By Odeisel

The road back to the spotlight has been long for Kanye West. A yearlong banishment has sobered the superstar and his petulance has been fashioned into a drive for excess that has filtered into his music. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasyfeatures a gaggle of guests and new musical devices that push his music to new places. Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Friday promotion has dulled the shock and awe that comes with hearing a new album en masse. Once you get over that lack of new car smell, and view the album as one body of work, you can see musical ambition.

“My Dark Fantasy” is an eerie combination of the RZA’s strings and enchanting atmospherics that pack rolling momentum while keeping a pace that Ye can handle. Kanye’s rhymes speak to the high of fame and money, and how intoxicating can be. But what happens why you’re too high and you miss the ground? Ye asks, “Teacher, teacher how do you respond to students, and refresh the page and restart the memory, re-spark the soul and rebuild the energy we stop the ignorance we kill the enemy, sorry for the night, demons they still visit me.” Imagery of a children’s séance at the mall conjuring Satan sets the tone for various reference on this album.

The necessity of that fame is dealt with on “Gorgeous” featuring Kid Cudi on the hook and a guest verse from Raekwon over soulful organs and a moody, muscular guitar. “Penitentiary chances, the Devil dances and eventually answers to the call of Autumn” opens Ye, again speaking to the dark forces complicit in his prison of fame. The song’s duality is inventive, framing his commentary on fame as societal, systemic racial inequality. In this instance, the devil is “The Man.” He returns to the drug allegory in his second verse, noting “I insisted to get up off of this shit, and these drugs, n***as can’t resist it.”

“Power” was the grand first single. When positioned within the album’s framework, his mentions of exile and his struggle for the ownership of his soul become more evident. “My talent creativity, purity and honesty, is honestly being crowded by these grown thoughts. Reality is catching up with me, taking my inner child, I’m fighting for custody.” His arrogance and grandiosity serve as camouflage for his hidden message.

The sweet violin/piano intro lulls the listener into a relaxed state only to be jarred by the gigantic horns and the booming tribal drums of “All Of The Lights.” Hook singer, Rihanna sings “If you want it, you can get it for the rest of your life,” never mentioning the cost of that light. It is here that Kanye first mentions Michael Jackson, whose attempts to escape the brightest of lights cost him his life.  The music is Ye’s child and his exile was separation, as the zeitgeist turned its back on him. “Restraining order, can’t see my daughter. Her mother (the music biz) brother (video/tv) grandmother (newspapers) hate me in that order. Public visitation, we met at Borders, told her if she take me back I’ll be more supportive…she need her daddy, baby please, can’t let her grow up in that ghetto university.” West offers his soul for re-entry from the outside after watching the mishandling of the music by lesser talented hacks.

“Are you willing to sacrifice your life,” is the haunting question of all-star feature “Monster.” Jay-Z bears witness to fame’s addictive properties nothing “Love, I don’t get enough of it, all I get is these vampires and blood suckers.” Nicki Minaj, still new to the fame gives a schizophrenic performance reveling in all her newfound fame and fortune and decrying haters to her rise.

RZA’s dark strings return on “So Appalled,” which features Jay-Z, Swizz Beatz, Pusha T and CyHi The Prynce. Kanye is appalled that the music he’s given so much for is being handled by rank amateurs who are whoring it out for their own purposes with no respect for the art. Jay-Z is appalled that after a decade of delivering his music he’s nothing more than a target for people trying to earn their stripes to take shots. Mr. Carter has abandoned any hope of a brighter tomorrow with,” Dark Knight feeling, die like a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain. I went from the favorite, to the most hated what would you rather be underpaid or overrated?” When combined with his closing line from Drake’s“Light It Up” it’s clear the Jiggaman is resigned to his fate.

Rick Ross is added to “Devil In A New Dress.” Ye’s chorus continues the biblical/satanic reference with mentions of “the magic hour I seen good Christians making brash decisions.”  The Devil itself is fame and Kanye notes you can’t “leave when you’re hot, that’s how Ma$e screwed up. “ Rick Ross’ addition takes the song to a new level if for nothing else but the guitar solo that separates their verses.

Kanye plans his separation from fame with “Runaway” but pauses because, “I don’t know how I would manage if one day you would just up and leave.” He knows better than this but he takes the easy way out, admitting his love for the good girl (God) but professing his addiction to the hood rats ( the fame/devil), upon whom he blames everything, without looking in the mirror and taking that responsibility.

A sinister guitar powers “Hell Of A Life,” as Kanye finds himself counting down to a reckoning. “We headed to hell for heaven’s sake, but I’ma levitate, make the devil wait,” Kanye raps, stalling off the inevitable final conflict.

“Blame Game” sits atop a measured melancholy with agile keys and moody strings on the periphery. John legends vocals swim through those strings beautifully. Kanye faces down the fame, personified as a woman. Eventually the high becomes disgusting and you reach rock bottom and look for a way out of the relationship. But once you break, you miss that high and you struggle with staying away. Watching her dance with new dudes and watching others enjoy what you used to have makes you want her back.

The song employs inventive aural device as the pull for the fame is employed as muzzled voices in Kanye’s head that switch from ear to ear, throwing the listener off and bringing them into Kanye’s addled mindstate. Chris Rock’s monologue speaks as the voice of the new lover, in love with new fame and her trappings, unaware of the drama that is sure to follow.

“Lost in the World” is a rousing, urgent crescendo to the album, serving as closing to his grand statement on the devil of fame. “Lost in this plastic life, let’s break out of this fake ass party turn this into a classic night. The track bleeds into a stylized redux of Gil Scott-Heron’s “Comment #1” entitled “Who Will Survive in America” with spoken word bongo drums are replaced with an overdub of “Lost in the World.”

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy finds Kanye at war for his soul,  on the outside of fame looking to buy his way back in,  and dreading the price of re-entry. This album should serve as a powerful warning for those who court the whore of fame and how hard it is to resist once she has her hooks in you. In the immortal words of The Eagles’ “Hotel California” “You can check out but you can never leave.”

Out of 5

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