Album Review: Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Let's get this out of the way: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is not perfect. Devil in a New Dress is boring. Runaway goes on for way to long. The drums at the end of Hell of a Life are a little bit behind. The cellist and the pianist in the interlude for All of the Lights aren't in sync with each other. Spend enough time and you can extend this list of defects as long as you'd like.

That being said, perfection is not a reasonable criterion for an album – or for any human endeavor. The album is, without question, a work of genius. The production is impeccable, with beats that are rich, creative, and full of painstaking detail. The lyrics are witty, thoughtful, and tragic – sometimes all at the same time. The album features two of the greatest guest verses ever (Nicki Minaj on Monster, Pusha T on So Appalled), the finest lyrical performance of Kanye's career (Gorgeous), and the best song of 2010 (Power). The range on the album is astonishing, from the triumph of All of the Lights to the mournfulness of So Appalled, the dignity of Gorgeous to grotesqueness of Monster, and the sorrow of Blame Game to the dementedness of Hell of a Life. At the same time, each track feels logically connected to the next one, and the entire album forms a unified, cohesive whole.

Here’s a track by track breakdown.

Dark Fantasy. The album opens in stunning fashion. Nicki Minaj welcomes the listener into Kanye’s twisted world by paraphrasing, of all things, a poem written by Roald Dahl (see http://www.kanyetothe.com/forum/index.php?topic=24858.0). The rest of the song alternates between a slick, hard-nosed beat and an a cappella vocal melody. Somehow it all works, and Kanye’s lyrics are sharp and on time.

Gorgeous. The finest lyrical performance of Kanye’s career. He muses on the nature of hip hop, the exploitation of women within the fashion industry, and fish sticks. His cadence is virtually flawless. “This week has been a bad massage. I need a happy ending – and a new beginning.” Kid Cudi is excellent on the chorus.

Power. This song, the natural descendent of Stronger, is just badass. A powerful vocal sample (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-dtwySzcQc) is repeated throughout the song, but the underlying chords change at the 2:50 mark, giving the beat new depth and dimension. West’s lyrics are uniquely his own, especially at the song’s opening. “Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it – I guess every superhero need his theme music.”

All of the Lights. The production of this song is almost symphonic. French horns open the song gloriously, and continue throughout the entire track. Rihanna’s hook soars above the heavy percussion, which admittedly is a bit over the top. Neither Kid Cudi nor Elton John adds much, and Fergie’s verse is just terrible. Kanye’s verses are memorable, however, and the tremendous ambition of this track is at least partially realized.

Monster. Everyone is down on Jay-Z for his verse on this song, and I don’t quite see why. Drug dealing and self-promotion, delivered with an interesting, reliable cadence – that’s a standard Jay-Z verse. At the same time, everyone is high on Nicki Minaj’s verse, and deservedly so. She kills it. By the time she unleashes the British accent and asks, “So let me get this straight, wait, I’m the rookie?” it’s all over. This is and will always be the song of her career.

So Appalled. Not to be outdone by Nicki Minaj, however, is the most underrated MC in the game: Pusha T. His verse on So Appalled is an instant classic. The rhymes are beautifully constructed, and the rhythm of their delivery is flawlessly precise. His defiant tone meshes perfectly with the cold, soulless beat. One of the most underrated songs on the album.

Devil in a New Dress. This one is a bit of a head scratcher. It’s the only song on the album not produced by Kanye, which needlessly precludes him from having both produced and rapped on every song in the album. The beat is fine, but it lacks the same energy as the rest of the album. Rick Ross’s verse is not particularly memorable.

Runaway. Also a bit of a curiosity. Kanye has a habit of picking the weakest songs on his albums as his singles. On Graduation, it was Can’t Tell Me Nothing, allegedly because 50 Cent told him to. On this album, it’s Runaway, which is a decent enough song, and certainly very Kanye, but far beneath the best of this album. Kanye gets far too carried away at the end, reverting to his tendency from 808s and Heartbreak to extend songs for two or three minutes longer than apporopriate. This track, along with Devil, represents the only rough patch on the album.

Hell of a Life. This song is demented, perverted, and just kind of fucked up. It’s also one of the best songs on the album. The baseline, seething with reverb, meshes perfectly with the unhinged nature of Kanye’s flow. The lyrics emanate from a primitive region within the depths of Kanye’s brain. Quite simply, no one else in the industry is making music like this.

Blame Game. A truly beautiful melody, sang with grace by John Legend. The beat is simple and elegant. The song gets a little weird when Kanye starts distorting his voice, and the Chris Rock bit gets stale after the first few listens. Nevertheless, this is a wonderful song, and a perfectly anticlimactic follow up to Hell of a Life.

Lost in the World. Kanye’s sole verse in this song – “You’re my devil you’re my angel, you’re my heaven you’re my hell” – is powerful. The use of vocals throughout the song is reminiscent of the album’s other bookend, Dark Fantasy, though the harmonies around the 2:20 mark take this song to another level altogether. The momentum carries over into the album's final track, Who Will Survive in America, which features an intense vocal sample – similar to that of Power – beneath a passionate monologue by Gil Scott-Heron. An incredible end to an incredible album.

Why the Christmas Presents Aren't Rapped

Hip hop, it is often said, has sold out. It used to be about creativity, self-expression, and big parties. Now it’s about celebrity, self-promotion, and big business. Hip hop may have entered the mainstream, but at the cost of selling its soul.

But if this were really the case, why isn’t there more Christmas-themed hip hop?

It’s no secret that Christmas music tends to be extremely lucrative. A feeling of Christmasy excitement dominates the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, and people are willing to pay for the appropriate soundtrack. Given this demand, artists gladly provide the supply. In virtually every genre of music, dozens and dozens of artists release Christmas-themed albums every year. Heck, Elvis Presley put out a new Christmas album this year, and he’s been dead since 1977.

Hip hop stands as a glaring exception. There have been a handful of Christmas-themed rap albums over the years – most notably Run DMC’s Christmas in Hollis – but none have stood the test of time. No Christmas hip hop songs have become ingrained in popular culture the way that “Let it Snow,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” and “White Christmas” have. While Christmas music dominates the airwaves of rock-n-roll, jazz, and classical radio stations throughout the holiday season, on hip hop stations you would hardly know it’s December.

If hip hop were really all about money, how can this be the case?

For one, there is a fundamental musical disconnect between Christmas music and hip hop. Christmas music tends to feature soaring melodies, major chords, and soothing resolutions. Hip hop is more about jagged samples, repetitive drum patterns, and verbal syncopation. Where Christmas music is smooth, hip hop is raw.

There is also a basic incompatibility of subject matter. Christmas music frequently concerns subjects that are happy, jolly, carefree. Hip hop tends to carry much more baggage. The rapper grapples with his past. He may rejoice in his present, but usually by contrasting that present with his difficult past. Even happy rap is bittersweet. As Jay-Z so memorably rapped on Reasonable Doubt, “On the rise to the top, many drop. Don't forget / In order to survive, gotta learn to live with regrets.”

In the end, hip hop is an art form that, for better or worse, does not easily lend itself to Christmasization. This may be cause for some disappointment. In the bigger picture, however, this reality should comfort all fans of hip hop. Hip hop may have evolved into something very different from what it once was. Yet it retains certain qualities that can be altered, but not abandoned. Hip hop, in short, is still hip hop.

Jeezy and Jay Create a Classic

Young Jeezy’s “Go Crazy” from his first album, “Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101” is an absolute classic. The beat, produced by Don Cannon, is simple – a brief sample of some horns, a drum roll, some additional percussion. A brief intro introduces the essential components of the beat, and also treats the listener to the soothing words of a random woman.

Throughout the song, Jeezy doesn’t try to do too much. His verses are short. Their most notable elements – as is the case with much of Jeezy’s music – are the background sound effects. Jeezy’s raps are chock full of enthusiastic exclamations: “yeh,” “yup,” “ayyyy” and, of course, “daaaammmmnnnnn.” Mostly, Jeezy just sets the stage for his collaborator, Jay-Z.

And when Jay-Z enters for the third verse, it is clear from the beginning that he is very much on his game. His first word – “uh” – comes at the perfect time, right in step with the beat. Soon, he is hammering out one clever analogy after another:

More than a hustla I'm the definition of it
Master Chef, lord of the kitchen cupboard
More than a street legend, homy it's Hova
More than a relief pitcher, I'm the closer
The Mariano of the Marriott

The highlight of Jay’s classic verse comes with the line: “I can kingpin you a line, the diamond of time (uh).” Regardless of what Jay is actually arguing here, he says it with such rhythmic precision, such vocal intensity, that you can’t help agreeing with him.

Go Crazy is hip hop in its purest form. The beat is simple and unemotional, thereby liberating the MCs. Taking advantage this freedom, Jay-Z delivers an incredible verse. This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Jay’s masterpiece, Reasonable Doubt, featured exactly these types of raw, undemanding beats. But that’s a discussion for another day. For now, go crazy.

Show Me What You Got, Just Blaze

One of the biggest obstacles that hip hop must overcome is boredom. The rap song, almost by definition, consists of a single riff, no more than a few measures long, played over and over, with an MC speaking over the beat. Despite this repetitive nature, the MC and producer must find a way to hold the listener’s attention.

In Jay-Z’s Show Me What You Got, the producer Just Blaze tackles this challenge head on. And, in doing so, Just Blaze produces an exciting, infinitely listenable track.

At first, the most striking feature of this beat is its flashiness. Horns blare a syncopated melody, and incredible live drums make the song seem less like a product of an MPC 1000 and more like a live concert.

But we’ve seen Just Blaze do flashy before – just consider Touch the Sky, MCed by Kanye West. But while Touch the Sky becomes tiresome after a few listens, Show Me What You Got always stays fresh. And the reason for this is that the beat itself is actually three different beats rolled into one.

The collective beat repeats itself in six measure segments – highly unusual for hip hop – but is best considered in three two-measure segments. The first two measures feature the horns blaring their syncopated rhythm, followed by a brief drum fill. These two measures, repeated over and over, would resemble something like Touch the Sky.

But for the next two measures, the horns simply hold out whole notes as the drum beats a constant pattern. This is a very different type of beat, much like the beat on Sweet, a solid track on Jay-Z’s American Gangster. And for the final two measures, the horns continue to hold their notes while the drummer plays – at least on every second repetition of the beat – an extravagant drum fill which never seems to end. Occasionally, a saxophone chimes in with a wonderful little riff, which opens up the song a cappella.

This fusion of three different beats into one is a big part of what makes Show Me What You Got such an exciting, dynamic song. Add to this the flashy horn parts and incredible live drumming, and Just Blaze gives us a clinic on how to keep a rap song interesting.