Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Kanye West can seem like an attention-hungry young child who constantly tugs on his mother's pant leg, saying, "Watch this! Watch this!" But once Kanye got our attention, instead of a simple somersault, he delivered the musical equivalent of a one-handed back handspring. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy layers complex computerized instrumentation over Yeezy's effortless flow, moving from the heavy hip-hop of "Power" and "Monster" all the way to the poppy Michael Jackson tribute "All of the Lights." Beyoncé, Jay-Z and others guest on several tracks. They don't drop by just to deliver a verse or chorus; they are as integral to the tracks as Kanye himself. This is most evident on "Lost in the World," a collaboration with Justin Vernon of the indie group Bon Iver that fuses hip-hop with rock until they morph into something else entirely. And that something is probably going to be played at every bar and dance party for the next six months.