Kanye West MBDTF Essay
In this essay I will be discussing Kanye West; MBDTF Album, its lyrics and its meaning behind its Aswell as the reception from public. I am going to discuss some of Kanye’s controversial comments and how he was perceived by the fans and foes alike.
I will try to objectively measure the impact that his non-musical activities had on his career overall. I will make an argument on how My beautiful dark twisted fantasy was a turning point in Kanye West’s career.
With Kanye having 4 ground-breaking albums under his belt, Kanye was seen as one of the most talented musicians in the music industry in 2009 and later in 2010 releasing My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy which by many is regarded as “one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever produced” (Ian Park 2020), looking back at a moment that defined pop culture in an album that defined the hip-hop genre.
The album kicks off with the opening track Dark Fantasy, Nicki Minaj performs the opening narration taking inspiration from Roald Dahl’s Cinderella but spinning the fairy tale to set up the themes for the album. A piano key hits as Justin Vernon from the band Bon Iver sings the chorus “Can we get much higher?” This line highlights Kanye’s fame and creates a feeling of reflection. As you get the feeling that you’re looking down at a mountain from a high place which plays of the sample that the chorus takes inspiration from. Also on the chorus is Teyanna Taylor, after impressing Kanye with her vocals she was added in 4 hours before the album had to be turned in. Teyana Taylor was quoted to say “He played the ‘Dark Fantasy’, and he hears me humming, he was like, ‘Oh you have like a little voice, can you put some harmonies back there?”(Rindner, 2018) in an interview with the Rolling stone showing her appreciation of Kanye’s work.
“Power” is the 3rd track on the album featuring Mike Dean. According to Kanye, this track took 5000-man hours to create and is built around unique samples. HiphopDX, quoted Kayne “When I think of competition it’s like I try to create against the past. I think about Michelangelo, Picasso, the pyramids. That’s the reason why I put 5,000 hours into a song like ‘Power.” (Cherian, 2010).
The track opens up with a sample from AfroamericA as the chants build up the atmosphere. After Kanye’s powerful intro the other sample used from King Crimson 21st century schizoid man hits following the chorus. The song 21st century schizoid man criticizes does in power during the Vietnam war and Kanye utilizes the song to both take shots at those in power and critique the antics of society in the 21st century. We as people give so much power to celebrities and put them on pedestals that we forget that they are just simply human. Kanye here is questioning the concept while at the same time claiming his spot as a pop culture icon bragging about his status and the power that he holds. Kanye is contradicting himself but this contradiction is intentional as he says “I’m tripping of the power.” Kanye is experiencing a power trip.
On Kanye’s 3rd verse a slow piano creeps under his frantic ego driven proclamation. Although this proclamation is more of a call for help as Kanye’s ego cracks as he opens up his suicidal thoughts spawned by his status. Kanye’s last line says “I got the power make your life so excitin.” but as his speech echos the reverb makes the word “excitin” sound like he is saying suicide. Mike Dean here performs a synth solo as Kanye contemplates it all.
Kanye dreamed about possessing this “Power” back in Chicago as referenced in the opening track Dark Fantasy but the fantasy is not like what he believed it to be, Kanye has gone mad with power as he laughs, he soaks in the misery that fame has brought him. Kanye realizes at the end of this track that it takes true inner strength to let the power that he fantasised so long just to disappear.
Kanye briefly experienced a moment of controversy in 2005 when he said his infamous line during A Concert for Hurricane Relief saying “George Bush Doesn’t Care About Black People”. After what he had said on live TV, he was still relatively well-received in the public eye. However during the 2009 VMA awards when Taylor Swift came to collect her trophy for “best video” a very drunk Kanye went on stage and interrupted her acceptance speech saying “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!”. Kanye showered in boos from the crowed shrugs and hands the microphone back to Taylor and walks off stage. This would be the moment in his life that would change everything. Following the incident, Kanye became public enemy No.1 and would go on various TV shows to apologise publicly for his actions following the hate he received from the general public and fellow musicians, many would even go as far as to send him death threats and someone would show the VMA incident to then President Obama to which he called Kanye a “jackass” on live TV and P!nk Tweeting “Kanye West is the biggest piece of sh*t on earth. Quote me.” Years later Kanye talked about how much hate and the immense depression he suffered from following the 2009 VMA awards. “It was a thing on Twitter where it said I died and people were like good we’re happy that he died, Its like well you happy that he died?”
Kanye would have to leave the country because of negativity and the paparazzi/media following his every move. Kanye found solace in Japan and Italy. While not working on any music, Kanye would instead shift his focus into fashion and work undercover with the brand Fendi. But before long Kanye would come up with ideas as to what his next album would sound like following his previous album 808’s and Heartbreaks. Kanye would stick with the melodies but infuse them with hip-hop drums after he had a conversation with Chris Martin as he got back into the studio in early 2010. Kanye said on an interview with KDWB 101.3 “Chris Martin would talk to me about the drums the black drums and stuff the 808’s and like how rock wouldn’t have that” (Kanye West Live Performances, 2022)
Kanye would make this album secretly in Hawaii at Avex in Honolulu and would fly out numerous collaborators including Kid Cudi, Jay-Z, Rihanna, Nikki Minaj, Pusha T and many more to work on this album with him. These artists would have to join Kanye in self-exile, in isolation from the outside world. Kanye would have a famous list of rules for his collaborators and others who were in the studio. Rules include “No Tweeting”, “No Pictures”, “No Acoustic Guitars In The Studio” and many more.
As well as having rules Kanye also made a dress code, Everyone who was working on the album had to wear black suits, white shirts and black ties. Chris Rock during a podcast said, “He set up a mood, that when you walked in there you felt this mood”. Kanye from the rules and dress code created this mood that clearly showed that he wanted all of the focus on the album with zero distractions and had nothing in the studio that would damage the sound of the album because his career depended on it.
Accoarding to Rizza from Wu-Tang who worked on the album as a producer said that Kanye would work in the studio 12 hours a day some times even sleeping there “Kanye would get up in the morning have breakfast with the whole team of people, they go to the gym they work out together and I mean they’ll do a little charity work and they go to the studio, they’ll go in the studio and be the first one there and the last one to leave”
Kanye would promote his new album every week on his website for free calling it GOOD Friday starting on August 10th 2010 with the first track being Power (Remix) featuring Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz. Kanye would do this for 15 weeks straight until Christmas.
The release of MBDTF on November 22nd 2010 truly took Kanye from being public enemy no.1 to being regarded as one of the most talented musicians in his and any other generation. Kanye on the album reflects on his ego, wild lifestyle and public scrutiny as he takes the listener on a tragic love story.
In conclusion, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy indisputably represents a pivotal turning point in Kanye’s career, marking a powerful resurgence and solidifying his position as a true visionary in the music industry. Kanye faced immense pressure and scrutiny following the significant public fallout from the 2009 VMA incident. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy became Kanye’s artistic response, a cathartic and meticulously crafted project that served as both a confession and a reclamation of his artistic narrative. The album’s critical acclaim was overwhelming, with many hailing it as a masterpiece his magnum opus and as I like to call it his Mona Lisa. This critical redemption was crucial for Kanye, restoring his credibility and silencing many of his foes alike.
References:
Katrina (2006). Kanye West Hurricane Katrina. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/9pVTrnxCZaQ [Accessed 10 Feb. 2025].
Taylor’s Swifties (2023). Kanye West interrupts Taylor Swift during the VMA Awards (Miss Americana Clip). [online] YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/G5iEniUb33w [Accessed 10 Feb. 2025].
G, R. (2009). VIDEO OF Obama Calling Kanye West A Jackass. [online] Youtu.be. Available at: https://youtu.be/q9Ngf3GB3uQ [Accessed 10 Feb. 2025].
Cherian, S.T. (2010). Kanye West Speaks About Competition, Investing 5,000 Hours Into One Song, More. [online] HipHopDX. Available at: https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.11887/title.kanye-west-speaks-about-competition-investing-5000-hours-into-one-song-more?utm_source=chatgpt.com [Accessed 7 Feb. 2025].
Rindner, G. (2018). School Manager by Family Zone. [online] Genius.com. Available at: https://genius.com/a/teyana-taylor-said-she-recorded-her-my-beautiful-dark-twisted-fantasy-vocals-four-hours-before-deadline [Accessed 7 Feb. 2025].
P!nk. (2009)[X] 14 September. Available from: https://x.com/pink/status/3967674746?mx=2. Accessed 7 February 2025.
TPM TV (2009). CNN Runs Video of Obama Calling Kanye ‘Jackass’. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJIH0obw3hs. Accessed 7 February 2025
Kanye West. (2010) Dark Fantasy. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. [Spotify] USA: Roc-A-Fella Records.
Kanye West. (2010) Power. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. [Spotify] USA: Roc-A-Fella Records.
Janice Llamoca (2012). RZA Talks About Working With Kanye West On ‘Dark Fantasy’. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk3MqGZyPvE [Accessed 7 Feb. 2025].
SWAY’S UNIVERSE (2012). Chris Rock Talks In-Studio Experience with Kanye West on #SwayInTheMorning | Sway’s Universe. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmkIW743lJ4 [Accessed 7 Feb. 2025].