- life's blunt, so i roll it

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Kanye West has been on a roll; between stealing the show on respected artists’ albums, amassing a G.O.O.D. Music empire, and making outlandish, but always quotable statements on Twitter, it’s a miracle he found the time to lay down the biggest Hip Hop release of 2010. Despite half the album already being leaked during the last couple of months leading to its release, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy fails to disappoint.

Since the release of the near rap-less 808’s and Heartbreak, West’s lyrical performances have seemed to have taken on a life of their own. His energy is unparalleled and he litters his verses with hilarious punchlines and metaphors that leave you scratching your head as to how he got to this level since The College Dropout; the concepts are all there, but Kanye has taken their execution and delivery to an entirely new degree of arrogance and charisma. Whenever he decides to slow it down, the result is either playful (Devil in a New Dress), engaging (Runaway), or vulnerable (Blame Game). His versatility is undeniable and whether he’s rapping about putting pussies in sarcophaguses or about racial profiling, you can’t help but be drawn into his performances to the point that you forget he had a hand in production as well.

After a surprising introduction by Nicki Minaj on the first track, the opening keys come in accompanied by a rousing chorus before the drums start to kick and the piano is reduced to haunting background noise as West seamlessly flows over his orchestral production. After trading verses with Wu-Tang’s Raekwon on “Gorgeous” over an eerily constructed guitar sample, Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy takes us through a few G.O.O.D. Friday releases; giving those without internet connections a taste of what they’ve been missing and rekindling veterans’ bewilderment at Nicki Minaj and Jay-Z’s show stealing verses over creeping strings and some of the most frenetic drum arrangements constructed this year. Things slow down for a bit as West gets a little help from Rick Ross who constructs visions of grandeur over a gorgeous vocal sample before Pusha T of The Clipse lends a verse to the track with the best hook I’ve heard in a while. “Blame Game” finds West pairing up with John Legend to spin a tale of industry love and closes with a hilarious skit performance by Chris Rock. The album closes with what you could call the album’s weaker tracks despite a heartfelt verse by West on “Lost in The World”, a small blemish on an otherwise phenomenal album.

Kanye West kept the world waiting, and slowly fed the crowd’s appetite; doubts may have been cast when he revealed the menu, but the main course was more than satisfying. So now, who’s ready for dessert?