My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

West conceived it at Avex in Honolulu during his self-imposed exile on Oahu in 2009, and it grew out of a planned album called Good Ass Job. He block-booked all three rooms there for 24 hours a day, set out rules such as No Tweeting and No Pictures, and took 90-minute naps. Contributors named in the sessions include Kid Cudi, Elton John, Rick Ross, Pusha T, Justin Vernon, M.I.A., Mos Def, Santigold and Seal, with producers including Q-Tip, RZA, Pete Rock, Madlib and DJ Premier, whose work did not make the cut. Q-Tip called it music by committee. West finished recording in October 2010. Def Jam reportedly paid about $3 million.

The cover paintings are by George Condo, and the original cover was censored in retail. A deluxe DVD held the 35-minute short film Runaway. The sounds include King Crimson's 21st Century Schizoid Man on Power, Aphex Twin's Avril 14th on Blame Game and Gil Scott-Heron's Comment No. 1 on Who Will Survive in America.

Reception

It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 with 496,000 copies, ahead of Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday. Metacritic gives it 94 from 45 reviews, the best of 2010. Pitchfork's Ryan Dombal gave it 10 out of 10, and Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone called it West's best and most wildly inspired album. It won the Pazz and Jop poll by the largest margin in the poll's history and the Grammy for Best Rap Album.