1) Dark Fantasy
Not sure what the point of that Nicki Minaj intro was, but fuck it, it didn't take away from the song, so it's acceptable. You know what did take away from the song, though?? Kanye not spitting the rest of his 2nd BET Hip-Hop Awards cypher verse on the 2nd verse. Yes, I'm aware Dark Fantasy was probably recorded long before that G.O.O.D. Music cypher was even taped, but I'm sure Kanye knew which we'd be exposed to first. Look, all I'm saying is that 2nd cypher verse was ill as fuck, and I would've liked to hear more of it on the album.
I know that complaint above may seem like nitpicking, but Dark Fantasy was pretty flawless, and that's all I could come up with to detest. The beat is fresh as hell, the sample was dope, and Kanye rips it. Win, win, win. Awesome note to start the album out on. Let's move forward.
2) Gorgeous (feat. KiD CuDi & Raekwon)
If you told me beforehand that KiD CuDi was gonna be featured on the worst track of Kanye's album, I would've said "well, duh." Fortunately for CuDi, he isn't the reason this song fails to connect with being good.
OK, OK, I won't say Gorgeous is that bad of a song, but it just doesn't fit; it's too lifeless and boring. Reason: the beat! For about 4 minutes and 30 seconds, this beat sucks the life out of Kanye's–otherwise awesome–verses like a nagging, overbearing wife to a weak-minded husband. It's like Ye sampled Charlie Brown's teacher and had it playing in a loop until Raekwon starting spitting. It was damn near a waste of Raekwon feature. Unacceptable, especially following the strength of the Dark Fantasy.
3) POWER
I could write something new for Power, but I love my initial reaction to it back in May. Come relive it with me, won't you?
4) All Of The Lights (Interlude)
Why was this its own track?? This space could've been taken by a dope G.O.O.D. Friday song to help fill up this short ass album.
5) All Of The Lights
I don't know what the hell Kanye was talking about in that first verse, but outside of that, this is a pretty dope record. The beat is on point and I think Rihanna fit in nicely on the hook. It would've been nice to get a 3rd verse instead of roughly 2 minutes of instrumentation and hooks, but that's Kanye for you. I'll take it.
(Side note: Who was that chick that came on randomly about 3 minutes in?? I seriously have no idea who that was.)
6) Monster (feat. Rick Ross, Jay-Z & Nicki Minaj)
Monster was the very first of the G.O.O.D. Friday joints, and after all this time I still don't know what the purpose of Rick Ross' feature was. It doesn't hurt the song at all, but you have 3 strong verses from Kanye, Jay-Z, and Nicki Minaj...and then there's Rick's verse. Just odd.
Fortunately the pointlessness of Rick's verse doesn't ruin this monster of a record. Honestly, Monster was average when I first heard it, but it's really grown on me. Like I stated above, Kanye, Hov, and Nicki absolutely destroy this track. What more can you ask from a Hip-Hop record than that?? Exactly.
7) So Appalled (feat. RZA, Jay-Z, Pusha T, Swizz Beatz & CyHi Da Prynce)
So Appalled is another hardcore Hip-Hop joint. Hard beat, hard rhymes (Outside of Yeezy saying "we get O's like Cheerios." That was pretty corny.), Hip-Hip purest like myself can't do anything but gush over such records.
The only (minor) complaint I can muster for So Appalled is the fact that CyHi's verse was last. I feel like the song could've ended on a iller note, but he wasn't bad, so I'll take it. I'm just glad RZA didn't spit a verse. RZA doesn't get enough credit for how bad a rapper he is. If I told people to name some of the wackest rappers of all-time I'd get a lot of Soulja Boys, Birdmans, and Gucci Manes, but RZA definitely belong in that group. You don't believe me?? Go back and listen to some RZA solo shit. Spoiler alert: it's awful.
8) Devil In A Dress (feat. Rick Ross)
On Kanye's interview with Sway after his movie "Runaway" premiered, he said, "A hacker, man, they can't give you what I'ma give you, once it's the whole product." He was right, because I was shocked as hell when Ross just started rapping out of nowhere on Devil In A Dress. When I got the album, I didn't bother looking at the track list, I just played it, so I had no idea it was coming, and might I say it was quite the pleasant surprise. Ross totally makes up for that meaningless few bars he spit to start off Monster by Barry Bondsing Devil In A Dress. Ricky really takes the song to another level.
As far as the rest of the song goes, it's pure love. The beat is extraordinary and Kanye was clever and concise with the lyrics. Simply put: Devil In A Dress is strong as fuck!
9) Runaway (feat. Pusha T)
I could've really gone without the last 3 minutes of the final version of Runaway. The final product was just long for the sake of being long, and probably should've faded out around the 6 minute mark. I'd rather listen to somebody else take a piss than the last 3 minutes of Runaway. It's awful and excruciatingly annoying .
Other than that, I couldn't be any happier with the final product. Dope beat, dope lyrics, dope hook, dope sample (I'm so happy he brought the "look atcha" sample back), dope ass record.
10) Hell Of A Life
I wonder which pornstar inspired this song?? I'd like to thank her (and hopefully not him) for whatever she did that brought this incredible song about. I can't even come up with a minor complaint for Hell Of A Life. Nothing. As far as I'm concerned, it's flawless. I LOVE this fucking song!
Oh, and yes ladies, I fuck with the lights on ;-).
11) Blame Game (feat. John Legend & Chris Rock)
First off, Chris Rock is a fuckin' fool! Unlike Runaway, Blame Game has an extended ending I'm more than willing to listen to every time I hear the song. That was just hilarious and awesome on so many levels.
Speaking of being awesome, the rest of Blame Game wasn't too shabby itself. The instrumental was excellent, John Legend was perfect for the hook, and Kanye absolutely slits this track's throat and both wrists. Amazing, beautiful, timeless. No complaints.
12) Lost In The World (feat. Bon Iver)
I don't think I've ever been more satisfied with a 4-plus minute Hip-Hop record with only one verse than I am with Lost In The World. Honestly, I didn't even notice there was only one verse until after I heard it about 5 times. The song is just so well put together and full, that it really doesn't matter that it lacked lyrics. You have to hand it to Kanye, this record is ill.
13) Who Will Survive In America
Damn, I would've liked to end things with a song. This was all well and good, but I wasn't ready for Kanye's Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy to end, and this just tricked me into thinking there would be more.
Plus, I can't get over buddy saying, "All I want is a good home, and a wife, and a children..." A children?? He doesn't know who will survive in America, but we all know he didn't survive in English class.
Favorite Song:
Hell Of A Life (Prod. by Kanye West & Mike Caren)
Least Favorite Song:
Gorgeous (feat. KiD CuDi & Raekwon) (Prod. by Kanye West, No I.D.)
Overall:
Okay, let's talk about the flaws first.
Number 1: This album was entirely too short. Eleven songs isn't good enough, especially when you're dropping hot shit every week since August 27th. That's right, there were more G.O.O.D. Fridays (12) than songs on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (11). And the what makes it really crazy is the fact that 3 of the tracks were G.O.O.D. Friday songs anyway. Might as well had thrown a few more on there to fill out the album. Do you think anyone would've complained if Lord, Lord, Lord or Chain Heavy or Take One For The Team were on the album?? I think not.
The only other real negatives come from the lackluster second track Gorgeous and the final 3 minutes of Runaway. Both were unnecessary and useless. I guess you could also say the lack of rap verses from Kanye was a problem, but honestly, I didn't even notice it until last night. Besides, it hurt Kanye's aspirations to become the best rapper of all-time, like he said he wanted to be, more than it hurt the album.
Now, let's discuss the possible disaster that Kanye avoided. Avoided disaster #1: Soulja Boy making the album. He threatened us with the idea, but Soulja was ultimately left off the project. Thank goodness. That would've been a error worse than Rick Ross and Big Boi having Gucci Mane on their albums. Crisis avoided. Avoided disaster #2: Not letting RZA rap on So Appalled. Again, RZA is an terrible, terrible rapper. Avoided disaster #3: Leaving See Me Now off the album, despite the Beyonce feature. That song was just boring, I'm sorry.
Aight, now here's the moment you've all been waiting for.
Back in July when I reviewed Rick Ross' Teflon Don, I said only one man had a chance to top him for Album Of The Year, and that was Kanye West. Unfortunately for Ross, that's exactly what Kanye did. My Beautiful Dark Fantasy is quite frankly the best album to come of in 2010. I can't give it a perfect rating, but I can give it the next best thing:
4.75/5
