Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - 2010 - Roc-A-Fella
I've often compared Dark Twisted Fantasy to Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral. I mean, nobody dies at the end. But it feels like an album-length examination of a soul descending into madness. This is the voice of somebody so unhappy - nay, disgusted with their self, but repurposed as a work of art. And if that title sounds cinematic, it should. Kanye recruited an insanely talented and expensive cast to make this album a reality. While it's rational to view 808's And Heartbreak as a grieving album, this record feels far more cathartic. There's heaps of debauchery and guilt that get piled on to the point where lines are blurred and it becomes a chicken and egg scenario. Key line: "the plan was to drink until the pain's over/but what's worse? The pain or the hangover?" At times the album may feel decadent, but it seems more a study of loathing. All of the fame and hype here is embarrassing or a letdown. The flashing lights are a burden. Indeed the glass is half-full everywhere on this album. Kanye lets the death of his own childhood hero - Michael Jackson weigh heavily. He's upset about airplane seating. About drinking. About drugs. About women. Take "Runaway," a sprawling opus to his inability to have a functional relationship with a woman. Or the major hit, "Power," which is basically a self-deprication when Kanye spits the line "no one man should have all this power." This is one of those albums that's it's possible to talk about for hours. You can talk about the production - and producers involved. You can talk about the myriad guests - fucking Chris Rock doing a long outro about being a cuckold. Or how about the insane samples? I mean who the fuck licenses an Aphex Twin sample... from Drukqs? The point is that this album is a sprawling mess of a masterpiece. One that I really could talk about for hours, but instead would insist you listen to.