When MBDTF dropped on iTunes, it was accompanied by a full-length film: “Runaway.” Filmed over the course of four days in Prague, it serves as a compilation and companion to nearly every song on the album. And it’s one of his most addictive songs to date. My attention focused on the nine-minute ballad “ Runaway,” the album’s most introspective, jaunty, and beautiful proclamation of braggadocio: Let’s have a toast for the douchebags/ let’s have a toast for the assholes. The song is abrasive, ending with three minutes of Kanye scream-singing unintelligibly into a voice modulator. Sometimes you hear an album and suddenly everything you thought you knew about music goes out the window. “What’s a Black Beatle anyway/A fuckin’ roach?/ I guess that’s why they got me sittin’ in fuckin’ coach.” It was a wall of sound and artistry: deep, genre-spanning.

This music didn’t sound like T-Pain or Flo Rida or 50 Cent. How I looked listening to MBDTF for the first time…probably

It was operatic and tough - I’d never heard anything like it before. “Dark Fantasy,” “Gorgeous,” “POWER,” “All of the Lights.” It was a high. The first four tracks instantly melted away any doubt in my mind. But like any kid who figured out how to use Mediafire, I had money on my iTunes account, so I bought the album a few days later. I enjoyed the few tracks my friends played before the bell rang and didn’t pay it much mind. “You might think you’ve peeped the scene/You haven’t/The real one’s far too mean…” Kanye? He was that guy who wrote “ Gold Digger,” ruined a Daft Punk song and who told the world that “ George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” I rolled my eyes when he jumped on stage at the VMAs and laughed in agreement when Obama called him a jackass. I’d heard For Emma, Forever and Blood Bank, so I asked if it was a Bon Iver remix - they laughed and shook their heads. A few of my older friends were crowded around a school-sponsored laptop while “ Lost in the World” was playing. I was introduced to the album almost by accident. When I came across MBDTF I’d only dabbled in rap, “ Big Poppa,” “ California Love” …very intermediate stuff. I enjoyed indie and I’d just begun to get my feet wet in the Philly music scene with the likes of Dr. In 2010 I was that kid who was raised on classic rock and turned his nose up at hip-hop.

Kanye west dark fantasy scale