“This picture is a mix of Sergei and I being crazy rave dancers, and the infinity symbol. The symbol was really my inspiration, and we went into a dark room with a long shutter and lights. The shutter ends up freezing the lights, getting the effect that we got.”
Kanye West
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
(Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam):
What’s the best way for a famous rap artist to respond after the president calls him a “jackass”? How about coming out with a hugely successful album embracing— or at least aware of– that persona?
Kanye West does just this in his most recent album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, squeezing out every drop of his larger-than-life personality into this one sweeping album. His last effort, 808′s and Heartbreak, which followed a bad breakup and the death of his mother, was considered to be more of an emotional mess than anything. He leaves this moping behind on MBDTF and has emerged even more poignant and cutting than before; definitely offering the work of someone on the rebound.
Marking perhaps a new era for Kanye, one that looks to carry far into the future, MBDTF leaves little, if nothing, to wish for. Kanye has become more than just a rapper, and reinforcing his popular image, he can appeal to a wide audience. With songs like “Power,” which reworks an old King Crimson song, he shows a mastery of not only his own genre, but of music in general.
The main reason the fantasy Kanye envisions is so attractive to listeners is because of the reality from which it stems. Don’t let the stunna shades fool you: Kanye is more than just a visionary. He’s living his dreams — and there’s no better proof than this beautiful, dark, twisted, fantastical album.
–Logan Thomas
Siren music reviewer
