My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (abbreviated as MBDTF) is the fifth studio album by Kanye West, which released on November 22, 2010 through Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam. It received widespread critical acclaim, debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time. A short film titled Runaway was also released to promote the album. It also produced four singles as part of a promotion known as GOOD Fridays where West released free music from the album which were: "Power", "Runaway", "Monster", and "All Of The Lights".
Background[]
Good Ass Job[]
- Main article: Good Ass Job (2008)
As far back as 2003, Kanye planned to release a four-album series that revolve around Kanye going to college. These four albums were set to be The College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation, and Good Ass Job. However, his plans for this series had derailed significantly when his mother, Donda West, passed away in November 2007 due to heart complications. Not long after, Alexis Phifer broke up with Kanye, leaving him devastated. Kanye decided to put his feelings into his new album, 808s & Heartbreak, which noticeably strays away from rapping and features much more singing with autotune. After the release of the album, Kanye began working on his next album. In an interview in December 2008, Kanye revealed that his next album would be titled Winter Spring Summer Fall, which was set to feature 12 tracks split up into 4 sections.[1] Although, it was still believed by many that the album would be named Good Ass Job.
- Main article: 2009 MTV Video Music Awards
However, on September 13, 2009, Kanye's career and life would take a drastic turn. As Taylor Swift accepted her award for Best Female Video, a drunken Kanye walked up to the stage and stole the microphone from Taylor, stating that Beyoncé had "one of the best videos of all time" before shrugging, handing the microphone back to Taylor, and walking off. Kanye would immediately receive immense backlash for the incident. Most infamously, then-U.S. president Barack Obama would call Kanye a "jackass" for the incident.[2] Due to the hate, Kanye decided to take a self-imposed exile from the U.S., briefly moving to Japan to take a break from making music. He would then secretly move to Honolulu, Hawaii to work on his next album.[3] According to several people who worked with Kanye on the album, the work ethic was extremely tough. Kanye booked sessions at Avex every day until he felt like the album was complete. He also never slept a full night during the sessions and instead took 90-minute power naps. Sound engineers worked a similar schedule as Kanye, staying awake 24 hours a day. On one wall of the studio, Kanye placed a set of rules (which were nicknamed "Kanye Commandments"). Some of the most memorable commandments include "No hipster hats", "No tweeting", "Don't tell anyone anything about anything we're doing!", and "Just shut the fuck up sometimes".[4] Everyone was also forced to wear suits in the studio to emphasize just how big of an album it would be. According to Pusha T, when a song was leaked during the making of the album, Kanye went on a rant, stating "We're going to work in hotel rooms!".[5] Reportedly, Kanye spent over $3 million while creating the album, making it the eleventh most expensive album of all time.[6] Before the album's release, Kanye released new songs every Friday in a series called GOOD Fridays. Kanye stated that "y'all need the music so I'm dropping 1 new song every weekend until Xmas".[7]
On July 28, 2010, Kanye announced via Twitter that his next album would no longer be titled Good Ass Job, and he was "bouncing a couple of titles around".[8] On October 5, Kanye again announced on Twitter that his new album would be titled My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.[9]
Covers[]
The main cover for the album was created by George Condo. It features a black man, seemingly Kanye, smiling as an armless phoenix with a woman's body straddles him on a couch. Condo stated that Kanye wanted the cover to be provoking enough to be banned by retailer stores, which is exactly what happened. Due to the lewd nature of the cover, it was forced to be pixelated on all streaming services.[10] Several other covers were made for the album, including a ballerina, a crude portrait of Kanye, and a sword with a crown.
Reception[]
When My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy released, it was met with critical acclaim. Andy Gill of The Independent called the album "one of pop's gaudiest, most grandiose efforts of recent years, a no holds-barred musical extravaganza that abandons any notion of good taste from the beginning". Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times compared the album to the work of famous artist Pablo Picasso. Pitchfork gave the album an extremely rare 10/10, a score that Pitchfork hadn't gave to an album since Wilco's 2002 album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Even critics who criticized portions of the album still called the songs "dark, twisted, and beautiful".[11]
Track list[]
No. | Title | Writ.(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dark Fantasy | Ernest Wilson, Jeff Bhasker, Jon Anderson, Kanye West, MIKE DEAN, Malik Yusef, Mike Oldfield, Robert Diggs | MIKE DEAN, Jeff Bhasker, NO I.D., RZA, Kanye West | 4:41 |
2 | Gorgeous (feat. Kid Cudi & Raekwon) | Che Smith, Ernest Wilson, Gene Clark, MIKE DEAN, Malik Yusef, Roger McGuinn | MIKE DEAN, NO I.D., Kanye West | 5:58 |
3 | POWER | Andwele Gardner, Boris Bergman, Francois Bernheim, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald. Jean Pierre Lang, Jeff Bhasker, Kanye West, Ken Lewis, L Griffin, MIKE DEAN, Michael Giles, Peter Sinfield, Robert Fripp | MIKE DEAN, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dawson, Happy Perez, S1, Kanye West | 4:52 |
4 | All Of The Lights (Interlude) | Kanye West, MIKE DEAN | 1:02 | |
5 | All Of The Lights | Jeff Bhasker, Kanye West, Malik Yusef, Warren Trotter | Jeff Bhasker, Kanye West | 5:00 |
6 | Monster (feat. JAY-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver) | Jeff Bhasker, Justin Vernon, Kanye West, MIKE DEAN, Onika Maraj, Patrick Reynolds, Shawn Carter, WIlliam Roberts | Plain Pat, MIKE DEAN, Kanye West | 6:19 |
7 | So Appalled (feat. JAY-Z, Pusha T, Cyhi The Prynce, Swizz Beatz & RZA) | Cydell Young, Ernest Wilson, Kanye West, Kasseem Dean, MIKE DEAN, Manfred Mann, Robert Diggs, Shawn Carter, Terrence Thornton | MIKE DEAN, NO I.D., Kanye West | 6:38 |
8 | Devil In A New Dress (feat. Rick Ross) | Carole King, Gerald Goffin, Kanye West, MIKE DEAN, Malik Yusef, Roosevelt Harrell, William Roberts | Bink!, MIKE DEAN | 5:52 |
9 | Runaway (feat. Pusha T) | Emile Haynie, Jeff Bhasker, John Roger Branch, Kanye West, MIKE DEAN, Malik Jones, Terrence Thornton | MIKE DEAN, Jeff Bhasker, Emile Haynie, Kanye West | 9:08 |
10 | Hell Of A Life | Bill Ward, Ernest Wilson, Geezer Butler, Kanye West, MIKE DEAN, Mike Caren, Ozzy Osbourne, Sylvester Stewart, Tony Iommi, Tony Joe White | Mike Caren, MIKE DEAN, NO I.D., Kanye West | 5:28 |
11 | Blame Game (feat. John Legend) | John Stephens, Justin Franks, Kanye West, Khloe Mitchell, MIKE DEAN, Richard James | DJ Frank E, MIKE DEAN, Kanye West | 7:50 |
12 | Lost in the World (feat. Bon Iver) | Gil Scott-Heron, James Brown, Jeff Bhasker, Justin Vernon. Kanye West, Manu Dibango | Jeff Bhasker, Mano, Kanye West | 4:17 |
13 | Who Will Survive In America | Gil Scott-Heron, Jeff Bhasker, Kanye West | Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker | 1:38 |
iTunes Store Bonus Tracks | ||||
14 | See Me Now (feat. Beyonce, Charlie Wilson, & Big Sean) | Consequence, Lex Luger, Big Sean, Brenda Russell, Brian Russell, MIKE DEAN, NO I.D., Charlie Wilson, Beyonce, Kanye West | Lex Luger, NO I.D., Kanye West | 6:04 |
Deluxe edition Bonus DVD | ||||
1 | Runaway (short film) | Hype Williams, Kanye West | Kanye West | 35:00 |
References[]
- ↑ https://www.elle.fr/Loisirs/Musique/Dossiers/Kanye-West-star-rapsolue-777357
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8258330.stm
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20101228123251/http://www.complex.com/CELEBRITIES/Cover-Story/kanye-west-project-runaway
- ↑ https://www.complex.com/music/a/noah-callahan-bever/kanye-west-interview-2010-cover-story
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120810000202/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/pusha-t-reveals-what-he-cant-reveal-about-kanyes-g-o-o-d-music-project-20120807
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_albums
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Beautiful_Dark_Twisted_Fantasy#Marketing
- ↑ https://www.nme.com/news/music/kanye-west-722-1296025
- ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/kanye-west-announces-dark-twisted-fantasy-title-and-details-955285/
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jan/11/kanye-west-album-cover
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Beautiful_Dark_Twisted_Fantasy#Critical_reception