Kanye West : My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

[Unrelenting]

Can't stop listening to it.

[Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra]

I've heard bits, and pieces of it(my brother plays it a ****load when I go over to his house, and hang out with him). I'm not 100% sure what everybody is cumming their pants over here. Am I not listening hard enough, or is this something that I have to take in in entirety?

What I've heard so far sound very shockingly unspectacular to my ear.

[Antonio]

on the second playthrough of this, and i'm loving it more the second time.

Excellent

[Rainard Jalen]

Ok, we need to talk...

People (and the musical press too)! What on earth is the matter with you. Sure, the beats on this record are impeccable. But the rhymes are f'kcing TERRIBLE. This is some of the worst lyricism I have ever come across in hip hop. Total amateurs make slicker rhymes than this. I mean, seriously. This is a guy who rhymes "ballin" with a cop who looks like "Alec Baldwin", "rollin'" with "Kelly Rowlands", and just throws in "a$'s" a whole bunch of times when feeling it too much effort to bother rhyming at all.

Much of it just comes across as childish: "Tell ‘em Yeezy said they can kiss my whole a$'s, More specifically, they can kiss my a$'$hole". And so on and so forth. It sounds like a 12 year old kid just starting out in his bedroom, and not only from a lyrical standpoint but conceptually too. There is really little worse than somebody who comes across as being of limited intellectual capacity playing 'pretentious'. It makes you wince.

A great hip-hop record? Do me a favour. Best album of 2010? Really? It's barely the best album of November.

Lovers, tell me please: just what is so brilliant about this CD?

[Antonio]

well i'm taking this more as a whole rather than just the lyrics. maybe i'm doing it wrong, but honestly if i can't listen to the music aspect of it, it kind of ruins the song for me, even if the lyrics are impeccable. and seeing as Kanye produced this record as well as rhymed on it, i'm taking into account his abilities as a music maker and not just the lyrics.

and tbh while it's not the most cleverly written stuff ever, i still think alot of the lines are memorable and fun to listen to. and if you're saying this is the worst set of rhymes you've ever heard then have you heard alot of other lyrics permeating the hip hop atmosphere today?

[Rainard Jalen]

Originally Posted by Antonio

well i'm taking this more as a whole rather than just the lyrics. maybe i'm doing it wrong, but honestly if i can't listen to the music aspect of it, it kind of ruins the song for me, even if the lyrics are impeccable. and seeing as Kanye produced this record as well as rhymed on it, i'm taking into account his abilities as a music maker and not just the lyrics.

and tbh while it's not the most cleverly written stuff ever, i still think alot of the lines are memorable and fun to listen to. and if you're saying this is the worst set of rhymes you've ever heard then have you heard alot of other lyrics permeating the hip hop atmosphere today?

I'll rephrase: worst rhymes by somebody who is supposed to be a very major hip-hop artist. I mean, Jay-Z at his very worst rhymes better than this.

I'm totally with you with regards taking music as a whole rather than just focusing on one aspect. But surely, where it comes to rap, bad actual rapping and rhyming must detract from the final product? I can understand this being "fun", but it is also childish and empty. Most the time it almost feels as if West doesn't really care about the rhymes.

On the plus side, the record is hook-laden and is catchy. But I'm sorry, the words are truly garbage.

[someonecompletelyrandom]

This is a simple case of "no they aren't" so... No they aren't.

He is rapping on top level here, what's the problem?

[Rainard Jalen]

Originally Posted by Conan

This is a simple case of "no they aren't" so... No they aren't.

He is rapping on top level here, what's the problem?

On top level of what? Of producers who are not actually rappers, e.g. Timbaland etc.? Or are you honestly going to stand here and compare Kanye's Emcee skills to real rap pros like Jay-Z, Big Boi, Ghostface, Eminem and so on? Because West only continues to demonstrate here that he shouldn't even be included in the same sentence with such artists. And this ain't no case of "yes they are, no they're not". I have provided examples here of his ineptitude and childish attempts at rhyming. See above. What's your honest view on throwing in something so inane and absurdly fictional as a "cop who looks like Alec Baldwin" simply so he could rhyme something (anything!) with "ballin'"? What else have we got. Mount Olympus with, um, "pimpus"??? WTF? Or, if there's nothing else to rhyme with "past", just insert "kiss my a$'S" for no good reason at the end of the next line (Monster). Doesn't seem too hard to be Kanye West. Perhaps I could make it as a top level rapper in your estimation.

[Gavin B.]

Excerpt from my MB journal review of MBDTF:

For all of his messianic preaching to the choir, I got the unsettling feeling that Kanye West was trying too hard. Aren't brilliant artists supposed to make it all look easy?

Kanye's social and political observations on Dark Twisted Fantasy were shallow and trite observations that had little to do with the helplessness of those folks (black, white or other racial designation) who have been plowed under by the current global recession.

The pseudo defiance of Kanye's dark twisted fantasy panders to his base of affluent, young, suburban and mostly white fanboys, who think Kanye's rude boy slackness & alpha male chest thumping is really cool. Nevermind that his message completely ignores the global economic collapse, and makes no comment on the growing international cultural warfare between left & right wingnuts. Kanye also has no comment on the shameless attempt by wealthy and powerful elites of media oligarchy to bring down Barack Obama.

If only Bob Marley were around put Kanye on the path to being a musical visionary and an credible voice on behalf his downtrodden brethren. Kanye West has yet to learn a thing from the wisdom of his elders.

Kayne is the #1 selling music artist for the Universal Music Group, the largest monolithic global infotainment media company in history, and maybe that's why none of his social rage is directed toward the wealthy moguls who have declared class warfare against the have-nots & the powerless.

For my own part, I find Kanye West's relentless misogyny repulsive and his use of the minstrel show epithet, nigga, offensive. For all of the Kanye West's self congratulatory bravada and the dazzle of his undeniably brilliant production skills, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is a hollow shell of an album when held any reasonable standard of cultural or artistic significance.

I won't apologize for this for rant against Kanye West, since he had no regrets about crashing the stage with his own rant when his most favored choice Beyonce. lost the Grammy competition to Taylor Swift. From my perspective both Beyonce & Taylor Swift were the lame choices of music industry moguls that reward Kanye West with a $17 million dollar annual income. In fairness let me add, that both Beyonce & Taylor are talented & perfectly charming human beings... I'm commenting on the boorish, self indulgent behavior of Kanye West and his refusal to check his ego at the door.

[Sparky]

Originally Posted by Rainard Jalen

On top level of what? Of producers who are not actually rappers, e.g. Timbaland etc.? Or are you honestly going to stand here and compare Kanye's Emcee skills to real rap pros like Jay-Z, Big Boi, Ghostface, Eminem and so on? Because West only continues to demonstrate here that he shouldn't even be included in the same sentence with such artists. And this ain't no case of "yes they are, no they're not". I have provided examples here of his ineptitude and childish attempts at rhyming. See above. What's your honest view on throwing in something so inane and absurdly fictional as a "cop who looks like Alec Baldwin" simply so he could rhyme something (anything!) with "ballin'"? What else have we got. Mount Olympus with, um, "pimpus"??? WTF? Or, if there's nothing else to rhyme with "past", just insert "kiss my a$'S" for no good reason at the end of the next line (Monster). Doesn't seem too hard to be Kanye West. Perhaps I could make it as a top level rapper in your estimation.

Here ill post the lyrics to gorgeous, bolding my favorite parts :O

Every single rapper ever, i gurantee it has had rhymes like "ballin and alec baldwin" your stupid if you think otherwise. Rapping takes writing a decent amount of lyrical content, not every rhyme is going to be an awe inspiring punchline.

verse 1
Penitentiary chances, the devil dances
and eventually answers to the call of Autumn
all of them fallin’ for the love of ballin’
got caught with 30 rocks, the cop look like Alec Baldwin
inter century anthems based off inner city tantrums
based off the way we was branded
face it, Jerome get more time than Brandon
and at the airport they check all through my bag and tell me that it’s random
but we stay winning, this week has been a bad massage
I need a happy ending and a new beginning
and a new fitted and some job opportunities thats lucrative

this the real world, homie, school finished
they done stole your dreams, you dunno who did it
I treat the cash the way the government treats AIDS
I won’t be satisfied til all my n-ggas get it, get it?

verse 2

Is hip hop, just a euphemism for a new religion
the soul music for the slaves that the youth is missing
this is more than just my road to redemption
Malcolm West had the whole nation standing at attention
as long as I’m in Polo’s they think they got me
but they would try to crack me if they ever see a black me
I thought I chose a field where they couldn’t sack me
if a n-gga aint running shootin a jump shot running a track meet
but this pimp is, ar the top of mount Olympus
ready for the World’s game, this is my Olympics
we make ‘em say ho cause the game is so pimpish
choke a southpark writer with a fishstick
I insisted to get up offa this d-ck
and these drugs, fans cant resist it
remind me of when they tried to have Ali enlisted
if I ever one of the greatest n-gga, I must have missed it!

that whole verse was good.

verse 3

need more drinks and less lights
and that American Apparal girl in just tights
she told the director she tryna get in a school
he said “take them glasses off and get in the pool”
it’s been a while since I watched the tube
cause like a crip set, I got way too many blues for anymore bad news
I was looking at my resume feeling real fresh today
they rewrite history I don’t believe in yesterday
and what’s a black beetle anyway, a f-cking roach
I guess thats why they got me sitting in f-cking coach
but God said I need a different approach
cause people is looking at me like I’m sniffing coke
it aint funny anymore try dipping jokes
tell ‘em hug and kiss my ass, x and o
kiss the ring while they at it, do my thing while I’m got it
play strings for the dramatic
and end all of that wack sh-t
act like I aint had a belt in two classes
I aint got it I’m going after whoever who has it
I’m coming after whoever who has it
you blowing up, that’s good, fantastic
that y’all, its like that ya’ll
I don’t really give a f-ck about it at all
cause the same people that tried to black ball me
forgot about 2 things, my black balls

so he doesn't say to much in this, but its good bravado and sounds right when you hear it. Maybe it comes down to whether or not you like kanye's delivery, which i do a lot.