl of distorted electric guitar and Kid Cudi singing the hook. Both Kanye and Raekwon take turns at rapping, with Kanye tearing up the first three verses and then Raekwan coming in at a sudden beat change that will never get old to listen to.
Best Line: "We make em say 'oh!' cause the game's so pimpish / Choke a South Park writer with a fish stick."
3. Power (feat. Dwele)
Here's the single you all know - Kanye's loud, declaration of, well, power, that was released to start up the hype for his album. What an incredible job it did back in May - and the "power" of Power has not died one bit. In fact, within the context of the album, it almost feels like it has more "power" than before. People loved the track for a reason - it's incredible - and whether you've heard it or not, it still is.
Best Line: "They said I was the Obama(abomi)nation of Obama's nation / Well that's a pretty bad way to start the conversation."
4. All of the Lights (Interlude)
The instrumental interlude is a nice change of pace, and allows a singeling out of the beautiful instrumentals of the masterpiece that's soon to come.
5. All of the Lights (feat. Rihanna, Alicia Keys, John Legend, The-Dream, Fergie, Kid Cudi, Ryan Leslie, Charlie Wilson, Tony Williams, Elly Jackson, & Elton John)
Whew, take a breath. That's a lot of people to be featured on a 5-minute song. Is it too much? Does Kanye get overshadowed? Is this the one bump on an otherwise incredible album? The answer to all three of those questions is no, and, in fact, the opposite. It's not too much - the mix just adds to the lively, electric feeling of the whole piece. Kanye does not get overshadowed - this is still 100% a Kanye West song. These features are not your typical guest appearances; other than Fergie, who has a very short 4-bar declaration, Kanye is the only one who actually has any verses. Everyone else adds a little something to the song - Rihanna leads the gorgeous and sparkly hook; the girls provide spiraling backup vocals; Cudi's dark voice is perfect for his small mini-hook; Elton John coasts through with bits of piano and then croaking out some minor lyrics at the end; all these features just add depth. And finally, the song is not the one bump in an otherwise incredible album - it's the best song of the year.
Best Line: "Restraining order / Can't see my daughter / Her mother brother grandmother hate me in that order."
6. Monster (feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, and Bon Iver)
Here's another song many people have heard, the popular G.O.O.D. Friday track "Monster", a dark, hard-beat contemplation on how much you can kick ass and completely suck at the same time. These artists are outwardly declaring just how much of monsters they are - but they're refreshingly proud of it. The real star here is Minaj who steals the show with her violent, explosive declaration of self.
Best Line: The ridiculously raunchy "Have you ever had sex with a pharaoh? / Ahhhhh put the p**** in a sarcophagus."
7. So Appalled (feat. Jay-Z, Pusha T, CyHi Da Prynce, Swizz Beatz & The RZA)
Next is another G.O.O.D. Friday track, the apocalyptic "So Appalled", where the men involved lament on the downsides of fame. It feels much more epic and relevant on the album than it ever did as a stand-alone track, with the dark background highlighting the "appalling" terror that the artists describe.
Best Line: "I went from the favorite / To the most hated / Would you rather be underpaid or overrated?"
8. Devil In A New Dress (feat. Rick Ross)
This is the final G.O.O.D. Friday track on the album, but it's not really the G.O.O.D. Friday track we actually heard. The first 2 and a half minutes is - and an excellent 2 and a half minutes at that - but then the song suddenly cuts into a swirl of delicate and sparkly piano and strings, accompanied by a guitar solo. Then comes in Rick Ross, who I normally am not a fan of, but I feel it's important to mention that he really stands out here - his verse adds a great sense of messy unbalance to the track.
Best Line: I'm a sucker for the hook, "Throw your hands to the constellations / The way you look should be a sin / You my sensation / I know I beat you to the congregation / We love Jesus but you done learned a lot from Satan."
9. Runaway (feat. Pusha T)
The smash hit from the VMAs is now a 9-minute long epic meditation on the assholes and the douchebags of the world. It's Kanye's great acceptance of who he is, and sincerely apologizing for it. Pusha T adds a good verse, but at the end of the day, this is strictly Kanye's song, where he shows off his soft side. The original 5-minute anthem is now accompanied by a 3-minute finale of strings and swirling auto-tune that really just sounds like synth because of how inaudible the words are, and this provides a very unique and interesting effect - Kanye is shouting his thoughts and feelings, but nobody can hear him, leaving him in isolation.
Best Line: "And I just blame everything on you / At least you know that's what I'm good at."
After the star-studded collection of songs that consumes the majority of the album (minus Dark Fantasy), the rest of the album is pretty much left up to Kanye. While there are features from here on out, they provide merely backing vocals, or in the case of Best Birthday, an outro that's really just spoken word and not musical effort. This is important to note because as the album reaches its climax and finale, it leaves Kanye on his own, and truly brings home just how good of an artist he is.
10. Hell of a Life
The final act of the album cuts straight in with edgy synth as Kanye declares "I think I just fell in love with a porn star / Turn the camera on she a born star." "Hell of a Life" is a violently urgent, anxious trip into the darkest places of Kanye's mind. It's a sprawling nightmare of a song, never shying away from the darkest of thoughts and yet never seeming uninviting. It's direct and open in its darkness, and it makes it easier to approach. This is the beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
Best Line: "Runaway slays all in the chain gang / Bang...bang...bang...bang...bang..."
11. Blame Game / The Best Birthday (feat. John Legend and Chris Rock)
Don't let the two names in this song fool you - this may be Kanye's most solo and personal song on the whole album. Legend sings the hook for the first part of Blame Game, but the rapping is all Kanye, and what intense and emotional rapping it is. Our star digresses on the topic of a nasty breakup, and while the entire album is full of Kanye's honest confessions, it is here that we truly see his pain shine through. Mixing his own voice up with different effects, it sounds almost as if there are 4 different people rapping the second verse, but it's all him. After a distant, lonely reprise of the chorus by Kanye plays through, we enter the "Best Birthday" part of the song, which continues the sample-worth-mentioning "Avril 14th" by Aphex Twin, but the actual verses are essentially over; in comes Chris Rock with comic relief, playing "the other guy", and while he's hysterical, the comedy in the final third of the song enhances the heartbreak - it makes it seem as if Kanye is being mocked, and we feel his pain.
Best Line: Kanye achingly sings, all alone, "I can't love you this much / No I can't love you this much..."
12. Lost In the World (feat. Bon Iver) -AND- 13. Who Will Survive In America?
A while back, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon spoke to Pitchfork about working with Kanye West, and all the accomplishments the men had come to with each other. He is briefly featured on "Monster", but after an album full of ambition, after declarations of power, after astonishment and wonder at a sky filled with lights, after a monster brawl, after lamenting on the downsides of stardom and the poor shape of the world, after toasting to the assholes and douchebags, and after feeling completely alone, the major combination of West and Vernon comes to life for the grandest finale in recent music history. We end with a vibrant re-imagining of Bon Iver's "Woods", with Kanye not on top of the world, not in control of it - but lost in it. This fades into the final track, which is really still Track 12, it's just split because of the transfer from West and Vernon to spoken word by Gil Scott Heron, an artist from the 70s.
It is here that the story comes full circle; after tales of twisted fiction and sick addiction, the children have sit and listened and are awaiting the moral of the story. But Kanye, seemingly for the first time, doesn't have all the answers, and the moral, instead of proclaiming something, instead asks a question:
Who will survive in America?
And with the fast repetition of this question by Heron, the song finishes, and some mild claps ensue; although a standing ovation would probably be more appropriate. Kanye may be lost in the world, but his music benefits greatly - it's his most honest and real effort to date. This is a true portrayal of stardom in America today: the beauty, the darkness, and all the twisted fantasies.
10.0 /10.0 (A Masterpiece)
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