His second and third albums, ‘Late Registration’ (2005) and ‘Graduation’ (2007), preserved the relatable themes of his debut: family, religion, sexuality, materialism, self-consciousness and excessive self-belief. Selling almost 2.5 million copies in the US by the end of the year, Kanye’s debut signalled the arrival of a new sound, one that would later be adopted by the likes of Drake, J. With his 2004 debut album, ‘The College Dropout’, Kanye broke down barriers with his brand of nerdy blue-collar rap with which he stared down the onslaught of East Coast gangsta rap that, led by 50 Cent and G-Unit, was running both the streets and the charts. But there was a time when the Atlanta-born, Chicago-raised rapping producer was simply heralded a musical phenomenon who had the keys to pop culture’s kingdom and every piece of music he touched turned to Gold (or Platinum). And that means pretty much everybody.These days Kanye West seems to be known more for his provocative statements and shaky political aspirations. Kanye West thinks you’re a moron if you settle for artists who don’t push as hard as he does. With Fantasy, he makes everybody else on the radio sound laughably meek, but he’s also throwing down a challenge to the audience. There’s a famous story about Queen making “Bohemian Rhapsody”: Whenever the band thought the song was finished, Freddie Mercury would say, “I’ve added a few more ‘Galileos’ here, dear.” But nobody can out-Galileo Kanye. Yet the songs are also his funniest ever, with Kanye showing off lethal wit on the mic: In “Dark Fantasy,” he rhymes “mercy, mercy me, that Murcielago” with “diablo,” “bravado” and “My chick in that new Phoebe Philo/So much head, I woke up in Sleepy Hollow.” In confessions like “Runaway” and “Blame Game,” he honestly struggles to figure out why he has to be such a douchebag. He has sex and romance on his mind, but he comes clean about his male angst like never before. Kanye Says He Understands George Bush’s ‘Disgust’Ĭoming off a string of much-publicized emotional meltdowns, Yeezy is taking a deeper look inside the dark corners of his twisted psyche. There’s no way it should work, but it keeps rolling for three more minutes without breaking the spell. Then there’s a plinking piano, the feedback of an electric guitar plugging in, some “Strawberry Fields”-style cellos and Yeezy himself singing a poignant Robert Fripp-style solo through his vocoder. Nobody else is making music this daring and weird, from the spooky space funk of “Gorgeous” to the King Crimson-biting “Power” to the paranoid staccato strings of “Monster.” Nearly six minutes into “Runaway,” long after the song has already sealed itself in your brain, the sound cuts out and you think it’s over. Photos: Jay-Z and Eminem’s NYC Blowout With Kanye West, Chris Martin, Drake, and Nicki Minaj How True Is 'Respect'? Fact-Checking the Aretha Franklin Biopic At a time when we all get hectored about lowering our expectations, surrendering our attention spans, settling for less, West wants us to demand more. It’s his best album, but it’s more than that - it’s also a rock-star manifesto for a downsizing world. There are hip-hop epics, R&B ballads, alien electronics, prog-rock samples, surprise guests from Bon Iver to Fergie to Chris Rock, even a freaking Elton John piano solo. But on Fantasy, he gets ridiculously maximal, blowing past all the rules of hip-hop and pop, even though, for the past half-decade, he’s been the one inventing the rules. Last time, Kanye went minimal for the electro melancholia of 808s & Heartbreak. Kanye West Gives Surprise Performance on Delta Flight Nobody halfway sane could have made this album. Yeezy goes for the grandeur of stadium rock, the all-devouring sonics of hip-hop, the erotic gloss of disco, and he goes for all of it, all the time. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is his most maniacally inspired music yet, coasting on heroic levels of dementia, pimping on top of Mount Olympus. Being crazy is this guy’s job, and judging from the sound of his music, business is booming. When Kanye West sings about “jerk-offs that’ll never take work off,” you’d best believe he means himself.
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