My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: Album Review

Let's face it. Its been somewhat of a roller-coaster ride in the career of 14-time, Grammy winner, rapper and producer, Kanye West. With tragedies, the Chicagoan genius took a hiatus after interrupting an acceptance speech from country-singer, Taylor Swift at MTV VMAs in '09. Since then, its still one of the most talked about, piece of news today. Many wondered, would the Louis Vuitton Don ever return? Surely, Kanye West came back with the blazing and top lyrical, lead hit single, 'Power' from his fifth new-album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. 'Power' had hit the charts and made the summer sweat with more heat than it could handle. It even raised anticipation of what Kanye West's new album was going to be titled after the unexpected and redeeming 808s & Heartbreak. Some felt that Kanye was going to continue with the college themes with the title of G.O.O.D Ass Job, which may still be in the works.... But, Kanye West is in another state of mind with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy opens with an exhilarating 'Dark Twisted Fantasy'. It gives a futuristic view of Kanye West's thoughts and what to expect throughout the album. Then its followed by the song, 'Gorgeous' with Kid Cudi and Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon, the Chef. Once again, Kanye West holds his own on the track with an impressive choice of collaborations with pretty nice performances. 'All of the Lights' is everywhere and Rihanna more than likely had saved it.

Moving to the G.O.O.D Fridays of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 'Monster' is stellar with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and amazing verses from Kanye West, his big brother, Jay-Z to Nicki Minaj who has the best verse of them all. Its a killer! 'So Appalled' is kind of eerie, but nonetheless, fantastic with Swizz Beats, RZA and remarkable flows by new label mates, Pusha T from The Clipse and Cy-Hi Da Prince to the G.O.O.D Music roster. The track is ridiculously great. 'Devil In A New Dress' ft. Rick Ross is good as Kanye West sometimes play with selling his soul to the devil. 'Runaway' proves to be best new music and the 35 minute video basically reveals his fantasy... 'Blame Game' has an interesting and funny outlook on love and relationships. 'Lost In the World' can have one lost in the beginning, but the tune grows quite well.

What makes My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy one of the classic Hip Hop albums this year is the production credits. Although, Kanye West usually takes over on the majority of that aspect, producers, RZA, No I.D., Pete Rock and Q-Tip definitely contributed their musical efforts. There are outstanding guest appearances that seem to sneak up every once in a while on the album. It has poetic twists. A standing ovation once again to G.O.O.D Music.

Aside from the emotional, outbursts at award show ceremonies and sometimes outrageous personality, what bad can really be said about Kanye West? He's a masterpiece of artistry in this generation. Kanye West is the reason, a lot of careers has been resurrected, Also, he's responsible for classics such as Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3. With a recent, accepted apology to former president, George W. Bush, its evident as Kanye West spits in his cypher from 2010 BET Hip Hop Awards, "They love you, then they hate you, then love you again!"

©2010, Alphonso Taylor. All rights reserved. No republication of this material in any form or medium is permitted without expressed permission of the author.