In November 2016, Sidney Madden wrote on XXL that “Kanye sat in with artists from all genres for recording sessions and invited many to stay with him in the islands as his guest during the process”. This saw Kanye retreat to Hawaii, where a large part of the album was recorded. He also launched his video ‘ The Runaway’ – with its striking colour palette, shots of ballerinas in black tutus… camera hovering over their head, and Kanye West standing at the piano, styled in a white blazer – just a month before the release of the album.Īll the buzz and build-up came after a difficult period in Kanye’s life, with the death of his mother, Donda, and his infamous stunt at the VMA’s with Taylor Swift.
Kanye west dark fantasy meaning free#
It's my favorite Kanye West album and honestly it sits among my favorite modern albums.Of course, the opulent and innovative production, the album’s features and the striking artwork have played a huge part in creating hype around West’s MBDTF but the cleverly crafted marketing campaign West called “the G.O.O.D Friday”, where every week he dropped free releases of the album, earned its place in the pantheon of memorable musical moments. It's funny at times ("Yeezy taught me") and very serious at others (hell, the non-skit part of Blame Game is pretty damn serious). In conclusion, the album has diversity in excellent production, strong lyrics that stick in your head (even years later), and most importantly, a cohesive experience that lasts from the spoken word introduction to the album's powerful exit (courtesy of Scott-Heron). There are lots of quotables on this album and songs which I just want to return to years later. He was an arrogant Hollywood villain at that point in his career, and this album not only accepted that fact, but played with it: his ego reached new heights with songs like Power, which ultimately led to the WTT project (at least the way I see it). Kanye's lyricism on this album is also very impressive to me.
I could go song by song, but I have a big coding assignment due Friday, so I'll keep it relatively shorter. Kanye is still spinning his narrative throughout the whole album, but the features 1) compliment the instrumentals/production 2) maintain the sonic aesthetic of the album (aka nobody is especially jarring/out of place) and 3) nobody overstays their welcome. These days I've noticed a lot of solo albums have too many features for my tastes (at a certain point it seems less and less like a solo effort) but this album utilized the guest spots very well. The album is very well produced, and in my opinion there isn't a dull moment from start to finish.
Kanye west dark fantasy meaning full#
I still remember the first time listening through, because everything was vaguely familiar from that film, but hearing it in the full context made me appreciate it even more. Once the album came out, I went to the store and got myself a physical copy, stuck it in the CD player in my car, and just drove around in a park listening to this shit. Now, maybe it's just me (a fellow musician who fantasizes about being as successful and influential as someone like Kanye West - but also someone who imagines up vivid stories to go along with his music) but the fact that he was able to make and release something like this just inspired me.not just to make music, but make great music that people enjoyed - and maybe even pay for if they appreciated it enough. It was very clear Kanye had this whole concept in his head when he was making the album, and the idea came into fruition in this film (and later, the album itself).
The direction and cinematography was beautiful (that model certainly helped), but the music.oh god the music just fit perfectly. Man, that thing was weird as hell, but I found it strangely captivating. but that full film thing came out a few weeks before the album's release. I remember his album came out pretty late too - late November if I recall correctly. I heard that snippet of Power before the album actually came out and I was impressed, but I tried to keep it under control so my expectations weren't too high. I went in to it with a lot of hype, but also fear - because 808's wasn't my jam back then and still doesn't do much for me. MBDTF is one of the best albums I've had the pleasure of listening to. Now of course this is just my opinion, but here goes:
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