Makin Observations: The New Kanye Album is Indie Rap

Whether it's claiming the president hates black people, stealing the mic from Taylor Swift, or saying that he's Jesus, it's pretty easy for Kanye West's personality to overshadow his music (Honestly, it can be exhausting to follow him on Twitter). Which, really, is quite a shame. Love him or hate him, Kanye has been putting out great music since his 2004 debut, "The College Dropout". Finally, with his latest release, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy", Kanye has an album that just may be beautifully crazy and catchy enough to make more headlines than his personality. Well, maybe.

"Fantasy" capitalizes where Kanye's previous two albums may have faltered. 2007's "Graduation" was definitely an interesting album, but it struggled to find a nice flow, making it hard to listen to from beginning to end. So how did Kanye respond? Well, he said he'd make an entire album using auto-tune, and yes, he did just that. 2008's "808s and Heartbreak" was a major departure for Kanye, it was less of a hip-hop record and neared the lines of electropop. Albeit a much more cohesive effort, it struggled to have a song with as much punch as something in his previous albums. In "Fantasy", Kanye finds a way to have a cohesive effort with multiple knockout punches along the way. It seems Kanye realized the best way to deliver a knockout is to just embrace his personality a little bit. You would have thought he could have figured out sooner.

In the album's second single, "Runaway", Kanye says "let's give a toast to the douchebags, let's give a toast to the [buttholes]". This, obviously, is a nod towards himself as he debuted the song on the VMA's just a year after his Taylor Swift incident. Pair lines like that up with Napoleon Dynamite references (Seriously.), Niki Minaj sporting an english accent as she reads lines from Cinderella, and 2 songs featuring Bon Iver, an indie folk rock artist with a somewhat cult following and you have an album that is as crazy as Kanye. The content is as crazy as the music is good. Alongside those previously mentioned, Kanye features artists such as Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, and John Legend. The music is innovative, the lyrics have a dark, introspective humor to them, and there are so many moments where you'll find yourself wondering "Where did that come from!?" or "How did he come up with this!?", but you'll keep listening. You'll keep smiling. This is one of the most innovative and satisfying albums you'll ever listen to.

I'm ok with Kanye being the way he is as long as he's putting out music like this. Heck, he can even be crazier if he wants.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-- 

(Jordan Makin is a contributor to Bemorte Report. His regular blog, "Makin UV Better" is linked in the sidebar.)