Fantastic read. This brought me back to when MBDTF was released-it truly blew me away. I can understand why making something 'perfect' just because you can, could remove you from that 'other space' of creative flow.
What an article! I really enjoyed your observations and insights. Very compelling. Definitely made me think about what inspires people to create and from where. Is it about ego, exploration, or outside validation? And does it make an artist less of a genius to play to the publics enjoyment of their work? Or is there a certain kind of genius to that as well?
Thank you for this interesting, provoking read. West will probably go down as one of the most polarizing stars of our time, immensely talented and even more internally conflicted. While you attributed so much validity to the idea of artistic loathing as a result of creating for public perception vs the artist’s fulfillment, West specifically comes off as an anomaly in this category. He seems to always be operating from a place adjacent to unmitigated contradictory teenage rebellion. In a very “two things can be true at once” way, MBDTF is his best body of work *because* he relinquished that incessant need to rebel against the collective’s desires. While 808’s and Yeezus embarked on paths to futuristic sounds, MBDTF spoke to a world we all understood, IMO making it’s impact more profound.
An objective view of the music standing before the man standing in full view before his own perception. Very meta, very necessary to find this kind of reporting as a fan. Would love to hear about his music and its retreat in marriage and fatherhood. I would argue that last statement about legacy is challenged there “Everything we do for the crib” (Off the Grid) and a réification of the pain of his mother’s loss in Donda would fully solidify the account that his own progress is tied to emotional instability and not simply superstardom-gone-mental. “What did I teach him….and why Kanye ain’t scared?” Can’t wait for the next!
Fascinating read - I had no idea he feels this way about this album
I wonder to what degree his deeply unpleasant behaviour in recent times is some sort of manifestation of this urge to go against mainstream public thought, manifesting in a horrible way
This was a great article. I respect his position on it but MBDTF was pure genius and can’t be disputed in my opinion. “Devil in a new dress” was an absolute banger. They all were. Not often these days do you come across albums that are full listen throughs. There might be a few songs here and there but never a full play through. Dark Fantasy was a full play through and always will be. Apology album or not we saw compositional wizardry in that album. He might’ve felt it was an apology album but I think it was a flex if anything. It said more to me about how much more talented he was then the amount of respect people wanted to give him. Antics and all. He’s a musical genius. Kinda sad what he’s become but this album will remain a gift to us all.
Thanks for this article - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is a masterpiece - I love it. Kanye's short film "Runaway" is AMAZING and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is the soundtrack.
At this point it doesn’t really matter what he said because he’s contradicted himself so many times. He doesn’t like MBDTF but he praised it in his Akademiks interview. He says he’s autistic and just a regular guy with mental health issues and then turns around a says he’s a mastermind. He apologizes for his comments and then doubles down on them. He tells his collaborators to not have premarital sex during the recording of the project, and then goes in the other room to have sex while everyone else is in prayer. These are all facts not opinions. If he doesn’t want to have a legacy and wants people to enjoy the things that he created without knowing he made them, then he should start making things that don’t have his name on it. That idea can no longer be a reality, Ye will always have a legacy of infamy in the hip hop history books. DJ Kool Herc is an artist without a legacy, he’s credited as the founder of hip hop and most hip hop fans have no idea
Fantastic read. This brought me back to when MBDTF was released-it truly blew me away. I can understand why making something 'perfect' just because you can, could remove you from that 'other space' of creative flow.
What an article! I really enjoyed your observations and insights. Very compelling. Definitely made me think about what inspires people to create and from where. Is it about ego, exploration, or outside validation? And does it make an artist less of a genius to play to the publics enjoyment of their work? Or is there a certain kind of genius to that as well?
Thank you for this interesting, provoking read. West will probably go down as one of the most polarizing stars of our time, immensely talented and even more internally conflicted. While you attributed so much validity to the idea of artistic loathing as a result of creating for public perception vs the artist’s fulfillment, West specifically comes off as an anomaly in this category. He seems to always be operating from a place adjacent to unmitigated contradictory teenage rebellion. In a very “two things can be true at once” way, MBDTF is his best body of work *because* he relinquished that incessant need to rebel against the collective’s desires. While 808’s and Yeezus embarked on paths to futuristic sounds, MBDTF spoke to a world we all understood, IMO making it’s impact more profound.
Thank you for reading. Your comment was very well written as well. You make great points about the teenage rebellion side of Kanye.
An objective view of the music standing before the man standing in full view before his own perception. Very meta, very necessary to find this kind of reporting as a fan. Would love to hear about his music and its retreat in marriage and fatherhood. I would argue that last statement about legacy is challenged there “Everything we do for the crib” (Off the Grid) and a réification of the pain of his mother’s loss in Donda would fully solidify the account that his own progress is tied to emotional instability and not simply superstardom-gone-mental. “What did I teach him….and why Kanye ain’t scared?” Can’t wait for the next!
Great research and writing, I almost instantly subscribed.
MBDTF is an album I used to play obsessively. It is harder to love nowadays, but his craft is impossible to ignore.
Fascinating read - I had no idea he feels this way about this album
I wonder to what degree his deeply unpleasant behaviour in recent times is some sort of manifestation of this urge to go against mainstream public thought, manifesting in a horrible way
Brilliant.
Thank you
This was a great article. I respect his position on it but MBDTF was pure genius and can’t be disputed in my opinion. “Devil in a new dress” was an absolute banger. They all were. Not often these days do you come across albums that are full listen throughs. There might be a few songs here and there but never a full play through. Dark Fantasy was a full play through and always will be. Apology album or not we saw compositional wizardry in that album. He might’ve felt it was an apology album but I think it was a flex if anything. It said more to me about how much more talented he was then the amount of respect people wanted to give him. Antics and all. He’s a musical genius. Kinda sad what he’s become but this album will remain a gift to us all.
Thanks for this article - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is a masterpiece - I love it. Kanye's short film "Runaway" is AMAZING and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is the soundtrack.
Excellent stuff
At this point it doesn’t really matter what he said because he’s contradicted himself so many times. He doesn’t like MBDTF but he praised it in his Akademiks interview. He says he’s autistic and just a regular guy with mental health issues and then turns around a says he’s a mastermind. He apologizes for his comments and then doubles down on them. He tells his collaborators to not have premarital sex during the recording of the project, and then goes in the other room to have sex while everyone else is in prayer. These are all facts not opinions. If he doesn’t want to have a legacy and wants people to enjoy the things that he created without knowing he made them, then he should start making things that don’t have his name on it. That idea can no longer be a reality, Ye will always have a legacy of infamy in the hip hop history books. DJ Kool Herc is an artist without a legacy, he’s credited as the founder of hip hop and most hip hop fans have no idea
I would use a different album cover for my achievements