Three things:
Firstly, Kanye West is a widely disliked character for his amazing arrogance, award ceremony spoiling and self-pitying tantrums.
Secondly, although disliked, he is one of the most progressive and art-savvy musicians in his genre.
Finally, he is my favourite, most played artist of 2011. His brand of catchy, pop-centric hip hop has become a standard feature in all of my recent playlists. His November 2010 release, My Dark and Twisted Fantasy, is one of my top 5 favourite hip hop albums. 13 tracks that range from the hard and grimy ‘Monster’ to the addictive, orchestral, glitchy ‘Runaway’. Kanye wrote and compiled a large portion of the album in Hawaii, whilst escaping the tide of criticism and backlash after the MTV Awards fiasco. He invited a number of musicians to collaborate on the album including Rihanna, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and as a delightful surprise, Bon Iver.
I think my love for this album was cemented when I first saw the epic art/music/couture video ‘Runaway‘ – a 35 minute short film featuring most of the songs from the album tied into a great little story. Essential viewing.
