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Boggles the mind that we& #39;ve had My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy for a decade. Kanye& #39;s crowning achievement, a titanic album that tied together so many strands from his career, from music, from the broader culture
I often think of @ryandombal& #39;s characterization of MBDTF as & #39;an instant greatest hits,& #39; in the perfect 10 Pitchfork review. Hard to exaggerate just how much these songs *immediately* felt like classics. The take holds up
Like Kanye& #39;s best work, MBDTF is undeniably of the time when it was created and stands apart from it. The sheer 2010 energy of it – Borders, Matt Leinart, 30 Rock, etc, SO MUCH CUDI – works because everything else, from the songwriting to production, is unparalleled, peerless
Yes, MBDTF is long and overindulgent. Kanye really put Elton and several other iconic singers on & #39;All of the Lights& #39; as nearly indistinguishable backing vocalists! It& #39;s literally one of the most *excessive* albums ever, but that& #39;s the point – and few have done excess better
We didn& #39;t know it at the time, but it foretold a lot, about how we process ego, conflict, anger, grief, information itself in the 21st century. The back half of the & #39;10s – debates over "cancel culture," snowflakes and getting triggered, Kanye& #39;s MAGA turn – bore that out
I always sensed a certain prescience to MBDTF, but told myself I was imagining things – that the lizard-brained id Kanye dips into throughout the record was anomalistic, that our culture wasn& #39;t as corroded as the one MBDTF depicts. Seems quaint now!
It& #39;s interesting comparing MBDTF to two other & #39;10s titans, To Pimp A Butterfly and Blonde, two deeply empathetic, humanistic records, ultimately optimistic even if they look at society& #39;s flaws unflinchingly. We want to think this isn& #39;t an MBDTF world, though we know it often is
But setting aside MBDTF& #39;s bleak worldview & who Kanye became: It remains staggering. The classic-rock swagger of & #39;Gorgeous& #39; and & #39;Power,& #39; the Dionysianian wooziness of & #39;Devil In A New Dress& #39; and & #39;Hell of a Life,& #39; the closing tandem& #39;s finish line sprint, all of it. A total moonshot
