Kanye West has the best album of the 21st century, according to GQ, with 2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The publication’s rationale for this selection goes into the impact that the project has had, but it also explains just how influential West has been with all of his projects.
“It could’ve been any one of the seven albums West released this century, as fascinating a catalog of celebrity, triumph, love, loss, terrible puns, pretty decent puns, that was ever fucking put together by a single artist,” GQ says. “MBDTF was just the record where he talked about all those things at once—a portrait of a man seizing the spotlight, drowning in it, and then somehow finding a way to turn that harrowing experience into art. Anybody who wants to be famous or make music for a living—or do both at the same time—should be forced to listen to MBDTF first. The rest of us are free to enjoy it for the bloody, hard-won, titanic achievement that it is.”
In 2010, HipHopDX’s Editor-In-Chief at the time, Jake Paine, reviewed the album, which earned a 4.5 out of 5 in its HipHopDX review.
“Kanye West’s bravado has inspired cartoons, it’s made award show producers sleepless, and it’s caught the attention of both Presidents Bush and Obama,” Paine wrote. “But within that bravado is a bravery that allows Hip Hop artists to step outside of their carefully-guarded boxes. From nine-minute douchebag manifestos, to enlisting an A-list Grammy ensemble to piece-mealing his album out to the masses every Friday, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy defies logic and it ignores convention. Whether it’s acknowledging his mistakes, measuring his might, or fantasizing of wifing Kristina Rose, Kanye West finds a way to relate to all. He’s not forcing his hand, just reminding us that the biggest star we appointed in the last five years can still recognize our own fantasies, insecurities and desire for colorful music from his spaceship.”
OutKast has the third best album on the GQ list, following Is This It by The Strokes, with 2000’s Stankonia. Daft punk’s Discovery, which was released in 2001, and LCD Soundsystem’s Sound Of Silver, which was released in 2007, round out the Top 5.
Ghostface Killah’s 2010 album, Supreme Clientele arrives at #10 on the list, Jay Z’s The Blueprint ranks #12, J Dilla’s 2006 effort Donuts lands at #19. For the full list, visit GQ.
RELATED: Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy [Review]
Overproduced Piece of shit
Coming from someone who doesn’t think it deserves the number 1 spot, I can easily say that you’re a dumbass.
Co-sign 2nd anonymous. “Overproduced”? It sounds like you can’t actually find a reason to hate on the record and are just making shit up.
yeah over produced too much beat not enough rhymes!! he sucks my cock for breakfast everyday
^lmao not enough rhymes
go listen to Aesop rock then while u get head from your kanye blow up doll
So you let another dude suck your cock? Shut up, you don’t know music. Retard.
Better than MMLP and EMINEM SHOW?
Yeah……ok
Yeah. It is better.
MMLP and Eminem Show had monumental impacts when they dropped and are still considered two of the best Hip Hop albums ever made.
^^^^AND SO ARE ALL OF KANYE’S FIRST 5 ALBUMS SO YOUR POINT EXACTLY?
Well I do think its superior to The Eminem Show, but I dont think it is better then MMLP
get rich or die tryin?
I can stomach not having Eminem Show on here, even though that was still one of the absolute best rap albums of the 21st century too……but how in the hell is Marshall Mathers LP not on there at all????
Easily one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time
MMLP, Blueprint, Late Registration, The Cool, Good kid MAAD city, GRODT, Stankonia, The Black Album, Carter II, Eminem Show all better than MBDTF
Fuck no.
All better except Carter II
fuck GQ. magazine for metrosexuals and feminine niggas
you guys in the comment section are fucking dumb.
1.MMLP was 1999 which DQs it
2. Other than Stankonia, GKMC, and The Eminem Show, no other album can even compare to dark fantasy
it came out may 2000
Hey BC, you’re pretty fucking dumb too.
MMLP came out May 23,2000.
Eat that crow you fucking douchebag
MMLP is not on par with any MDTBF
wait…what crow?
My dark Twisted Fantasy was a amazing album.
how? shitty soulful beats shitty guest verses tht even murked him on his best album ha!!!!!!! he sucks man and you like him!! hes wack im tellin youu
^Translation: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Supreme Clientele certainly wasn’t 2010.
21st century, that’s 2001 to 2100. So yeah, Supreme Clientele was 2000 so that’s 20th.
He was saying that Supreme Clientele wasn’t in the year 2010, not the 21st century, and further more, the 21st century is from 2000 to 2099, 2100 is the 22nd century. Stop smoking so much weed.
1- THE BLUEPRINT (jay z)
2- THE MARSHULL MATHERS LP (eminem)
3- GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN (50)
4- LATE REGRISTRATION (kanye)
5- THA CARTER 2 (lil wayne)
6- THE BLACK ALBUM (jay z)
7- STANKONIA (outkast)
8- THE EMINEM SHOW (eminem)
9- TM 101 (jeezy)
10-DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY (dipset)
TELL ME IF IM WRONG…
Nas – Stillmatic
Scarface – The Fix
Common – BE
T.I. – Trap Muzik
UGK – Underground Kingz
Dr. Dre – Chronic 2001
Jay-Z – The Black Album
Outkast – Speakerboxxx/Love Below
Ghostface – Fishscale
Lupe Fiasco – Food & Liquor + The Cool
Just To Name A Few…
Dr. Dre – Chronic 2001 came out in 1999 (look it up).
Props on The Fix
Eminem just announced MMLP3 on twitter!!
I just talked to him its not happening
him n chief keef are contractually obligated to put out a joint lp entirely produced by dj mustard wooooooooooo!
lol ppl still on eminem’s dick are the same ppl that hate on ye’… how predictable, y’all prolly just started buying j’s like n shit 2 years ago
Eminem shits on all these weak rappers
Umwhere’s Stillmatic?
Well deserved. Simply put, it was the best. It’s a masterpiece.
It’s funny how many Em dickriders there are, yet before MMLP2 came out, they were all haters. Fucking fags.
So he won some fans back after making a decade of garbage by making another great album. So what.
mmlp2? great album?
the nerve of these peasants
MMLP2 was garbage, my point wasn’t that “it was a good album”, the album got good reviews and it just shows that the fags on this site, including cinavenom, just follow what critics say. fucking fags.
So MBDTF garnered the metrosexual vote. Brilliantly produced though it may be, it is still overproduced. The songs drag on for too long. Kanye seems substantially uninspired save for the Amber Rose bitterness, and there are too many guest verses that are better than anything Kanye spits. Rick Ross, Pusha T (x2), even nicki minaj standout as much as Kanye does, and he only really goes in on the intro and the raekwon track.
Kanye dressing like Too Wong Foo and getting his brassiere in knots over Yeezus getting panned like that shwag plate should have seem to indicate that Kanye has embraced the metrosexuals as well. Match made in heaven.
Kanye sycophants tugged his cock until WTT and Yeezus came out. Nice job morons. Maybe if the fans didn’t palm his jewels to the point where Kanye felt his narcissism was justified, he wouldn’t have dropped those pieces of shit. You know, like actually hold him accountable for demonstrating his genius through good product. A foreign concept to you I’m sure.
And by the way…Stillmatic and Food & Liquor shit all over MBDTF, not to mention Blueprint, the Fix, Supreme Clientele, and Stankonia.
Fuck your skinny jeans. They are tight enough to make your package visible, but there appears to be a flat strip of skin where your dick should be. Not surprising given your taste in music. SACK UP
yeeeaaaaa son
baggy mecca jeans all day every day
might do the enyce or the phat farm tho forreal forreal
Hahaha what a fucking retard. Kill yourself please.
There’s so much wrong w/ this post it’s unreal. Despite what a “real head” might say about the record the people who’s tastes branch out beyond just one genre know that MBDTF was a classic. You’re confusing “metrosexual” with having taste.
Yo, I’m a huge Yeezus fan but The Blueprint is THAT album. Jay’s best work plus it put Ye on the map (big time). Stankonia was super nice but lagged behind the 1st 3 Outkast albums – all classics. Nas – Stillmatic was key as well as Common “Be”. Hip hop albums of the millennium (gotta skip 2000 since technically it is 2001…)
1. Jay-Z – The Blueprint
2. Eminem – The Eminem Show
3. Outkast – Stankonia
4. Kanye West – MBDTF
5. Nas – Stillmatic
6. Common – Be
7. Kanye West – The College Dropout
8. Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury
9. Madvillain – Madvillainy
10. Kendrick Lamar – GKMC
I’m not hatin on KDot but let his shit marinate a bit before you throw it in the top 5… cuz it ain’t so far
The fact that you have anything by DOOM on your list has earned mad props.
MBDTF – most overrated album ever. Late Registration, College Dropout are much better. MY list would be:
1. MMLP (yeah hate me)
2. Blueprint
3. TES (hate me more
Putting MMLP 1st does make people want to hate you lol
feminem is the most overrated rapper
4. GKMC
5. Carter III (so much hate now? :D)
6. Carter II
7. American Gangster
8. Late Registration
9. GRODT
10. College Dropout
Very invalid list, and GQ probably lost a little credibility with their ability to critique hip-hop/rap music. Eminem Show and Marshal Mathers LP could easily go 1 and 2 with rap, #3 Blueprint hands down. I haven’t heard some of the other albums to compare, but Documentary, Get Rich or Die Trying, Thank Me Later, Stillmatic, Country Grammar, Back For The First Time, Urban Legend, The Black Album, Blueprint 2 and 3, Thug Motivation 101, Chapter V, Take Care, Nothing Was The Same, Aaliyah, Chocolate Factory, Because of You, Good Girl Gone Bad, Get Lifted…hell…even Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday are far better than any project that Frank Ocean has released. Nothing personal against him, but the fact that he’s on here for THE GREATEST ALBUMS OF THE 21ST CENTURY, is absurd, and makes me believe that this is a personal favorite list from someone who should not be allowed to publish something like this ever again. I’m actually quiet offended with this list, and let’s not forget 21 or Emancipation of MiMi are not at least honorable mention. Confessions could arguably be the best R&B album of that decade.
country grammar urban legend and thug motivation 101? reallllllllly?
So because gq’s list doesn’t match YOUR OPINIONS youre offended….lmaoooo
We’re sorry if we’ve offended you, good sir. I’ll be sure to inform the editor of this grievous error and he will not give a fuck.
Andres Tardio if you copy and paste articles then copy and paste the complete article. You lazy bum with no journalism skillz
“Anybody who wants to be famous or make music for a livingor do both at the same timeshould be forced to listen to MBDTF first.”
They said the same thing about MMLP. Fuck MBDTF so many awful tracks.
Yeah right Kanye’s catalog shits on Em..DOn’t let the album sales fool ya lol
Name one. The album was a masterpiece. I despise kanye as a person, but as an artist he is undeniably one of the most prolific and influential of all time
10 Common: Be
9 Lil Mama: VYP
8 Bone Crusher: AttenCHUN
7 Nas: Illmatic
6 Kreayshawn: Something about kreay
5 Nick Cannon: Nick cannon
4 Nas: Nastradamus
3 Iggy Azelia: The new classic
2 Notorious BIG: Duets
aaaaaaaaaaaand
1 Kevin Federline: Playing with fire
BOOM!!! FUCK ALL YOUR LISTS
The fact that Iggy Azelia is on your list…. I cant take anything you say seriously.
damn man how are you going to know what else I say though?
and iggy azelias album was flames fuck wutuherd and fuck a Cuban linx 2
what is this list based on? of course Kanye should be in the top ten and in fact if he had to be #1, i’d go with Graduation…but that’s none of my business
He should’ve had 3 albums on this list if not 4 to be honest IMO
Greatest albums (hip hop INCLUDED) of the twenty first century…can you not read you brain dead fuck?
Once again people that are not hip hop have influence on what real heads think…..This list is terrible and it only has pop rap on it for the most part. I would say 90 percent of people that right on hip hop have no idea… Pop commercial rap ok but stay in your lane, this shit aint hip hop !!!!
a wat a joke
Album is overrated.
Eminem has not been consistent with his albums, but The Eminem show is one of the best albums ever made in any genre at any time. It is about as perfect as you can make an album. It should be #1.
Kanye West has had a few albums that should be at the top but MBDTF is a terrible album with no direction, overproduced and too long songs. It should be at the bottom. Late Registration is a classic, an amazing album and should be top 5.
Supreme Clientele didn’t come out in 2010.
DAMN ALL YOU FUCKS ARE RETARDED! HIPHOPDX YOURE RETARDED AS FUCK TOO! The GQ article clearly states the 21 Albums Every Man SHould Hear..NOT GREATEST ALBUMS EVER! LAMES!!!