In honor of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary year, we’re looking back at the top artists, albums, producers, and songs of “The Genius Era,” 2009 to the present.
Going into 2010, Kanye West wasn’t exactly everyone’s favorite guy. In fact, his infamous 2009 VMAs incident with Taylor Swift had—for the first and certainly not the last time—made him something of a villain in popular culture. But while his public image may have been suffering, his creativity certainly wasn’t, and with his first album since the controversial stage-bomb, Kanye saw the opportunity to alter his rep through music.
Calling on producers like Mike Dean, No I.D., and Emilie Haynie, as well as artists like Pusha T, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, and Kid Cudi, Kanye headed to Hawaii in 2010 for what Complex editor-in-chief Noah Callahan-Bever—who was invited to observe the process—called “Rap Camp.” Amid friendly games of basketball, family-style meals, and late-night studio sessions, Kanye’s brainstrust worked on crafting My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
Spanning 13 tracks, Twisted Fantasy is filled with sonic references you wouldn’t expect, like the sample of King Crimson’s 1969 Vietnam War critique “21st Century Schizoid Man” on “POWER” and the electro guitar riff from Enoch Light and the Glittering Guitars’ “You Showed Me” on “Gorgeous.” Lyrically, Kanye did his best to repent for his ill-received VMAs behavior, even calling himself a “scumbag,” among other choice names, and urging others to steer clear on the stark, piano-driven cut “Runaway.”
Let’s have a toast for the jerk-offs
That’ll never take work off
Baby, I got a plan
Run away fast as you can
“Dark Fantasy was my long, backhanded apology,” Kanye told The New York Times. “You know how people give a backhanded compliment? It was a backhanded apology.”
Ye’s weeks-long, 24/7 recording camp and quasi-apology paid off—Twisted Fantasynot only arrived to widespread critical acclaim and topped the Billboard 200, but it also seemed to redeem his image, solidifying West as the most popular hip-hop artist on Genius in 2010, according to pageviews. Sonically, Kanye moved onto other things in years that followed, and he’ll appear in a few more of these Genius lists. But his scumbag ways? Well, those wound up being harder to outgrow.
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