Maps of Music

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

Where the lyrics of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy take you, and where it was really made.

West block-booked all three session rooms at Avex around the clock and kept working until he felt the album was finished.

Key places

Main recording site in Honolulu (2010)

Recording site Avex Recording Studio — The album was recorded at Avex in Honolulu, Hawaii, during West's self-imposed exile. The point is set at city-center level, not at the exact studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Additional recording in Burbank (2010)

Recording site The Enterprise (Burbank) — Additional recording for the album took place at Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank, California. The point is set at city-center level, not at the exact studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Electric Lady Studios in New York (2010)

Recording site Electric Lady Studios — Additional recording for the album took place at Electric Lady Studios in New York City, alongside Platinum Sound Recording Studios. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Platinum Sound Recording Studios in New York (2010)

Recording site Platinum Sound Recording Studios — Additional recording for the album also took place at Platinum Sound Recording Studios in New York City, alongside Electric Lady Studios. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: fifth studio album by American rapper Kanye West
• Released November 22, 2010 by Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records
• Mainly produced by West with Mike Dean, No I.D., Jeff Bhasker, RZA, Bink, and DJ Frank E
• Guest appearances by Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Pusha T, Rick Ross, Kid Cudi, John Legend, Bon Iver, Raekwon, and Elton John
• Lyrics explore celebrity status, consumer culture, self-aggrandizement, and the idealism of the American Dream

Background

• Grew out of Good Ass Job, which was planned as the end of a college-themed tetralogy that began with The College Dropout
• After the death of his mother Donda West and his breakup with fiancée Alexis Phifer, West turned to the electropop project 808s & Heartbreak
• Conceived during a self-imposed exile in Oahu, Hawaii, in 2009, after a period of public-image controversy
• The controversy began when West interrupted Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards
• West took a brief break from recording after the backlash
• West later described the album as a backhanded apology for the VMAs outburst, saying he used the music to become accepted again

Recording

• Recorded at Avex in Honolulu, Hawaii
• Additional recording at Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank, California, and at Electric Lady Studios and Platinum Sound Recording Studios in New York City
• Reported cost of around $3 million, provided by Def Jam, making it one of the most expensive albums ever made
• Many contributors joined the sessions, including Kid Cudi, Elton John, Rick Ross, Pusha T, and Justin Vernon
• Sessions were kept secret, with signs in the studio forbidding tweeting, talking, and e-mailing

Cover

• Artwork designed by George Condo, showing West straddled on a couch by an armless winged female
• Condo made five covers in total, all included with purchases of the album
• Some retailers did not carry the original cover, and some shipped copies used a pixelated version of it

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Ye (born Kanye Omari West, June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer.
• Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago; began producing in the mid-1990s for Chicago-area artists.
• Signed to Roc-A-Fella Records as a recording artist after producing for Jay-Z's label.

Members

• Solo artist; formed the Go-Getters group with GLC, Timmy G, and Arrowstar (1999).

Career

• Debut The College Dropout (2004) and Late Registration (2005) earned critical acclaim.
• Released eleven US Billboard 200 number-one albums; five US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles.
• Known for stylistic shifts from chamber pop to electropop, gospel, and industrial rap.
• Founded GOOD Music label; ventured into fashion with Louis Vuitton, Nike, and Adidas (Yeezy).
• Has 24 Grammy Awards and sold an estimated 160 million records.
• Faced major controversy for antisemitic statements from 2022 and later expressed remorse.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: according to the review aggregator Metacritic, the album received "universal acclaim" with a weighted average score of 94 out of 100 from 45 critic scores
• Pitchfork: awarded the album a 10/10, the first perfect score the publication had given to a new release since Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in 2002
• Rolling Stone: Rob Sheffield said the album marked West's best and most wildly inspired album
• The Independent: Andy Gill praised it as one of pop's gaudiest, most grandiose efforts of recent years
• Time: David Browne called it a work of art and West's most lavish record
• The Guardian: Kitty Empire was critical of the lyrics, calling women ruthless money-grabbers, while calling the album a herculean but flawed near-masterpiece
• AllMusic: Andy Kellman found West's rapping inconsistent yet called the album a deeply fascinating accomplishment

Reappraisal

• Pitchfork: in 2014 named it the best album of the 2010s so far
• Complex: in October 2013 ranked it the best hip-hop album of the last five years
• Spin: in 2014 named it the eighth best album of the past 30 years
• EW: picked it as the eighth greatest album of all time in 2016

Records

• Debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and the Canadian Albums Chart, and reached the top 10 in six other countries
• First-week sales of 496,000 copies in the US, with 224,000 of them digital
• Became West's fourth consecutive US number-one album
• Certified quintuple platinum in the United States
• Won Best Rap Album at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012
• Won CD of the Year at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• West block-booked the three session rooms at Avex 24 hours a day until he felt the album was complete
• Sheets reading 'Kanye Commandments' such as 'No Tweeting' and 'No Pictures' were posted in the studio
• The short film Runaway was filmed in Prague over four days in summer 2010, starring West and model Selita Ebanks
• West tweeted that the album cover had been banned, and Walmart denied the suggestion in a statement
• The album's artwork was cited as the 30th best of all time by Billboard in 2015

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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