21st Century Schizoid Man: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Let’s flash back to the 75th MADDSKILLZ Update, released for October 2009:

Quote of the Month: “Taylor, I’m really happy for you.  I’ll let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!  One of the best videos of all time!” Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. In a related story, I am happy to announce here that a special new federal program has been formed as a reaction to Kanye’s outburst, tentatively titled “Black Presidents for Taylor Swift.”

“…We wonder what in the hell Kanye West was trying to do at the VMAs, and it’s funny that anyone would think this has much to do with anybody other than Kanye!  “Why would he do this to Taylor Swift, she’s just a baby, pobrecita!” Listen, I like Taylor Swift just as much as the next black man, but Kanye’s vigilance had nothing to do with Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, or even Michael Jackson!  This had everything to do with the very man who is being cursed by you all, Kanye West!  After the South Park “Fishsticks” episode I thought two things: That Kanye West is a gay fish, and that maybe, just maybe, he realized that he has a ridiculous ego problem.  Now I think about that episode, and I think Kanye West is a genius!  You see, Kanye West is an entertainer.  It is his job to keep you entertained, whether it is voluntarily or by interrupting people during award shows.  Would it have mattered if he did not make an appearance at this year’s VMA’s?  Hell no, but Kanye thought of a perfect Jedi Mind Trick to take attention AWAY from Taylor Swift and Beyoncé and bring it unto himself!  Retarded?  Yes.  Genius?  Hell yes!

“Let’s recap Kanye’s career shall we?  Let’s start out at a time where Kanye’s head was of normal proportions.  He drops out of college, gets signed to Roc-A-Fella, produces almost half of The Blueprint (the reason a lot of y’all care about Jay-Z to this day), then breaks his face using a car.  The result?  The College Dropout! He has your attention, and then on live TV for relief for Hurricane Katrina victims, he reminds us that George Bush doesn’t care about black people.  That got people talking, and Late Registration was out that week!  Then Kanye started crashing award shows, and at the 2007 VMAs criticized MTV for featuring Britney Spears more than him.  Of course, 50 Cent was making things easy for Kanye by releasing his wack album on the same day as Graduation, which came out that week!  And then, Kanye lost his mother and saw his engagement end … and also watched T-Pain’s popularity escalate:808s & Heartbreak!  Now his ego has taken hits from South Park, Jay-Z came out with “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)”, which Kanye contributed to, and now he’s climbing into a hole after getting drunk and crashing the VMAs!  When he comes out with his next album, you know you’ll be on it!  “I’ve wanted to like Kanye West since ’03, but it gets harder and harder every year!  The only reason I care about Kanye West is because I like his music.  That is literally it!  You and I are both thinking, “when Kanye stops making good music, SCREW HIM!”  But, if Kanye thrives on being a jackass, then he truly is a genius!  Plus, all of this is really Jay-Z’s fault.  Jay-Z put Kanye on basically, Jay-Z married Beyoncé, and everything is Jay-Z’s fault anyway.  Jay-Z is to Kanye West what Jerry Rice is to Terrell Owens, and it’s eating at Kanye, you can tell.” (MADDSKILLZ Update [October 09])

Much like my review earlier this year on Drake’s Thank Me Later, this post on Kanye West’s 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is being written when I felt like writing in.  Unlike Drake though, I don’t associate as much with it.  I am fascinated though by how Kanye West pretty much embraced my point that he will do whatever he wants, however he pleases.  That includes making a hip-hop album that may tick a purist but further emphasizes the point that he plays to the sound of his own drum.  I’m not sure if it’s a concept album, but if it isn’t, it’s damn close.  Let’s see where this goes:

1) Dark Fantasy (Feat. Nicki Minaj) “The plan was to drink until the pain over/But what’s worse, the pain or the hangover?” -I don’t drink.  So I would say the hangover is worse, because it is pain that may remind you of the original pain.  But what do I know.  I’m not a Chi-town rapper with a Nas flow.

2) Gorgeous (Feat. Kid Cudi, Raekwon) “Choke a south park writer with a fish stick” … “Act like I ain’t had a belt and two classics/I aint got it I’m going after whoever who has it/I’m coming after whoever, who has it?” -Rap championships are won to be lost and regained.  Much like pro wrestling.

3) Power “I guess every superhero needs his theme music” … “I just needed time alone, with my own thoughts/Got treasures in my mind but couldn’t open up my own vault/My childlike creativity, purity, and honesty is honestly being buried by these grown thoughts” –I can tell you, Kanye is more of a super villain to most these days.  But every super person has their own theme music.  I know I have mine!  Only, it changes daily.  On a similar note, all I have is creative thoughts, and perhaps unrealized potential.  I might be the only person who can stop me; I’m the 1 with the SKILLZ.  But I’m young and misguided.  So I don’t use my powers as well as I could.  (And on another tangent, Kanye talks about childlike creativity, while Taylor Swift mentions how “32 is still growing up” and how he’s “still an innocent”.  See, the two are forever intertwined.)

4/5) All of the Lights (Interlude) / All of the Lights “I had to take ’em to that ghetto university” -I don’t have much to say about this track.  Obviously, the lights need to be on.  All of them.  Especially in that ghetto university (says The College Dropout).

6) Monster (Feat. Justin Vernon, Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj) “I’m living in the future, so the present is my past, my presence is a presence…” -Interesting that after all of the lights get turned up, they get shot out.  Everybody knows Kanye’s a monster, so no need to shed light on the situation.  Now for me… I’m clearly living in the present with an eye on the future and a book on the past.

7) So Appalled (Feat. Swizz Beatz, Prince Cy Hi, Jay-Z, Pusha T, RZA) “N***** be writing bulls*** like they gotta work/N***** be going through real s***, man they outta work/That’s why another g**damn dance track gotta hurt” -You won’t be playing this track in any clubs.  In fact, you might not play any of these tracks in the club.  That’s because life sometimes is, ridiculous.

8) Devil in a New Dress (Feat. Rick Ross) “We love Jesus, but you done learned a lot from Satan … Hood phenomenon, the LeBron of rhyme … Don’t leave while you’re hot, that’s how Ma$e screwed up” -The same man who mentioned “Jesus Walks” is letting you know he still loves Jesus but the way of the world teaches us in addition to the good Word… Again, interesting that Kanye says he’s LeBron James.  Jay-Z has mentioned that he’s Michael Jordan (see: “Hola Hovito”), while Kanye has mentioned being Kobe Bryant (see: “Swagga Like Us”).  Kanye’s advice is to not leave while you’re hot; something LeBron could use?  He does play for the Miami Heat now…

9) Runaway (Feat. Pusha T) “I guess you knew you at an advantage/’cause you could blame me for everything/And I don’t know how I’m a manage/If you just up and leave” -So Kanye advises to not leave him, but then devises a plan and invitation to do just that?  This track is so sarcastic.  Oh, whatever will Kanye do without you?  The answer is probably in the next track. (RE: He’s probably going to keep doing him, and I’m not saying be a scumbag, but you should just do you too.)

10) Hell of a Life “I think I fell in love with a porn star/And got married in the bathroom/Honeymoon on the dance floor/And got divorced by the end of the night/That’s one hell of a life” -And thus, Kanye’s beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy.

11) Blame Game (Feat. John Legend, Chris Rock) “You weren’t perfect but you made life worth it/Stick around, some real feelings might surface … I can’t love you this much” –Kanye West is hard to love.  Actually, he may be impossible to love.  Are relationships only about sacrifice?  What word is more accurate to describe what commitment is, compromise or convenience?  Does every relationship have the constant battle of “Do I need you or not”?  Is Chris Rock Kanye’s replacement for the late Bernie Mac?  That last question was a stretch, but this next one isn’t: Has anyone heard Track 17 on Chris Rock’s 1997 album Roll with the New or Track 13 on his 1999 album Bigger & Blacker?

12/13) Lost in the World (Feat. Justin Vernon)/Who Will Survive in America (w/ Gil-Scott Heron) “You’re my devil, you’re my angel/You’re my heaven, you’re my hell/You’re my now, you’re my forever/You’re my freedom, you’re my jail/You’re my lies, you’re my truth/You’re my war, you’re my truce/You’re my questions, you’re my proof/You’re my stress and you’re my masseuse” -The return of Gil-Scott Heron on a Kanye album, after he was sampled in “My Way Home” on Late Registration.  It’s amazing that after the beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy, you can still be lost in the world, wondering who will survive in America (x4).  Reality bites.  And when it does, it probably tastes like H.A.M.

…And now that I’ve written this, there is a chance I won’t listen to Kanye again until he and Jay-Z release Watch the Throne.

-1SKILLZ