Conceived during West’s self-imposed exile following the 2009 VMA incident and further influenced by his deteriorating relationship with model Amber Rose, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is a genre-bending masterpiece that explores the darker sides of celebrity, fame, and love. The album was widely acclaimed by both fans and critics; it received a near impossible 10/10 rating from Pitchfork Media and several of its songs (along with the record itself) appeared on numerous “best of 2010” lists, and the album won the 2012 Grammy for Best Rap Album.

It received a 94/100 score on Metacritic and later appeared on numerous greatest albums ever made lists.

The homie Big Ghost puts it best:

Vulnerable enough to let you see inside his soul yet still in control enough to tell yall to eat a dick if you aint like what you seen. Thats whats up.

Note: The album’s original cover (drawn by George Condo) depicts Kanye West being straddled by an armless phoenix. Both characters are shown nude. George later revealed that Kanye wanted a cover image that would be banned. Four other original artworks (along with the phoenix one) were sold with the album.