Pitchfork names their Top 100 Tracks of 2010
06. Kanye West [ft. Dwele]
"POWER"
[Def Jam / Roc-A-Fella]
After the Taylor Swift Incident, Kanye West went briefly into hiding after apologizing and suggesting he would work on becoming a humbler, more even-keeled person. @kanyewest: LOL. "POWER", the first salvo of what would soon become his year, is an absolutely breathtaking piece of egotism, even for a genre that's fueled by bravado and narcissism. Aptly self-described as superhero theme music, the track establishes a power-clap beat as heavy as Ye's Horus medallion before gliding through a high-speed tour of his musical evolution (the militant chants of "Jesus Walks", the moody piano and strings of 808s & Heartbreak). But it's a multi-part suite that loses none of its menace in its complexity, and a look back that sounds entirely forward thinking.
If those aren't enough contradictions for you, the only thing as powerful as Kanye's sense of self-worth is his self-doubt-- listen again to the chorus, which is simultaneously boastful, condemning, and anxious. It's this endless competition that makes him so fascinating both on-stage and off, and "POWER" might as well be the theme music for that psychological warfare as well. Whether self-diagnosing himself through the medium of King Crimson samples or indulging a suicide fantasy in the song's final segment, "POWER" darts from mania to depression and back again as quickly as its distorted MPC sample pings around your headphones. It's all of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy's pathology and genius in digest form, the vicarious, timeless thrill of hearing a crazy talented person act crazy and talented. --Rob Mitchum
02. Kanye West [ft. Pusha T]
"Runaway"
[Def Jam / Roc-A-Fella]
Of all the arresting moments on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy-- Nicki Minaj mauling the competition on "Monster", the King Crimson call-and-response of "POWER"-- none is more striking than that instant when the head-spinning, hallucinatory soul of "Devil in a New Dress" dissolves into the sobering piano-tapped intro to "Runaway". It's the sound of Kanye's entire over-Tweeted, Lanvin-lavished, Dubya-dissing universe reduced to one single, lonely chord.
On an album situated perilously on the faultline between ego and insecurity, "Runaway" puts Kanye's contradictory impulses on full display like they're some immaculate museum exhibit. At nine minutes, it is My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy's longest song, but also its simplest and most emotionally direct. It's a sensitive piano ballad inspired by a moment of dick-pic exhibitionism. It's a chronicle of post-breakup depression and regret that, by the time we hit that ubiquitous chorus, has been reframed as a celebration-- and the more Kanye venerates his most loathsome qualities, the more humble and sympathetic a character he becomes. As his recent Tweet-athons about Matt Lauer and Taylor Swift suggest, Kanye tends to get defensive when his dubious behavior is called into question. "Runaway" marks the rare moment where Kanye sides with his detractors-- if the whole world thinks he's a douchebag, well, this one time he's inclined to agree. --Stuart Berman
Yea... uh huh you know what it is
Ye Stay Winning
06. Kanye West [ft. Dwele]
"POWER"
[Def Jam / Roc-A-Fella]
After the Taylor Swift Incident, Kanye West went briefly into hiding after apologizing and suggesting he would work on becoming a humbler, more even-keeled person. @kanyewest: LOL. "POWER", the first salvo of what would soon become his year, is an absolutely breathtaking piece of egotism, even for a genre that's fueled by bravado and narcissism. Aptly self-described as superhero theme music, the track establishes a power-clap beat as heavy as Ye's Horus medallion before gliding through a high-speed tour of his musical evolution (the militant chants of "Jesus Walks", the moody piano and strings of 808s & Heartbreak). But it's a multi-part suite that loses none of its menace in its complexity, and a look back that sounds entirely forward thinking.
If those aren't enough contradictions for you, the only thing as powerful as Kanye's sense of self-worth is his self-doubt-- listen again to the chorus, which is simultaneously boastful, condemning, and anxious. It's this endless competition that makes him so fascinating both on-stage and off, and "POWER" might as well be the theme music for that psychological warfare as well. Whether self-diagnosing himself through the medium of King Crimson samples or indulging a suicide fantasy in the song's final segment, "POWER" darts from mania to depression and back again as quickly as its distorted MPC sample pings around your headphones. It's all of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy's pathology and genius in digest form, the vicarious, timeless thrill of hearing a crazy talented person act crazy and talented. --Rob Mitchum
02. Kanye West [ft. Pusha T]
"Runaway"
[Def Jam / Roc-A-Fella]
Of all the arresting moments on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy-- Nicki Minaj mauling the competition on "Monster", the King Crimson call-and-response of "POWER"-- none is more striking than that instant when the head-spinning, hallucinatory soul of "Devil in a New Dress" dissolves into the sobering piano-tapped intro to "Runaway". It's the sound of Kanye's entire over-Tweeted, Lanvin-lavished, Dubya-dissing universe reduced to one single, lonely chord.
On an album situated perilously on the faultline between ego and insecurity, "Runaway" puts Kanye's contradictory impulses on full display like they're some immaculate museum exhibit. At nine minutes, it is My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy's longest song, but also its simplest and most emotionally direct. It's a sensitive piano ballad inspired by a moment of dick-pic exhibitionism. It's a chronicle of post-breakup depression and regret that, by the time we hit that ubiquitous chorus, has been reframed as a celebration-- and the more Kanye venerates his most loathsome qualities, the more humble and sympathetic a character he becomes. As his recent Tweet-athons about Matt Lauer and Taylor Swift suggest, Kanye tends to get defensive when his dubious behavior is called into question. "Runaway" marks the rare moment where Kanye sides with his detractors-- if the whole world thinks he's a douchebag, well, this one time he's inclined to agree. --Stuart Berman
Yea... uh huh you know what it is
Ye Stay Winning
Last edited:
