Some parts of it feel completely unnatural, but nothing ever seems wrong the interlude track that precedes 'All of the Lights' is a beautiful instrumental sitting just after a song as raw as 'Power', a song which itself juxtaposes soulful backing chants with a sample of ‘21st Century Schizoid.' Ambitious? You bet.Īnd it pays off. No, it's because for all that it will be called a pop album Fantasy is unequivocally progressive, breaking trends and weaving things together that just shouldn't be done.
But at the same time it's also an indie record, and that's not just because Justin Vernon's here – although 'Lost in the World' is truly a phenomenal track.
In spirit, of course I mean, a quick glance down the track listing reveals familiar hip-hop tones putting in memorable guest spots and features up and down this record, and it's undoubtedly a hip-hop album, one which melds West's earlier material with some of the understated goodness he demonstrated a knack for on 808s. Not everything is quite so self-indulgent, but almost all of it is just as good standouts are difficult to pick since everything is so structure-defying and quirky – see the way opener 'Dark Fantasy' pretends to end about four times, grasping its opening motif from nowhere, or how the beat of 'Power' just sprints away from a gorgeous weaving synth line at its three-quarter mark. Kanye West knows he has your attention – he's earned it, after all – so he's going to do what he wants with it. This is most clear in the single-note piano introduction ('sparse' would be a wild understatement) to 'Runaway' – a song which itself collapses midway through and is sans-rap for its second half – and the outro to 'Blame Game' which is pretty much the closest thing to masturbation ever put on a disc. Again: who cares? Settling down with Fantasy the incredible thing is that the VMAs and every other chapter of the West canon fall below the surface, and the only thing that matters is the music.įor all I've just said, one part of West's personality carries across in abundance to the way Fantasy plays out neither he nor this album give a damn about, or even own a copy of, the rulebook. It undoubtedly says some things about him it probably also leaves some questions about him too. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is brilliant music produced and executed by Kanye West. Clearly and surely, his discography cannot be entirely separated from the man himself! But neither are the two attached at the hip every new record the man releases is touted as the real Kanye West and by now it's clear that the real Kanye West is a very fluid concept. The retort, obviously, is in how integral West's character and personality and already-formed legacy all are to his artistic output. Who cares? So often we criticise mainstream artists for taking attention away from their music, and for selling sex instead of songs, but we're hypocrites, because we do the same thing with Lady GaGa and we do the same thing with Kanye West, and now more than ever it's a crime not to focus on the music. But it serves a purpose, because West has, for many, come to define controversy they say that if there's one thing we can agree on, it's that there's no consensus when it comes to Kanye West.
"You either love him or you hate him!" they chime in unison, knowing full well that the latter camp is much more crowded than the former. Every time West emerges with new material, be it musical or otherwise, there's this narrative. I mean, maybe not on the same scale as jumping up on stage and ruining Taylor Swift's night, but in a way, it's a very similar and equally misguided ploy of distraction. Review Summary: The only thing that matters is the music.