Ranking Every Song on Kanye West's 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'

Kanye West's masterpiece, 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,' dropped 10 years ago today. We ranked every song.

Kanye West 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'
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Image via Getty/Michael Caulfield

Kanye West 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'

Ten years ago today, Kanye West released a masterpiece.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy isn’t just Kanye West’s best album. It’s the best album of the 2010s, and in the eyes of many, it will be remembered as one of the greatest albums of all time. Even Sir Paul McCartney has gushed about MBDTF, revealing that he “envies” Kanye for making it.

The songs on MBDTF were created in an ultra-collaborative manner. As former Complex editor-in-chief Noah Callahan-Bever wrote in a 2010 cover story about the making of the album, “He’d holed up in Hawaii and was importing his favorite producers and artists to work on and inspire his recording. Rap Camp!”

Upon release, MBDTF was an immediate commercial and critical success. It debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 496,000 copies in its first week. The album was later certified double platinum in the United States and took home a Best Rap Album award at the Grammys.

In celebration of its 10-year anniversary, we happily revisited the tracklist of this modern classic and ranked every song on the album from worst to best.

12. “Who Will Survive in America”

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Producers: Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker

Something had to go last. The most challenging part of ranking the songs from a flawless album like MBDTF is being forced to single out one track and label it as the “worst.” Because in reality, there are no bad songs on this tracklist. Still, something had to go here, so it’s “Who Will Survive in America,” which acts as more of an outro than a full song. Placing thunderous drums under Gil-Scott Heron’s spoken-word poem “Comment #1,” Kanye created the perfect piece of music to close out the album. But even an iconic outro is still just an outro, so “Who Will Survive In America” sits at the end of the list. —Eric Skelton

11. “Blame Game”

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Featuring: John Legend (with Chris Rock)

Producers: Kanye West, DJ Frank E, Mike Dean

On “Blame Game,” Kanye humanizes himself, revealing that he has relationship problems just like the rest of us. He goes into great detail about his romantic woes on the record, opening up about past arguments and emotional trauma. The record is somewhat depressing when you think about it for too long, but John Legend’s vocals do a great job of soothing some of the pain. Chris Rock also serves as the comedic relief, offering up a dramatic reading of a voice message ’Ye supposedly received from the new lover of his ex-girlfriend. On any other album, this would be ranked much higher, but it faces incredibly stiff competition from the rest of the stacked tracklist. —Jessica McKinney

10. “So Appalled”

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Featuring: Swizz Beatz, Jay-Z, Pusha-T, Cyhi the Prynce, RZA

Producers: Kanye West, No I.D., Mike Dean

A rough cut of “So Appalled” was originally released as part of the G.O.O.D. Friday series, but the track eventually found its way to MBDTF. It’s essentially an A-list cipher, featuring incredible guest features from Jay-Z, Chyhi the Prynce, Pusha-T, RZA, and Swizz Beatz. The production, courtesy of No I.D. and Mike Sean, isn’t chaotic. Instead, it rests on an orchestra of strings and pianos, giving off a chilling vibe as if we’re all nearing the end of life as we know it. Thankfully, Swizz comes in and repeats, “It’s like that sometimes, man, ridiculous/ Life can be sometimes ridiculous,” making it all a little easier to cope. —Jessica McKinney

9. “Lost in the World”

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Featuring: Bon Iver

Producers: Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker

This song focuses on similar topics as the rest of the album, like struggles with fame and love, it’s tackled from a different angle. The production is very triumphant and uplifting. The uptempo pace and backing vocals sound like something you’d hear on a video montage of Super Bowl champions. Then, Kanye comes in, rapping about a lover who represent all aspects of life. Relationships are not always how they are portrayed to be on Instagram or YouTube by your favorite internet couple, and Kanye’s verse represents the duality of a real human, instead of the superficial nature that a lot of celebrities give off as they desperately embellish the character they play. Lines like “Run from the light” represent Kanye running away from celebrity  facades, choosing to be down for the night and accepting whatever reality may give him. —Eric Wells

8. “Hell of a Life”

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Producers: Kanye West, Mike Caren, No I.D., Mike Dean

“Hell of a Life” is a ride through the dark side of Kanye’s mind. Experimenting with gothic instrumentation, the song centers around Kanye’s perverted fantasies, from falling in love with a porn star to having sex with a nun. These are the types of fantasies many wouldn’t even dare think of, but something about the way Kanye delivers these lines make them sound cool as hell. There are points on the album in which he seems uncomfortable with his level of fame, but on “Hell of a Life,” he finally seems settled. It’s a hell of a life. Jessica McKinney

7. “Monster”

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Featuring: Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, Bon Iver

Producers: Kanye West, Mike Dean, Plain Pat

With an all-star lineup of Kanye West, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, Bon Iver, this song was too big to fail. It kicks off with Rick Ross delivering a short haiku about being a “fat motherfucker” who sucks other people’s blood. Then he passes it off to Kanye, who delivers one of his most fun verses on the album. From burying vaginas in an ancient sarcophagus, to women earning their swallowships in his class, ’Ye had a wildly entertaining outing. Then Jay-Z took the title very literally and rapped about every monster he could think of. It’s funny to think about Jay binged-watching horror films (or diving deep on IMDB) before penning his verse. Lastly, you have one of the best verses on the album from Nicki Minaj, which showed many people that she was a star. Her powerful vocal delivery, multi-level inflections, ability to switch personalities mid-verse, and top-notch lyricism deservedly put her in a different stratosphere after this dropped. —Eric Wells

6. “Gorgeous”

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Features: Kid Cudi, Raekwon

Producers: Kanye West, No I.D., Mike Dean

Imagine the looks on Kanye and No I.D.’s faces when they first uncovered that filthy guitar riff from Enoch Light & the Glittering Guitars’ 1969 cover of The Turtles’ “You Showed Me.” It’s, well, gorgeous. And it sounds even better when it’s paired with stripped-back percussion, a little bass, and Kid Cudi’s pitch-perfect melodies. Cudi was really on fire at this point in time. “Gorgeous” sounds so good that probably would have been remembered as one of Kanye’s better songs even if it didn’t have great lyrics. But it does. Kanye was in his bag, asking the big questions, like, “Is hip-hop just a euphemism for a new religion? The soul music of the slaves that the youth is missing,” before turning around and dropping hilarious (and topical) gems like, “Choke a South Park writer with a fishstick.” And that’s without even mentioning an incredible final verse from the legend Raekwon. Sheesh. —Eric Skelton

5. “Power”

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Producers: S1, Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker, Mike Dean, Andrew Dawson

“Power” is a high-adrenaline record that plays on Kanye’s overly-confident reputation. To put it simply, it’s a badass song that builds on rock production and carries a very specific attitude. While the lyric, “No one man should have all that power” applies to Kanye himself, it’s become a universal statement in the ensuing decade. The line has been used to refer to political leaders, arrogant celebrities, and even casual friends who have let clout go to their heads. There is a reason why you’ve heard this record in just about every action movie trailer out there. —Jessica McKinney

4. “All of the Lights”

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Producers: Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker

“All of the Lights” is a theatrical record that captures the full mania of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It’s a five-minute opera that tells the tale of adultery and betrayal. Kanye calls on more than a dozen of his close A-list friends to provide background vocals, including Elton John, John Legend, Alicia Keys, Drake, Charlie Wilson, and more. What a flex. Having so many people on stage at the same time may sound chaotic if it were anybody else, but in Kanye’s hands, the excess of artistic contributions only adds to the dramatic feel of the record. “All of the Lights” is a moment on the album in which fans can marvel at Kanye’s twisted vision. (For the purpose of this list, we’ve included the “All of the Lights” interlude as part of the song). —Jessica McKinney

3. “Dark Fantasy”

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Producers: RZA, Kanye West, No I.D., Jeff Bhasker, Mike Dean

Nicki Minaj’s spooky spoken-word intro sounds like she recorded it in the middle of the Bohemian Grove at two in the morning, and it works perfectly as the introduction to this album. After Nicki’s part, the song transitions to a couple verses from Kanye, which set the tone for the rest of the project. This is where Kanye delivers some of his most classic lines, like, “You ain’t got no fucking Yeezy in your Serato?” and “too many Urkel’s on your team, that’s why ya wins low/Winslow,” which still get uttered frequently to this day. There’s a lot of juxtaposition on this song. The RZA-led production sounds reminiscent of an older time, while remaining fully modern at the same time. And the bridge sung by Justin Vernon and Teyana Taylor sounds uplifting, but the production behind it is very dark. “Dark Fantasy” is truly a classic intro. —Eric Wells

2. “Devil in a New Dress”

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Featuring: Rick Ross

Producers: Bink, Mike Dean

This is where the task of ranking an album like MBDTF gets really difficult. In some ways, I wish we could have finished this list in a tie, because both of these last two songs are perfect. Pairing the soul sample-heavy sound of ’Ye’s early days with the lavish production style of his early-2010s era, “Devil in a New Dress” possesses every musical element we’d ever hope to hear on a Kanye West song. And it all acts as a perfect backdrop to some of the best songwriting of Kanye’s career, as he leans on religious imagery for two intricate verses about, um, consummation. Although he’s on his Christian tip here, Kanye isn’t afraid to talk his shit. It’s hard to be humble when you’re stuntin’ on a jumbotron. And, as if this thing wasn’t a work of art already, it closes out with a guitar solo and a ridiculously lavish verse from Rick Ross that will go down in history for all kinds of reasons (more on that another day). “Devil in a New Dress” is a truly flawless song, and it’s only improved with age. —Eric Skelton

1. “Runaway”

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Featuring: Pusha-T

Producers: Kanye West, Emile Haynie, Jeff Bhasker, M. Dean

Standing on its own, “Runaway” is a stunning song that puts the full scope of Kanye’s talents as a composer on display. The production is immaculate, Pusha-T’s decadent guest verse is beautifully executed, Kanye’s delivery is just the right amount of emotionally unrefined, and the final three minutes are built around the most inventive use of a vocoder we’ve ever heard. (Who thinks to play a fucking solo with their own manipulated vocals?!) It’s a phenomenal piece of music. But when you understand the full context that exists around the actual song, it gets even better. Kanye debuted “Runaway” at the 2010 VMAs, on the very stage where he interrupted Taylor Swift a year before. Returning to the spotlight after being publicly disgraced, he walked onstage in a red suit and a gold chain. For the first 54 seconds of the performance, Kanye hunched over a white MPC and triggered samples. Then, as the lighting on the stage transformed, he grabbed the microphone and publicly acknowledged everyone who had called him an asshole for the past year. “Let's have a toast for the douchebags,” he sang, confidently leaning into the narrative. “Let's have a toast for the assholes. Let's have a toast for the scumbags.” You got the feeling he had been planning this moment since he left the same stage 12 months before. In the time between the two awards shows, he retreated from the public eye, put his full energy into creating the best music of his career, and returned with the gorgeous statement piece that is “Runaway,” making his comeback while ballerinas danced around him. What a moment. What a song. —Eric Skelton

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