Edition 38 | 2021
Retrospective
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West Artwork Nina Canala Words Malvika Hemanth
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ovember 2010. This was the moment in time the world bore witness to Kanye West’s fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (MBDTF). An album that has been dubbed by some music aficionados as West’s magnum opus. Although, before we dissect MBDTF, let us reflect on Kanye as the producer, musician and human being he was at the time and why he felt isolation was his best means of recording this life-changing work. Prior to MBDTF’s production, West was amid a twoyear hiatus from music. During this time, he was not only grieving the loss of his mother, Donda West (a pivotal figure in his musical endeavours), but also the end of his 18-month engagement with designer, Alexis Phifer. Although, it was public scrutiny over his outburst during the 2009 VMA’s that truly set the scene for the events proceeding. West’s profile began to tarnish... fast. His disapproval of musician, Taylor Swift, being awarded Best Female Video at the 2009 VMA’s instead of Beyonce, painted him as a ‘jackass’ by many, including the then President, Barack Obama. The hostility and lack of remediation from West led to his public profile being furtherly tainted as the world began to see him, not as a musician, but someone who was selfabsorbed and unempathetic. In an article written by Complex’s Noah Callahan-Bever, West admitted in an email that the mass criticism had exhausted him and diminished his sense of self, forcing him to retreat to Hawaii in a self-imposed exile. It was here, in his new isolated reality, that West birthed MBDTF and his road to redemption began. Stating in a Q&A with The New York Times, this was West’s ‘backhanded apology’. Further reports from Callahan-Bever said of West, in his Hawaiian studios, that the producer was so focused on his album that he only ever took power naps and never properly slept. Callahan-Bever also mentioned that West would book three studios for 24 hours a day, bouncing between each of them, whilst making sure that all artists
working on his project were wholly committed. Studio room posters would read: ‘TOTAL FOCUS ON THIS PROJECT’ and ‘DON’T TELL ANYONE ANYTHING ABOUT ANYTHING WE ARE DOING’. One common theme in West’s producer work that carried over to MBDTF was his use of samples. In his earlier work, West tended to opt for more RnB and soul songs including Chaka Khan’s Through the Fire on his 2004 track, Through the Wire. However, in MBDTF, West’s genre of samples changes as we hear in tracks such as Gorgeous and Blame Game. Gorgeous samples the Enoch Light and the Glittering Guitars cover of the 1968 rock track, You Showed Me by The Turtles, whilst Blame Game seamlessly samples Aphex Twins’ Avril 14th, a modern classical song, to expand the sound of hip-hop. This leads us to look at the 9th track on the album, Runaway. It is here that West openly accepts his narcissistic behaviour and reveals to us his insecurities. Runaway samples the 1992 song, The Basement by Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, using their drums with the voices of Rick James and James Brown from their tracks Mary Jane and Funky Presidents, respectively. The combination of these songs included in Runaway alongside the track’s jarring piano chords (which are the only sounds heard for the first 37 seconds) represent West’s isolation and remorse for his actions. This isolation is reinforced by the voices of James Brown and Rick James repeating the phrase ‘look at cha’ over The Basement’s steady drum lines. The distortion of James and Brown’s voices adds to West’s alienated state, with Brown’s voice stating, ‘ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together’ and West’s verse beginning thereafter, that the musician’s only resolution to regain redemption was to confess. In his first verse we hear West accept this as he understands that those closest to him ‘had been puttin’ up with [his] shit just way too long.’ We then see him use irony
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