Kanye West

"He is not strong who never falls, but he who rises again after falling." Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe's over-quoted maxim carries a universal message, but for Kanye West it takes on a meaning all of its own. Over the years, the American rapper has shown a surprising talent for picking himself back up, so much so that it raises doubts about the sincerity of his stumbles in the first place. It often seems as though West deliberately aims for the wrong target, hunting down the perfect gaffe for every occasion, ready to broadcast it to the four winds for no particular reason. Because West loves wallowing in the mud like a smirking "pig." He loves making a fool of himself in front of the world, only to climb back up with the swagger of a giant who fears no one. West is forever chasing himself, indifferent to everyone else. He's the standout talent of the American Black music scene who fears nothing and no one, and will use any means necessary to prove it, however ridiculous. West is a reckless spirit with an impossible temperament. And there's certainly no need to list his follies, his endless delusions of grandeur, to get a sense of his outsized ego and his gift for being gloriously elusive.

And yet, in 2009 the rapper from Atlanta [sic] messes up so badly that many people foresee - and relish, depending on their musical taste - the definitive fall of the most arrogant god on rap's Olympus. We're in the middle of the MTV VMA ceremony. Taylor Swift takes the stage to collect the award for Best Female Video, beating out her "rival" Beyoncé, who was in the running with "Single Ladies." While everything seems to be going smoothly, amid smiles and flashbulbs from every corner of the room, West decides it's a good idea to interrupt Swift as she's holding the award, to point out how unfair her win is and that the prize should have gone instead to his friend Beyoncé, adding that the former Destiny's Child member's video is, all things considered, the best of all time. A scene worthy of the worst gutter drama. An embarrassing moment for Beyoncé herself and for the organizers, who were forced to ask a raving Kanye to leave the event immediately. It's an unfortunate episode that ends up upending his life, in some ways instantly flipping his popularity on its head. A spectacular fall from grace, compounded by his less-than-reassuring relationship with model Amber Rose, who was evidently tired of so much recklessness.

Well, these two episodes, important for different reasons in the American musician's career, mark his first long withdrawal from the star system. A necessary isolation, and ultimately a redemptive one. Shortly afterward, in fact, West even shows signs of having benefited from it. His self-imposed exile leads him, de facto, to compose a phantasmagorical work for an impressive number of reasons: "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy." An album that fully displays West's skill at pulling out the most incredible samples, showing clear devotion, among others, to Aphex Twin, Continent Number 6, Lyn Collins, Gil Scott-Heron, King Crimson, Black Sabbath, Rick James and (of course) James Brown. Samples extracted with surgical precision, embedded between beats in a display of inimitable alchemy. Fundamental insights for the future of the hip-hop genre in years to come. Landmark samples, like the epic, definitive use of Jon Anderson's voice from Mike Oldfield's track "In High Places," featured in "Dark Fantasy."

The American rapper is in a state of crazy grace, unexpected perhaps by everyone but himself, ever more comfortable pinpointing rhythmic solutions and melodic scores of massive appeal. Adding further richness to the work is the artwork provided by George Condo, with West naked astride an equally naked and armless phoenix. A cover that was censored instantly, just as West himself apparently wanted, according to Condo's posthumous statements. A main cover initially accompanied by four others, confirming the usual delusions of grandeur.

“My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” is also the record with which the man starts seriously questioning his own future, the need to change his life and devote himself only to women and prayer. It's the first real glimpse of Kanye West the preacher. A new image, one that will later lead him to express a desire to run for president (just so he doesn't miss out on anything). His popularity is sky-high and the musician feels the ever more crushing weight of success, of an excessive wealth that fuels rampant consumerism. But it's a bottomless well, paradoxically impossible to actually enjoy. West declares himself tired of the music business. And yet, he still feels like a deity who can have practically anything, despite the declared unease that pervades his lyrics. In short, his is an alternating-current egocentrism, with guilt acting as the switch, between gleaming Lamborghinis and sudden inner demons.

I fantasized ‘bout this back in Chicago

Mercy, mercy me, that Murcielago

That’s me, the first year that I blow

How you say broke in Spanish? Me no hablo

Me drown sorrow in that Diablo

The gospel choir of the opening “Dark Fantasy”, with the voices of Justin Vernon and Nicki Minaj, makes things clear from the very start. West is the messiah to turn to, as well as the sinner ready to flagellate himself. A subtle self-irony, typical of the greats. The following “Gorgeous”, featuring Kid Cudi and Raekwon, is lifted by the memorable riff from “You Showed Me” by Enoch Light and the Glittering Guitar. It's just the first of the brilliant ideas laid out so far. See above all the lead single “Power” alongside trusted collaborator Dwele, with looping female backing vocals alternating with the imploded thrill of the landmark “21st Century Schizoid Man” by Fripp and co., while the rhythms of “It's Your Thing” by the Cold Grits and “Afroamerica” by Continent Number 6 energize the mix. A neurotic crescendo, whose lyrics once again reveal a spectacular blend of “staged” anguish and madness:

The system broken, the school is closed, the prison’s open

We ain't got nothing to lose, motherfucker, we rolling

Huh? Motherfucker, we rolling

With some light-skinned girls and some Kelly Rowlands

In this white man world, we the ones chosen

So goodnight, cruel world, I’ll see you in the morning

Huh? I’ll see you in the morning

This is way too much, I need a moment

The epic “All Of The Lights” is in turn the album's showpiece. The ultimate anthem. West rules from atop his kingdom, voicing his own superstar “discomfort” that disowns itself, bringing in on backing vocals Alicia Keys, Alvin Fields, Charlie Wilson, Drake, Elly Jackson, Elton John (also on piano, naturally), Fergie, John Legend, Ken Lewis, Kid CuDi, Rihanna, Ryan Leslie and Tony Williams. It's the manifesto of his transformation. Redemption has begun and there's no turning back, or so it seems. The album's fourth lead single precedes, in the tracklist, the untamed and cleverly filtered ghosts of “Monster”. A killer pace, all kinds of upheaval, irresistible restarts and dizzying flow. A recipe perfectly rounded out by Bon Iver, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and Rick Ross, in a finely calibrated alternation despite their apparent differences. The looping sample of Smokey Robinson's “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” instead provides the romantic backdrop for “Devil In A New Dress”, a ballad with a distinctly sixties appeal and an equally moody feel, dulcis in fundo aimed essentially at his beloved Amber Rose, ever closer to ending her relationship with West.

It's the gentle prelude to the album's masterpiece track. Released as the second single after “Power” on September 12, 2010 at the MTV Video Music Awards, “Runaway” is an instant classic. One of those songs that gets under your skin practically right away. Memorable are the looping piano notes running throughout the track, the rhythm section lifted from “Mecca And The Soul Brother”, the debut album by rapper and producer Pete Rock, as well as the closing solo, a bridge built from a sample of the live version of “Mary Jane” by his majesty Rick James, and the epic yet melancholic-to-the-bone strings, musically emphasizing words that define, in an all-encompassing way, a new consciousness, before the second verse, handed to Pusha T of Clipse, raises the stakes even further.

And I always find, yeah, I always find something wrong

You been putting up with my shit just way too long

I’m so gifted at finding what I don’t like the most

So I think it’s time for us to have a toast

Let’s have a toast for the douchebags

Let’s have a toast for the assholes

Let’s have a toast for the scumbags

Every one of them that I know

Let’s have a toast for the jerk-offs

That’ll never take work off

Baby, I got a plan

Run away fast as you can

The album's peak precedes the kinetic groove of “Hell Of A Life”, but above all the delicate “Blame Game”, performed with friend John Legend, which makes everything even more tender, amid free-falling piano notes and mournful strings cradling words born of a strange sense of guilt. West and Legend click perfectly and the result is once again remarkable.

The epoch-defining stature of an album like “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” is amply defined by its being consistently inspired. A living work, with no dips, stylistically vibrant. And bringing makossa and Bon Iver's ethereal vocals together under the same sky is just the latest of its miracles. And what about “Who Will Survive In America”, a shortened version of Gil-Scott Heron's “Comment # 1”, taken from his debut “Small Talk At 125th And Lenox”? A poetic invective aimed at the (predominantly white) student movement and its claim to represent a change that is, in its own way, unprecedented — unattainable, for the Chicago prophet, simply because the rich could never fully understand the misery and struggles of the less well-off classes. The final blow that sweeps away any lingering doubt about the greatness and importance of this landmark of black music in the new millennium.

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26/01/2020