Kanye West - Dark Twisted Fantasy

the engineering is one of the things i actually like about this. dont hear much loudness wars-esque distortion at all? id have to listen again tho

what format are you listening in

live

kanye sleeps on my futon and performs the album every night at 8pm

what a dark twisted fantasy

that's come baller shit right there

come...baller?

obviously meant to say "corn baller"

okay the worst possible typo

and by worst I do mean best

'Power' is not 'Jesus Walks 2.0' they're both different beasts and they're both great.

it was an obamanation

I can't comment on the lyrics.

why not?

'Power' lyrics are cringeful in several spots.

But I adore what he did on the backing track.

You understand that saying something is "[x] Pt 2" is not the same thing as saying those two things are exactly alike? Rather that the latter follows on from the former?

Music-wise? Well yes, they both have spiralling chants and a funk drum loop. Lyrics-wise? If that's the case we could pinpoint almost every song of his following the same themes.

stop being obtuse, dude

Both of them a specific vintage-sounding, martial beat overlaid with staccato interjections from different samples and both follow the same overall structure, with analogous breakdowns in similar spots. I am not saying they are carbon copies but that there is similarity in the way they were constructed; one could even argue that "Power" expands upon the template with both its busier syncopation and the long note in the repeated vocal interjection.

Not saying a word about subject matter, just how the songs are built.

i'm internally conditioned to have deep suspicions of any assertion that content is inseparable from anything, ever...

― aerosmith: the acid house years (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Tuesday, November 23, 2010 9:08 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

yeah, this. i don't think it's necessary or even useful to insist that this album must be understood as an extension of kanye's public persona, as a celebrity artifact, even a moment-defining cultural event. this rigid insistence seems to be the only thing that actually elevates MBDTF into the annointed album of the moment, such a natural 10.0. like, i get the impression that MBDTF is an "important" record not only because it insists that this is so, but because there's some collective desire among a group of critics and fans to project this identity & significance onto it. the phrase "generation kanye" has cropped up a couple times here, but what does it even mean, and why would anyone want to belong to it? i ask that sincerely, as a fan.

honestly, i've paid very little focused attention to yeezy's saga over the past half decade. i'm aware that he's presented to us (and that he presents himself) as a monstrous celebrity egotist in the unfiltered contemporary style, both repellent and poignant, prone to douchey outbursts and endless grandstanding that only expose his underlying insecurity. i'm aware of that, but not personally engaged with the story's unfolding. my reaction to this record is therefore largely dependent on the music, the production and the language. it has a context in my mind due to its relationship to other rap, rock and pop, not due to the fact that it extends a celebrated backstory. i suspect i'd like or dislike MBDTF in much the same way regardless of what it was called, how it was packaged, or even who'd made it.

^ probably shoots my fandom claim in the foot, but i mean that i'm a fan of the music as music, in isolation from the story

i get the impression that MBDTF is an "important" record not only because it insists that this is so, but because there's some collective desire among a group of critics and fans to project this identity & significance onto it. the phrase "generation kanye" has cropped up a couple times here, but what does it even mean, and why would anyone want to belong to it? i ask that sincerely, as a fan.

i think ppl just want big records that break out of niches and this is one of the few

wait waht, who has committed "generation kanye" to the page with any sort of seriousness?? are their huge kanye stans out there?? not, like, people guaranteed to buy and listen to his music, but that are like omg dude is so RELEVANT TO ME. lady gaga i'd buy, but kanye?

ugh typos

i actually want to know that as well

http://newsroom.mtv.com/2010/10/24/kanye-west-runaway-film/

here ya go

http://www.xxlmag.com/bloggers/2008/11/kanye-west-totally-voiced-my-generation/

also here

lolol I should read things to the end before I link them

plus don't get not liking "power" and "all the lights". those two immediately stand out among the best tracks on the album, making kanye's messy, grotesque (baroque or whatever) maximalism actually work. there's a sense of delight in hearing these songs unfold that's like watching a circus performance, aerial acrobatics or a clown spinning plates, and you don't really believe that it can be sustained, there's this underlying anxiety from the sense that it's about to fail, to fall apart and come crashing to the ground in an ugly mess, that anxiety coupled with the giddy thrill of the moment in which the worst hasn't happened yet and everything is still beautiful and impossibly sustained. wish the rest of the album managed the same balancing act, instead of just trudging along, as though three more minutes of something acceptable will magically transform it into something great.

so uh that second link is more a "counterpoint" than support for the thesis

also I think "Monster" is clearly the best track on here

yeah, that's the other one, though i like "lost in the world" a lot

"monster" is also, ironically, much less monstrous than the tracks that lead up to it

the only track i was even nodding my head to was "hell of a life"

"monster" is ok only because nicki minaj understood what the tone of the album should be better than kanye did

I think your neck is broken, either that or I am easily boogied

well yeah if yr neck is broken u shouldnt be boogying to anything

xp u must be easy

i think ppl just want big records that break out of niches and this is one of the few

― questeon the answers (call all destroyer), Tuesday, November 23, 2010 2:51 PM (26 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

what niche does this album break out of that Graduation didn't?

i am not advocating this position

this is a worse record than graduation by a good bit

all i'm saying is ppl are desperate to read it as a "big album" because there are so few chances to do that these days

wait waht, who has committed "generation kanye" to the page with any sort of seriousness?? are their huge kanye stans out there?? not, like, people guaranteed to buy and listen to his music, but that are like omg dude is so RELEVANT TO ME. lady gaga i'd buy, but kanye?

― BIG MUFFIN (gbx), Tuesday, November 23, 2010 2:55 PM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

there are tons of huge Kanye stans out there. i feel like there's been a pretty big push from his fanbase, especially the younger high school/college types who've known him as a big deal since before they started listening to music, to think of him as the great artist of our time, our Dylan or our MJ or our Stevie. seriously.

wow

i must be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out of touch

"monster" is ok only because nicki minaj understood what the tone of the album should be better than kanye did

― questeon the answers (call all destroyer), Tuesday, November 23, 2010 2:07 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

LOL can't believe people are still mocking kanye's lyrics will praising nicki's verse. i mean, it's corny in a different way but it's still pretty dang corny.

like srsly i listened to this once this morning and was like "huh, sounds like kanye," winced at the lyrics when i bothered to pay attention to them (have never been personally impressed with him on the mic), and may or may not give it another try this evening.

fukkin youth of today

pretty sure the fake jamaican accent is the aural equivalent of "...my black balls"

the point is you can say entirely stupid shit as long as people think you sound awesome while doing it

i think "corny in a different way" is real important here

Nicki's family's from Trinidad, right? her dancehall voice is probably the single least contrived accent she does.

there are tons of huge Kanye stans out there. i feel like there's been a pretty big push from his fanbase, especially the younger high school/college types who've known him as a big deal since before they started listening to music, to think of him as the great artist of our time, our Dylan or our MJ or our Stevie. seriously.

like maybe i'm just being cranky and out of touch or w/e, but this is just delusional. not you, but the fanbase, and kanye himself. i mean, it seems like even the glowing reviews aren't saying 'this is kanye transcending being kanye' it seems like they're saying 'this is the best kanye ever'. it seems difficult to believe that anyone could be considered a Great Artist when all their lyrics are so explicitly myopic and self-centered. but let's not even go down that road, considering what makes ppl great or w/e. shudder

yeah, i just call it like i see it. it's weird. i mean Kanye was one of my favorite people making music from like 2002 to 2005, but even then i was pretty aware of his shortcomings and didn't really put him on that kind of pedestal. he had some degree of underdog appeal at first.