is uneven. "Gorgeous" and "So Appalled" are mediocre and bad, respectively. I could do without "Who Will Survive in America" although it's critical to the "point" of the album. Some of the choruses on this album leave much to be desired. Kanye's lyricism is a mix of tired wordplay, self grandiose complaining, sex, and fashion designers (as it always is, and always will be). His albums aren't great because of his rhymes and
is no exception. All these flaws are still glaringly noticeable to me still today, yet I'd call this album one of the best of the decade. Probably Kanye's best album. The sum is more than the parts, although some of the parts are damn gorgeous. "All of the Lights" is one of, if not the, best mainstream rap single since the turn of the millenium. "Power's" quality is almost an afterthought due to its ubiquity. The production and feel of "The Devil in a New Dress" (plus Rick Ross' excellent guest verse). That single piano note on "Runaway" which basically became a symbol for the album. I personally favor "Blame Game", minus the Chris Rock bit. And "See Me Now" which is so
it causes flashbacks to 9th grade. Aside from the three tracks I mentioned at the beginning, this thing is filled to the brim with classics. This feels like the culmination of the
Kanye; everything he'd done before this thrown into a pot and put to a boil. Everything here is extra
. The lyrics are personal, the musical ideas grand. With the release of
this album feels like a swan song 'Fuck you' in hindsight. Kanye's got to stoke his Yoko Ono passions but before he did he let everyone know he can drop a definitive, zeitgeist-capturing/defining/shifting (he'd pop a wheely on it later) album whenever he feels like it."
Paul's Boutique for the 21st century. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is one of those intentional masterpieces so commonplace in the annals of rock but so rare in rap. Rap never has quite fit as an album-oriented genre, even as its produced some of the best albums ever made. The reason is because rap is so heavily based on samples and loops, and an album based on the same types of samples and loops would be redundant. That creates a bit of disharmony on many great rap albums, a lack of the kind of focused statement provided on Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run or Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation. But that's what Kanye West shot for with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which is his greatest album even as it's not his best. The ambition was to take the increasingly paranoid and self-absorbed stylings of Graduation and 808's and Heartbreak, meld them with the sarcasm and hunger of College Dropout and tie everything together with the polish that Jon Brion's work on Late Registration provided. All that sets the backdrop for one of the most ambitious albums in rap history. There are a handful of masterpieces: "Gorgeous" features some of Kanye's best rap and an amazing verse from Raekwon, while "Runaway" is intoxicating from its first plucked piano keys. "Hell of a Life" is trademark Kanye, with an amazing beat paired with a sexualized, misogynistic take on porn and sex in culture. There aren't any real misses, though some including my friend PancakeBrah dislike "So Appalled" for its straight-forwardness that doesn't seem to fit the tone of the album. Jay-Z's verse on "Monster" is an abomination, but Nicki Minaj of all people manages to save it. Fergie's M.I.A. impression on "All of the Lights" similarly gets saved by Alicia Keys, Elton John and a choir. That song is the defining one on this album, a sprawingly ambitious single featuring 14 collaborators. Everything is over the top, but that's fitting given the artist and the goal. Still, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy isn't my favorite Kanye album, not that he cares.
OPEN MIC FEATURE #3
"Pandemonium"
written by Unborn Buddha
The ridiculous distance of my reach is infinitely secret.
Even astrophysicists depict my leap as literally ether.
My valorous feats include pillaging demons
Breaking down the pillars of their kingdom by molecular splitting
The meticulous detail of their oblivion is one of cellular bleeding.
Auspicious signs of their defeat cause a demonic solar eclipse
Signifying a chaotic force gone extinct.
Yet war still exists, and so my next target is to open hell’s abyss
Creating a rift, an ultimate shift in the order of things.
Animalistic poachers’ with bombastic quotas ceasing to enlist is a moralistic bonus
It is absolutely grandiloquent the way I deal with the grandest of delinquents.
Instinctive miscreants who fan a fire to scatter it through Venus.
The hands which extinguish it get burned to death in the manner of phoenixes.
I have a masterful command of healing gifts when I bask on the vastness of God’s thesis.
Constantly contemplating the matrices in the Mandala’s meaning.
Be amply timid because every misstep there’s Pantheons seeing.
Alcoholics can’t stand their livers, feelings of a truly self loathing adamant species.
Pregnant mothers having ingested massive additives in them
Contribute to the heaping pile of the dead matter of fetuses.
My atomic speeches have a far reaching effect on Japanese regions
What the Shinto religion believes in becomes a mirror of the manner I speak in.
Nature’s patterns are listless, but one can fathom its message
By comprehending the various emotions the Basilisk hissing.
A legendary monarch like Huang Di, the imperial emperor with Mythical eminence
His existence portrays how an allegorical presence can have historical relevance….
Imageless images are the visual entrance to understanding the chaotic metaphor of virtual dissonance.
Mathematics are not my strong suit, I’m a numerical nemesis.
Nevertheless I still give proofs and empirical theorems to variable Genesis.
Citizens of the internet bear witness to the prowess of ritual discipline,
A cyclical intense principled diligent devotion to advancing to the critical brilliance of lyrical geniuses.
I have loads of spare time to progress since I was resurrected invalid
All disasters have unseen limitless benefits.
I live to cleanse the wicked criminal spirited of their primitive medieval viciousness.
A skeptical paladin with habitual tendencies to question the validity of everything
Observe me ridicule medicine, even as I use it to recover from a sickened skeleton
My body weakness prevalence is evident when the day is a windy pestilence.
This century parallels a tyrannical vengeance etched as a prison emblem.
Yet its robotic legacy is vintage like a mechanical Da Vinci sketch of a single letter.
A genuine repentance will induce a healing crisis that will have you spitting venom.
As you venture to guess this is not a romantic love poem
It’s more of a sporadic focus on transcending my usual sophomoric opus
A dramatic stub toe poet suffering traumatic awful torment from damaging his Psoas
No temptation will ever tarnish the Stoic
Essentially the essence of me is a benevolent being accompanied by his Pegasus steed.
Please don’t compare me to the heretic breed, which only use ethics to benefit thee.
My human form has mutated to a vernacular creature
Dispensing allegiance to my self- a spectacular feature
Of cognitive awareness via my Ventricular system venting decisions.
Primal fear is conducted there where the Amygdala sits in, mental intuition.
Constant esophagus purging has healed my cerebral lesions, mending disposition.
Positive earnestness has made life more nerve wrecking than a neurologist hurting them.
I’m joking, my only stress is the despicable despise of despotic monument worshiping.
The approximate pertinence of my eternity is like the godliest permanence.
Obstinate stubbornness to not concede is worse poor judgment than a somnolent's discernment.
Every night I massacre rappers only to awake to amnesia
Can’t remember anything, and yet all this artists have hemiplegia.
The central teacher with more flow than heavy menstrual bleeding.
I used that word once already, but it was so precise, hence repeated.
WEEK 3 PREDICTIONS
Certain (2-0) vs NYCSPITZ (2-0)- Last seasons AOWL champion. Check. The first ever Alias Topical Tournament champion. Check. This should be the title match right now, and I'm sure by the time all the reading is done & voting ends- the winner will be the favorite heading into the title match. Both gentlemen have shut out both of their first two opponents thus far. Both wins have been against good competition. Certain has already started on a gauntlet though (defeating Frank & dead man) while NYC has had it pretty smooth (wins over Objective & kannon). They have unique writing styles. Votes will probably come down to preference. Who do I think will take this match? Over the first 3 seasons of the AOWL, you'd think NYC would have had a whole lotta wins under his belt, but consistency has been an issue. He has been more active writing but Certain has been extremely consistent & has not lost an AOWL match in awhile now. NYC is always a favorite of mine to read, and I expect him to make a statement here, without a doubt. But he's going to have to prove he can be consistent & that he can win the big match ups. Certain is no sleeper. He will make it difficult. I have to go with the hot hand right now. I'll keep it close as well.
PREDICTION: Certain, 51/49.
Vulgar (2-0) vs CopyPat (2-0)- CopyPat has kicked this season off right for himself. It started with an impressive 8-2 victory over Pinot week one, and then he was no showed by Pent last week, and who knows how that would have gone. Nonetheless, he earned himself a chance to get in the first title match of the season but once again, he faces another tough opponent. Vulgar is coming off a shut out win against Mr. J, and his writing thus far has been very good. So Copy will have to really be on his game here. He has showed us that he can write to a topic while still maintaining that smooth flow as we see in his OM drops. Everything must come together here though. Vulgar will write Vulgar-esque. One step closer to an early title. Copy will make this good. I expect Vulgar to take this by a decent margin.
PREDICTION: Vulgar, 70/30.
Soulstice (1-0) vs Witty (1-0)- Almost every match up is oozing with potential, so how about this one? The reigning Short Verse champion Soulstice goes up against Witty, a well known writer whose looking to get back into form after a pretty long hiatus from serious competition. He easily dispersed Muzzl3 last week while Soulstice gained a NS over YDK. It's hard to pick against Soul right now, who I believe will continue to build off of that tournament champing & Witty will definitely have to crank it up a bit here. He will write well & how well determines whether he wins this or not. Soul takes this, but again, a very close match.
PREDICTION: Soulstice, 51/49.
Cereal_Killa (0-0) vs Pinot Grij (1-1)- CK is making his first appearance of the season, and what a match this will be. Pinot has written well in both of his matches this season, though he was no showed last week against uh oh. Expect two fully developed stories; CK with something that's deep conceptually & Pinot maybe with some nice flair & good storytelling. Possible BOTW depending on how much both competitors bring to the table, but sparks wil fly. Always been a fan of CK, but in this warm up, Pinot continues to build momentum and wins a tight match here.
PREDICTION: Pinot Grij, 51/49.
Dove Dozer (2-0) vs Defiant (2-0)- You can guarantee that whoever comes out of this match the winner, they will earn a spot in next weeks contender 'bout. Defiant won on a no show week one, and in week two, won against a weak Pancake verse, which was pretty much him banking on Def not showing at all. Dozer on the other hand, was no showed last week and beat Vator week one. I guess you can consider this Defiant's first real test of the season (since Pancake's verse last week wasn't him at his best). Dozer will more than likely show & write pretty well, too. We will see if Def can stand up against topical competition. He'll probably be upset at not being picked to win here, but I believe he can pull an upset if Dozer slacks off. I'll keep this one close.
PREDICTION: Dove Dozer, 55/45.
Frank (1-1) vs kannon (1-1)- kannon will have his hands full this week going against a winner in Frank. He bounced back from his loss to last season's champ, Certain, & defeated 3PA in a pretty close match up. kannon really impressed me in week one with his verse, showing good potential, but lost to a strong NYC last week. A win here would be a good statement for kannon, but he will have to really write something very creative because Frank is no easy competitor to write against. An upset is possible, but the only way I see Frank letting this one slip by, is if he no shows or has one of his infamous outbursts.
PREDICTION: Frank, 90/10.
Listen (1-0) vs UnbornBuddha (1-0)- Interesting match to keep your eyes on. Listen won last week on a no show, while Buddha picked up a solid win over patrown. Unborn
really writes; so I wouldn't be surprised to see him put together another solid piece of writing. Listen will have to do much more this week if he is to take this one. I don't know too much about him, but judging from last week, I see Unborn taking another step towards contention.
PREDICTION: Unborn Buddha, 85/15.
Split (1-1) vs timeless (1-1)- A possible sleeper match right here. I've been waiting for a really good Split script for awhile. He seems to not put much effort as we know he could, so hopefully this week will be a start. timeless is a good writer, still trying to find his step & can definitely make this a good match, especially if Split doesn't come with his best. A win by either would help them in the rankings. I'm trusting that Split comes back to full form and drops one of the weeks better writtens. time can pull the upset though.
PREDICTION: Split, 55/45.
theMuzzl3 (1-1) vs Mr. J (1-1)- Both of these gentlemen are coming off losses, so this in this match, both will be looking to recover and get back on the winning side of things. Muzzl3 will have his work cut out for him- Mr. J can put together some good verses consistently. An upset is possible, but Muzzl3 needs to write much better & come up with something creative if he is to make this close or steal a solid W. I see Mr. J getting by pretty well though.
PREDICTION: Mr. J, 80/20.
Three-Planes-Aligned (0-1) vs patrown (0-1)- I expect both of these writers to put together very enjoyable verses in this match up. Sucks that one of them will fall to 0-2 after this week though. 3PA wrote very well last week but had a missing ingredient that led to a 6-4 loss. patrown usually writes very short pieces, which hasn't always given him many wins in the league. I can see both going about 16-20 lines, which patrown could give himself a good chance to steal a w. But knowing that 3PA can write extremely well, it'll be a hard task to do so.
PREDICTION: 3PA, 75/25.
PancakeBrah (1-1) vs Greed (1-1)- Greed is still working out the kinks, though last week's verse was a step up from the first week. But his opponent is a former champ & an excellent writer. Cake dropped a no show verse last week, thinking that Defiant may possibly not show, but the risk didn't work out. I doubt we see that happen again this week. Greed will need to put it all together & write damn near perfect to pull the upset. Or hope Cake doesn't show.
PREDICTION: PancakeBrah, 99/1.
dead man (1-1) vs Innovator (0-2)- Both of these writers haven't really been true to form this season so far, but I expect this week to be different. dead man is definitely the favorite, but Vator may be able to catch him on an off week. If both do write their asses off, I'd expect Vator to at least keep it close. Gotta go with the man formerly known as Black.
PREDICTION: dead man, 75/25.
Sincerely,
That's a wrap folks. I'd like to thank Certain & Vulgar for their contributions in Writer's Block. Adonis & timeless for doing the battle reviews & no show shine. Pancake & once again, Certain for their review on Kanye's MBDTF album. Special thanks to all participants for keeping this league alive & at the top of the game. Hope you enjoyed the read.
Epic, indeed.
THE KING.