I shied away from most rap and hip-hop for the last five or six years because I haven't heard anything really great or original come out of that genre lately. Leave it to one of the most pretentious rapper/producers in recent history, Kanye West, to bring me back.
My friend Brian is a music guru and always has awesome stuff to pass on to me. Last night, he introduced me to hours and hours of new tuneage including Mr. West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album. Though I haven't had the chance to take in all of the tracks other than quick 10-second previews before heading to the gym this morning, what I've heard so far is, well, pretty damn good. For as much as I dislike Kanye's seemingly constant disruption of the American media scene, he can write and produce superb music. Fantasy, so far, seems to be full of what I used to really enjoy about hip-hop/rap: smart lyrics and smooth, un-fussy beats.
The one song I threw on my iPod for my mid-morning run today was "Runaway". I love the overall sound of the song, with the piano adding an ethereal touch. The video is gorgeous, too; I especially adore the ballet dancers accompanying Kanye here.