Truthfully Speaking: Judging Kanye West - The Criteria of a Classic

Anger, frustration, irritation… those are just a few terms to describe being mad or pissed off (in extreme measures). It happens to us all usually on a daily basis whether it's that idiot cutting you off in traffic on your way to work, finding out you have to retake that Sociology class again for the third time, or that your favorite artist's album has been pushed back for the (insert ridiculous number here) time. Some people choose silence as a way of dealing with their anger while others rant their issues via Twitter. Personally I prefer the latter but 140 characters aren't enough to speak my mind. Here's where issues meet article, "Truthfully Speaking" to be exact. Every week at about this time find out what's fcuking up SBK's patience or needs some attention. Welcome to the world of The Madd Writer.

Last week around this time we were in the early stages of digesting Kanye West’s latest album release "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" (legally, not you impatient early two weekers). Before listeners were able to weigh in on the final results we were met with reviews from the press prior to the album’s official release. Reviews from Rolling Stone and Pitchfork praised the album with terms like “classic” and “masterpiece” before a single copy hit the shelves. In the few days following the retail release, fans and listeners adopted similar mentality in claiming this to be “Kanye’s best album” or “the greatest Rap album of all-time… Of All-Time” accompanied with five-star album review ratings. But after a week of truly absorbing the complexities and intricacies that make up "My Dark Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy", can it really be labeled a classic album already?

In recent years (post-’00) the term “classic” has become an all too familiar word repeatedly thrown around by fans, listeners, and critics alike for seemingly every Hip-Hop/Rap release. In most cases it’s usually immediately following the album’s release that it’s hailed by the masses as a classic when describing the album’s quality and value. This term “classic” has been associated with everything from Drake’s "Thank Me Later" to Rick Ross’ "Teflon Don" to even Gucci Mane’s "The State Vs. Radric Davis". Although everybody is entitled to their own opinion (biased or not) and the word is subjective, I think the term has inevitably lost the value of its meaning over time.

While albums like "Thank Me Later", "Teflon Don", and "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" are of great quality I don’t think they are of classic quality. The whole concept of an “instant classic” really hasn’t existed for a long time in the Hip-Hop/Rap genre (possibly not since the 90’s) and I don’t think there has been an album since that time that has revived that notion. When looking at the definition of the word “classic” that most prevalent meanings that apply to music are “Serving as the established model or standard” and “Having lasting significance or worth; enduring”. Out of those meanings the words standard, significance, and enduring are keywords.

It has always been my thinking that something can’t be labeled a classic without “time”. Whether its music or anything else, something can’t be timeless with less time or without enough time to truly be appreciated and valued by those observing and listening to said material. Take Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech for example. Back in 1963 when the speech was delivered in Washington, D.C., I’m sure that those in attendance would have described it as a good or great speech following its closing sentence. But it wasn’t until after the Civil Rights Movement and years later that people would truly understand the words that encompassed “I Have A Dream” and recognize its value within the African-American culture. Those three words “standard”, “significance”, and “enduring” could all be applied to the “I Have A Dream” speech without question almost 50 years since.

With the musical model and production precedents that Kanye set forth on "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy", I don’t doubt that the album could eventually be labeled a classic with enough time but not three days or one week after its release. I think those three keywords could be applied to MBDTF’s production value for the lineage of Hip-Hop/Rap music producers to come generations later who in 2030 or 2040 (20 and 30 years after its release) can look back and recognize how truly remarkable it was.




Along with RefinedHype, SBK is a columnist and writer for nappyafro.com. You can read his most recent articles and reviews here.