”My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” (MBDTF) was the fifth album by American rap artist Kanye West (Ye). Released in 2010, it is considered by many to be Ye’s best album and the greatest hip-hop album of all time. Along with the release of MBDTF came one of the biggest impacts left on the music industry by an album.
Since the release of MBDTF, Ye has perfected his craft by experimenting with new tones in his more recent albums like in “Yeezus” with its Harsh themes, “Jesus Is King” with its unique inspiration from gospel music, “Kids See Ghosts” with its psychedelic vibes “Donda,” which explored the convergence of Ye’s Christian faith and the death of his late mother Donda West.
The cover of MBDTF immediately grasps the viewer’s attention, with its depiction of Kanye entangled with a winged woman. The designer of this album’s cover, George Condo, initially designed five different covers. The aforementioned cover that Ye decided to use eventually had to be censored so that music streaming services would not find it inappropriate.
After the first listen, many details will become apparent about MBDTF: the massive features, the story and the extravagant production. MBDTF contains some of Ye’s best storytelling, as he combined many of the most popular hip-hop voices of that time to address some of his most important issues.
In the intro song to MBDTF “Dark Fantasy,” Ye talks about people worshiping celebrities. Dark Fantasy also brings out one of the most powerful lines in the album, “Sorry for the night demons that still visit me, The plan was to drink until the pain is over, but what’s worse, the pain of the hangover?” In this line, Ye admits that he has problems and that he has to resort to drinking to ease the pain of his reality.
In the next song on MBDTF “Gorgeous,” Ye asks the question “Is hip-hop just a euphemism for a new religion?” This seemingly simple metaphor has significance because just as religion is used to connect with God, Ye uses hip-hop to connect and inspire his fans and the black youth of America.
“Runaway,” the 9th song on MBDTF, has become one of Ye’s most popular songs. When it was released, it peaked at 12th on the Billboard Hot 100. However, the depth of “Runaway” goes far beyond chart success, as it showcased symbolism and metaphors that meld with Ye’s expressions as well as his demons. “Runaway” is heavily centered around Ye’s acknowledgment of his past mistakes and the flaws of his behavior. This really comes together during the hook.
“And I always find, yeah, I always find something’ wrong You been putting’ up with my [expletive] just way too long I’m so gifted at finding’ what I don’t like the most, So I think it’s time for us to have a toast”
In this line, Ye is saying that he is so used to finding flaws in everything that he struggles to find the good in anything.
Another one of the popular songs on MBDTF, “All of The Lights,” contains some of the deepest messages in the album. The lyrics describe Ye’s journey through the difficulties of his rise to fame. The lyrical references to flashing lights and strobe lights, are metaphors for the dazzling spotlight that comes with Ye’s success.
Fast cars, shooting stars
(All of the lights, all of the lights)
Until it’s Vegas everywhere we are
(All of the lights)
As the song progresses, Ye reflects on the downsides that come with his fame. He talks about the darker sides of the industry and illustrates the hardships that come with being in the spotlight.
Rihanna’s chorus, “turn up the lights in here, baby. Extra bright, I want y’all to see this,” adds yet another deep layer of messaging in this song. Rihanna speaks to the crowd and fans within, that sometimes the fans and flashing lights can be too much to handle and that they need to realize how stressful it is to be in her position.
MBDTF was more than just a filler or a throwaway album. It was a moment that defined Ye’s career. This album could have either solidified his status as a legend or cast him away into an abyss of forgotten artists.
Preceding the release of MBDTF, the stakes couldn’t have been higher. During the presentation of the VMA awards, a 17-year old Taylor swift was awarded the Best Music Video by a Female Artist. Ye ran up on stage, took the mic, and said “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you. I’mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time.” After this incident, Ye was bombarded with negative comments by his fans and the media.
In an attempt to hide from the media, Ye flew to Hawaii and stayed in Honolulu’s Avex Recording Studio for a few months to produce MBDTF. During this time, he called and flew out dozens of infamous artists and producers to Hawaii to work on his album.
MBDTF was an instant success upon its release, selling 496,000 copies in its first week and debuting at number one on the Billboard 200. MBDTF’s ongoing success earned it the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album in 2012. It garnered numerous positive reviews from critics, including a Metacritic score of 94/100. In addition, Billboard dubbed it the “album of the decade.”
The success and impact of MBDTF altered the course of hip-hop for the next 10 years, by changing the rules of hip-hop and pushing forward almost every musical genre. Prominent artists J. Cole, Travis Scott, and Alicia Keys have all sampled his album more than a hundred times, and renowned artist Kendrick Lamar has credited MBDTF as an inspiration for some themes in his past albums.
Overall, MBDTF is one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time, with one of the biggest impacts left on the music industry.
The Paper Wolf 