Review by Jordan Cohan
I guess I should preface this with an important piece of information – the most I’ve listened to Rap/Hip-Hop is Eminem and ‘Hamilton’. Take all of this with a grain of salt.
That said, the 10 year anniversary of “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” by Kanye West gave me a reason to step outside my musical comfort zone. Going into this album, I had little-to-no expectations. I remember listening to “Lift Yourself” a few years back and thinking, ‘I will never listen to Kanye again’. I used to be – and sometimes still can be very judgmental when it comes to music. I am eager to listen to new things, but let my opinions of an artist or a genre be made by one song I dislike. Hell, I actively avoided pop music for the better part of 5 years after I heard the song “Rude Boy” by Rihanna. I hated it. It wasn’t until I went to college that I finally started listening outside my bubble of comfortability – and even then it wasn’t willingly. But I digress.
I listened to this album while running, so I was really focusing on the melodies, the lyrics, the instrumentals – pretty much anything but the fact that I was running. On first listen, I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised! I liked it a lot more than I anticipated. “Dark Fantasy” was a fantastic introduction – a REAL introduction to Kanye for me. The earworm of a chorus had me fighting the urge to sing along. The instrumental for “Gorgeous” fit perfectly with the lyrics – which still have plenty of cultural relevance today. “Power” was a great pump up song, and is definitely going in my work-out playlist. “All Of The Lights” was probably the stand out track from this album. Despite having a more dance/club feel driven by the drum track, I really enjoyed this song! I’m surprised this wasn’t a bigger song. Maybe it was a bigger song, and I just missed it, still being mad at Rihanna for “Rude Boy”. As I’m writing this, though, I find it difficult moving on to the next track. Paired with a perfect interlude, “All of the Lights” is a great song that I will most certainly be returning to.
If I’m being honest, “Monster” didn’t do much for me. My favorite part of this song was Nicki Minaj’s verse – and I’m not typically a Nicki Minaj fan. “So Appalled” felt like a filler track to me – but since I don’t know much about the genre, who knows! Maybe it’s a hidden gem to some. “Devil In A New Dress” had a fun instrumental breakdown section around the three minute mark that I really enjoyed.
The intro on “Runaway” piqued my interest very much while I was running (I wasn’t looking at song names at the time so I didn’t see any irony in that but I do now). Maybe it was the fact that the piano keys were slightly out of tune, maybe it was the overtones you could hear in the background every time the higher keys were hit – whatever it was, I was in. I was captivated. The lyrics were interesting, to say the least. The melody on the line “You been putting up with my shit for way too long”, I’m not sure why, but that melody got stuck in my head. This was probably my second favorite on the album. Immediately followed by another good song, “Hell Of A Life”. I think it was the instrumental that did it for me on this one. The lyrics – meh. The melody of the chorus, as reminiscent as they are of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man”, didn’t do much for me. This is the kind of song I could listen to, ignore everything he is saying, and still enjoy it.
“Blame Game” stands out from the others in a lyrical and musical sense. Maybe because, other than the random Elton John vocals on “All of the Lights”, John Legend is the most… I guess out there?… when it comes to features on this album. Him and Kanye – very different musical styles. The piano is very pretty on this one. “Lost In The World” does some very interesting vocal things. The harmonies are very unique, and made me stop and listen for a bit. I know it’s an artistic choice to have all the vocals to not line up exactly, but that kind of took me out of the listening experience. But that’s just me. I’m sure for some people, the fact that it’s not all perfectly lined up makes it feel more real. To each their own, right? “Who Will Survive In America” is again, a song with plenty of cultural relevance in today’s world, and a great way to close the album.
To say I was pleasantly surprised when listening to this album would truly be an understatement. I went in expecting to loathe this experience, and I am so glad I’m walking away with a better understanding of Kanye West as a musician. I’m glad this is the album that is helping me understand and appreciate Hip-Hop and Rap a little bit better – even if it is 10 years late. Better late than never, right?
