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Through Dj Boy’s Ears, and onto this blog: Kanye West “My Dark Twisted Fantasy” 1.     “Dark Fantasy”             4:40 - What an amazing intro to an album. This is exactly what I expect from Kanye West when he’s putting together something great. As soon as I heard the voice of the rapper I hate, I wanted to shoot my headphones off, but then I accepted it as it was since apparently people think she is talented. Then the music came in, WOW. I had to put my arms in the air, but I was in the train so I would’ve looked ridiculous. Then the RZA in the beat comes in, real old school feel. Crazy drums, great sample used in this beat too. This hyped me for an album I wasn’t really excited to listen to before. “And the hell, it wouldn’t spare us, And the fires did declare us, But after that, took pills, kissed an heiress, And woke up back in Paris” (Some sites say “moved her back to paris…but I don’t hear that in the song, I may be wrong) “CAN WE GET MUCH HIGHER, so high, Oooh Oooh!” 2.     “Gorgeous” (featuring Kid Cudi & Raekwon)           5:57 - Kid Cudi is my dude right now in hip hop, you can’t go wrong with this kid. I don’t read features and credits before listening to a song, and right away I was happy to hear his voice on the track. Singing the chorus with his infectious monotonous voice is Cudi saying that he will “never ever let you live this down,” over a electric guitar that is used for a sample in a beautiful way. Kanye West lets me down in this track though. “This week has been a bad massage, I need a happy ending.” He can do much better than this. The song can be summarized with these lines “Is Hip Hop just a  euphemism for a new religion? The soul music of the slave that the youth is missing. But this is more than just my road to redemption, Malcolm West got the whole world standing at attention.” Speaking about money, his people, his career and in the last verse, women and his way back to the top. Raekwon makes an appearance to say what he usually says… nothing “counting up smoke in one cuff, live as a red Jag a Louis bag grabbing a blunt.” Although I am glad that it’s not Drake on this song (and nowhere to be found in the album, FINALLY) 3.     “Power” (featuring Dwele)           4:52 - What can I say that hasn’t been said about this insane track? When it came out as the first single I was bumping this over and over again. The crazy drums and the “21st century schizo” sample seeped into my head and stayed there for weeks. Dwele lends his voice to help Kanye with “jumping out the window” in the Bridge. With a equally artistic video to accompany it, this song propelled me from being an ex Kanye Fan to a born again Fanatic. “I know damn well Y’all feeling this sh*t” YEP! 4.     “All of the Lights” (Interlude)           1:02 - Great way to calm you after the “Power” trip right before. Smooth sounding stings put you in the mood to light a few candles, lay down and thing about your next step in life. Of course you would have to put this song on repeat since it’s only a minute long. Perfect intro to the next song… 5.     “All of the Lights”             4:59 - Anything Rihanna touches is gold. Here is a beautiful song with an extremely uplifting ?trumpet? I had to include all the artists involved in this track. John Legend, The Dream, Ryan Leslie, Tony Williams, Charlie Wilson, Elly Jackson, Alicia Keys, Fergie, Kid Cudi, Rihanna and Elton John. Crazy huh? Well, they are all apparently involved in this track somehow, and it’s easily one of my favorite tracks. One thing ruined the song, funny enough, it was Kanye West’s impression of the Rick Ross Flow. “I stabbed my girl, she called the feds, I did that time, and spent my bread” The song was so pointless, but great sounding. I will love the instrumental more. 6.     “Monster” (featuring Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver)           6:18 - Here comes Jay-Z to prove how far…gone he is from great lyrics. I don’t even care when he’s on a track anymore. I have not heard one good line from him since Kingdom Come…and that wasn’t even a good album. I don’t want to talk about her, but since she’s on the track I have to. The fake a$$ self proclaimed barbie is on this track doing what she does best, not being herself. Kanye West starts off the track by talking about how much better he is than everyone else. “The best living or dead hands down huh? Less talk more head right now huh?” The beat is pretty tight. I do like the bass in it and the sample used in this one. Kanye basically says nothing in this one. Rick Ross is here for a second to introduce Kanye. Jay-Z “All I see is these fake f-cks with no fangs, Tryna draw blood with my ice cold veins” Yeah, you’re the king, we get it. Here comes Nikki making me rewind the song cuz its like listening to 4 different beings trying to rap. “And if I’m fake I aint notice cause my money aint” That sums up her career. I don’t care about how much money you make. Make ART! Bon Iver’s singing is great in this track and makes up for the previous insanity. 7.     “So Appalled” (featuring Jay-Z, Pusha T, CyHi Da Prynce, Swizz Beatz & The RZA)           6:38 - Kanye West going back to nursery rhymes “that know we get O’s like cheerios” really? Cmon. He continues on to say a bunch of nonsense that I don’t care for at all. Again, Jay-Z “Dark Knight feeling, die or be a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain” I didn’t know quoting movies was seen as great lines nowadays. He goes on to reference Hammer, which in turn brought the world a hilarious video coming back at Jay-Z. Pusha T always has a good line here and there, and this one stood out for me “still moving birds like I’m in bed with mother goose.” Ha! CyHi Da Prynce didn’t impress me at all, although my cousin did make me think about this “I met this girl on Valentines day f-cked her in May, she found out about April so she chose to March.” Fine, I like it. RZA with his lisp and anger at the end of the song just for part of the Chorus. The beat is very gutter and I like it. So far the production has not let me down. 8.     “Devil in a New Dress” (featuring Rick Ross)           5:52 - As soon as the soul sample comes in you hear the old Kanye West coming back pre-808’s. This is a typical story about Kanye meets lady friend, then trouble looms. “Throwing sh-t around, the whole place screwed up, Maybe I should call Mase so that he could pray for us.” Beautiful violins and a guitar accompany the track after the second verse and in comes Rick Ross to talk about what he always does “never tired of ballin so it’s on to the next sport.” I liked that line, the rest was about money and women of course. 9.     “Runaway” (featuring Pusha T)           9:08 - Here come’s a great downfall. I  cannot hate this song more than I already do. 808’s back again. The strikes of the piano in the beginning are actually pretty annoying. The beat is ok, not impressive. This song is such a crappy plea for people to accept him. I don’t care about that stuff, make music. Why is Pusha T in this song? “Wanna fly in your Freddy loafers You can’t blame ‘em, they ain’t never seen Versace sofas” Ok? Then Kanye starts to sing again and it sounds like he didn’t even try to put an effect, or even sing well. After the beat dies down, and slowly progresses back with different instruments and such, it sounds like a complete mess of sounds. Kanye using a guitar effect on his voice might sound like a cool idea, but it’s just not executed well. Off beat, noisy, a waste of 9 minutes. 10.     “Hell of a Life”             5:27 - Someone please explain to me what the hell is going on in this song. Starts off with a hard beat, simple, and to the point. After the verses a random a$$ sample comes in that makes no sense in the song or to the beat at all. Sounds like it was mistakenly put in there. “Especially if she can’t get that dress from Oscar de, la Renta they wouldnt rent it they couldn’t take the shame” I only like this line because he mentions a great Dominican fashion designer. Besides this, its another waste of time. He say’s nothing in the song but having a “hell of a life” with a woman. 11.     “Blame Game” (featuring John Legend & Chris Rock)           7:49 - Piano, drums, John Legend. How can you go wrong? With John Legend singing the hook “I’ll call you b*tch for sure. As a last resort, and my first resort. You call me motherf***er for long.” Kanye West impressed me in this track definitely. I liked the idea of the struggle with himself portrayed with different effects on his voice, but at a certain point it started messing with my ears. After thinking about it I realized that perhaps that is what Kanye wanted from the listener, to feel kind of crazy like him in the song. Throughout the song you hear a whole relationship between Kanye and his love interest, mostly the internal battle inside him. “Arguing harvesting the feelings, I’d rather be by my f-cking self, Till about 2am and I call back and I hang up and start to blame myself.” The music in this track is amazing, and makes up for the last two tracks that wasted my time. I don’t want to give the ending away, but Chris Rock plays an important, and hilarious role in the story. Great song. 12.     “Lost in the World” (featuring Bon Iver)           4:16 - When this song started blowing in my ears my first reaction was -_-. How dare you try to Imogen Heap your way into my mind. I didn’t like the use of the effect on his voice, not his singing, but Kanye West made up for it with the crazy beat that drops after a few seconds. This song is basically a song telling “her” that she is his everything. “Your my Lies, You’re my Truth, You’re my War, You’re my Truce.” Bon Iver makes great backup vocals. Kanye brings back the “Power” sample and creates a almost sequel to that first single with this track. Revolutionary sounding track. I don’t mean in changing music, I mean it sounds like something you would dub over a revolution video. 13.     “Who Will Survive in America”             1:38 - Outro to a very powerful sounding song, and mostly great album. With a sample of Gil-Scott Heron speaking about inner city life and America. What did you expect? “America was a bastard the illegitimate daughter of the mother country Whose legs were then spread around the world and a rapist known as freedom, free doom.” Overall I think this album has great potential, and I really hope it eclipses 808. I liked most of the album, although the lyrics really need to be stepped up in 90 percent of the album. Music wise the album is pretty complete minus the two tracks I absolutely hate. Great story telling and some good lyrics here and there make this a good buy for a real Kanye fan. -Review by Dj Boy
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Through Dj Boy’s Ears, and onto this blog: Kanye West “My Dark Twisted Fantasy”

1.     “Dark Fantasy”             4:40 - What an amazing intro to an album. This is exactly what I expect from Kanye West when he’s putting together something great. As soon as I heard the voice of the rapper I hate, I wanted to shoot my headphones off, but then I accepted it as it was since apparently people think she is talented. Then the music came in, WOW. I had to put my arms in the air, but I was in the train so I would’ve looked ridiculous. Then the RZA in the beat comes in, real old school feel. Crazy drums, great sample used in this beat too. This hyped me for an album I wasn’t really excited to listen to before. “And the hell, it wouldn’t spare us, And the fires did declare us, But after that, took pills, kissed an heiress, And woke up back in Paris” (Some sites say “moved her back to paris…but I don’t hear that in the song, I may be wrong)

“CAN WE GET MUCH HIGHER, so high, Oooh Oooh!”


2.     “Gorgeous” (featuring Kid Cudi & Raekwon)           5:57 - Kid Cudi is my dude right now in hip hop, you can’t go wrong with this kid. I don’t read features and credits before listening to a song, and right away I was happy to hear his voice on the track. Singing the chorus with his infectious monotonous voice is Cudi saying that he will “never ever let you live this down,” over a electric guitar that is used for a sample in a beautiful way. Kanye West lets me down in this track though. “This week has been a bad massage, I need a happy ending.” He can do much better than this. The song can be summarized with these lines “Is Hip Hop just a  euphemism for a new religion? The soul music of the slave that the youth is missing. But this is more than just my road to redemption, Malcolm West got the whole world standing at attention.” Speaking about money, his people, his career and in the last verse, women and his way back to the top. Raekwon makes an appearance to say what he usually says… nothing “counting up smoke in one cuff, live as a red Jag a Louis bag grabbing a blunt.” Although I am glad that it’s not Drake on this song (and nowhere to be found in the album, FINALLY)


3.     “Power” (featuring Dwele)           4:52 - What can I say that hasn’t been said about this insane track? When it came out as the first single I was bumping this over and over again. The crazy drums and the “21st century schizo” sample seeped into my head and stayed there for weeks. Dwele lends his voice to help Kanye with “jumping out the window” in the Bridge. With a equally artistic video to accompany it, this song propelled me from being an ex Kanye Fan to a born again Fanatic. “I know damn well Y’all feeling this sh*t” YEP!


4.     “All of the Lights” (Interlude)           1:02 - Great way to calm you after the “Power” trip right before. Smooth sounding stings put you in the mood to light a few candles, lay down and thing about your next step in life. Of course you would have to put this song on repeat since it’s only a minute long. Perfect intro to the next song…


5.     “All of the Lights”             4:59 - Anything Rihanna touches is gold. Here is a beautiful song with an extremely uplifting ?trumpet? I had to include all the artists involved in this track. John Legend, The Dream, Ryan Leslie, Tony Williams, Charlie Wilson, Elly Jackson, Alicia Keys, Fergie, Kid Cudi, Rihanna and Elton John. Crazy huh? Well, they are all apparently involved in this track somehow, and it’s easily one of my favorite tracks. One thing ruined the song, funny enough, it was Kanye West’s impression of the Rick Ross Flow. “I stabbed my girl, she called the feds, I did that time, and spent my bread” The song was so pointless, but great sounding. I will love the instrumental more.


6.     “Monster” (featuring Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver)           6:18 - Here comes Jay-Z to prove how far…gone he is from great lyrics. I don’t even care when he’s on a track anymore. I have not heard one good line from him since Kingdom Come…and that wasn’t even a good album. I don’t want to talk about her, but since she’s on the track I have to. The fake a$$ self proclaimed barbie is on this track doing what she does best, not being herself. Kanye West starts off the track by talking about how much better he is than everyone else. “The best living or dead hands down huh? Less talk more head right now huh?” The beat is pretty tight. I do like the bass in it and the sample used in this one. Kanye basically says nothing in this one. Rick Ross is here for a second to introduce Kanye. Jay-Z “All I see is these fake f-cks with no fangs, Tryna draw blood with my ice cold veins” Yeah, you’re the king, we get it. Here comes Nikki making me rewind the song cuz its like listening to 4 different beings trying to rap. “And if I’m fake I aint notice cause my money aint” That sums up her career. I don’t care about how much money you make. Make ART! Bon Iver’s singing is great in this track and makes up for the previous insanity.


7.     “So Appalled” (featuring Jay-Z, Pusha T, CyHi Da Prynce, Swizz Beatz & The RZA)           6:38 - Kanye West going back to nursery rhymes “that know we get O’s like cheerios” really? Cmon. He continues on to say a bunch of nonsense that I don’t care for at all. Again, Jay-Z “Dark Knight feeling, die or be a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain” I didn’t know quoting movies was seen as great lines nowadays. He goes on to reference Hammer, which in turn brought the world a hilarious video coming back at Jay-Z. Pusha T always has a good line here and there, and this one stood out for me “still moving birds like I’m in bed with mother goose.” Ha! CyHi Da Prynce didn’t impress me at all, although my cousin did make me think about this “I met this girl on Valentines day f-cked her in May, she found out about April so she chose to March.” Fine, I like it. RZA with his lisp and anger at the end of the song just for part of the Chorus. The beat is very gutter and I like it. So far the production has not let me down.


8.     “Devil in a New Dress” (featuring Rick Ross)           5:52 - As soon as the soul sample comes in you hear the old Kanye West coming back pre-808’s. This is a typical story about Kanye meets lady friend, then trouble looms. “Throwing sh-t around, the whole place screwed up, Maybe I should call Mase so that he could pray for us.” Beautiful violins and a guitar accompany the track after the second verse and in comes Rick Ross to talk about what he always does “never tired of ballin so it’s on to the next sport.” I liked that line, the rest was about money and women of course.


9.     “Runaway” (featuring Pusha T)           9:08 - Here come’s a great downfall. I  cannot hate this song more than I already do. 808’s back again. The strikes of the piano in the beginning are actually pretty annoying. The beat is ok, not impressive. This song is such a crappy plea for people to accept him. I don’t care about that stuff, make music. Why is Pusha T in this song? “Wanna fly in your Freddy loafers
You can’t blame ‘em, they ain’t never seen Versace sofas” Ok? Then Kanye starts to sing again and it sounds like he didn’t even try to put an effect, or even sing well. After the beat dies down, and slowly progresses back with different instruments and such, it sounds like a complete mess of sounds. Kanye using a guitar effect on his voice might sound like a cool idea, but it’s just not executed well. Off beat, noisy, a waste of 9 minutes.


10.     “Hell of a Life”             5:27 - Someone please explain to me what the hell is going on in this song. Starts off with a hard beat, simple, and to the point. After the verses a random a$$ sample comes in that makes no sense in the song or to the beat at all. Sounds like it was mistakenly put in there. “Especially if she can’t get that dress from Oscar de, la Renta they wouldnt rent it they couldn’t take the shame” I only like this line because he mentions a great Dominican fashion designer. Besides this, its another waste of time. He say’s nothing in the song but having a “hell of a life” with a woman.

11.     “Blame Game” (featuring John Legend & Chris Rock)           7:49 - Piano, drums, John Legend. How can you go wrong? With John Legend singing the hook “I’ll call you b*tch for sure. As a last resort, and my first resort. You call me motherf***er for long.” Kanye West impressed me in this track definitely. I liked the idea of the struggle with himself portrayed with different effects on his voice, but at a certain point it started messing with my ears. After thinking about it I realized that perhaps that is what Kanye wanted from the listener, to feel kind of crazy like him in the song. Throughout the song you hear a whole relationship between Kanye and his love interest, mostly the internal battle inside him. “Arguing harvesting the feelings, I’d rather be by my f-cking self, Till about 2am and I call back and I hang up and start to blame myself.” The music in this track is amazing, and makes up for the last two tracks that wasted my time. I don’t want to give the ending away, but Chris Rock plays an important, and hilarious role in the story. Great song.

12.     “Lost in the World” (featuring Bon Iver)           4:16 - When this song started blowing in my ears my first reaction was -_-. How dare you try to Imogen Heap your way into my mind. I didn’t like the use of the effect on his voice, not his singing, but Kanye West made up for it with the crazy beat that drops after a few seconds. This song is basically a song telling “her” that she is his everything. “Your my Lies, You’re my Truth, You’re my War, You’re my Truce.” Bon Iver makes great backup vocals. Kanye brings back the “Power” sample and creates a almost sequel to that first single with this track. Revolutionary sounding track. I don’t mean in changing music, I mean it sounds like something you would dub over a revolution video.


13.     “Who Will Survive in America”             1:38 - Outro to a very powerful sounding song, and mostly great album. With a sample of Gil-Scott Heron speaking
about inner city life and America. What did you expect? “America was a bastard the illegitimate daughter of the mother country Whose legs were then spread around the world and a rapist known as freedom, free doom.”

Overall I think this album has great potential, and I really hope it eclipses 808. I liked most of the album, although the lyrics really need to be stepped up in 90 percent of the album. Music wise the album is pretty complete minus the two tracks I absolutely hate. Great story telling and some good lyrics here and there make this a good buy for a real Kanye fan.

-Review by Dj Boy

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