Maybe it’s not surprising, then, that “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’’ is so seamlessly his personal best. Released tomorrow, West’s fifth album is a fun house of styles and sentiments, as self-involved and overstuffed as you’d expect from him but also progressive and universal in its themes.
As usual, he writes about his favorite topic: the art of being Kanye West. At nine minutes, “Runaway’’ is almost comical in its narrative of West’s setbacks (including the recent revelation that he used to send pictures of his genitalia to female admirers). “Baby, I got a plan/ Run away as fast as you can,’’ he offers.
The album leads the pack of this year’s fiercely original hip-hop albums that have little use for genre, from Drake’s “Thank Me Later’’ to Kid Cudi’s “Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager’’ to Nicki Minaj’s “Pink Friday.’’ If they share anything, it’s their refusal to compromise their makers’ vision.
“My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’’ distinguishes itself, though, with West’s tireless attempts to stretch hip-hop’s boundaries. This is his most musically arresting effort, spinning his palette from old-school R&B jams to electro-rock to orchestral interludes. On “Runaway,’’ a plinking piano hovers over an industrial-strength drum machine that later gives way to swell of strings. Bits of prog-rock suddenly, and inexplicably, flicker in “Hell of a Life.’’
He’s a chameleon in his collaborations, too. Not every hip-hop star would think to enlist Justin Vernon, frontman of the indie-folk band Bon Iver, for a guest verse on “Monster’’ alongside Minaj, Jay-Z, and Rick Ross. A sample of Vernon’s Auto-Tuned voice (from Bon Iver’s “Woods’’) lays the foundation for “Lost in the World.’’ Yes, that’s Elton John playing piano on “All of the Lights,’’ and West builds a mini song around a snippet of Gil Scott-Heron’s “Comment #1’’ on the closing “Who Will Survive in America.’’
