"All of the Lights"

We continue to be fascinated by the self-lacerations of Kanye West. I've never been a particular fan of West's need to play everything in his life out on record, but the almost uniform inclusion of the My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album on Best-of-2010 lists drove to me to check it out. Would I like MBDTF more or even less if I had closely followed West's career from the beginning? Listening to the album in one sitting feels a little bit like yelled at by a stranger on a subway platform who's dressed in the most beautiful tuxedo you've ever seen. "All of the Lights", with featured guest vocals from Rihanna and Kid Cudi as well as other notables in the chorus, is one of the stronger tracks on MBDTF. West's tale of a dad with a violent streak who is trying to work things out has now been given a handsome, Hype Williams-directed video. I disagree with this blogger that Wiliams ran out of imagination after a promising start. I think it's more likely that the Gaspar Noe references and roll call of famous guest stars are West's attempt to distance himself from the narrator of his song. That is to say, I think West doesn't want to inhabit the character of a violent dad in song so much as he wants to do the best song ever about a violent dad and then tell us about it. It's no accident that West is dancing on top of that police car instead of being put inside of it. His ego wouldn't have it any other way. Rihanna and Kid Cudi do feel extraneous, but the flashing light effects and credits at the end aren't just time filler; they serve notice that the fantasy is ending.