My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was mainly produced by West, alongside a variety of high-profile producers such as Mike Dean, No I.D., Jeff Bhasker, RZA, Bink, and DJ Frank E. Additional recording sessions took place at Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank, California, and at the New York City studios Electric Lady and Platinum Sound. Retreating to a self-imposed exile in Hawaii after a period of controversy in 2009 following his interruption at the MTV Music Awards, he recorded the album at Honolulu's Avex Recording Studio in a communal environment involving numerous musicians. It was released by Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records on November 22, 2010, following a period of public controversy for West. “21st-Century Schizoid Man” The King Crimson song Kanye samples on “Power.My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is the fifth studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. Tell us what we left out in the comments. After the jump, we’ve done our best to index the cultural references on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, with handy images and Wiki links for each entry, in case you somehow forgot who The Beatles were. But what’s really fascinating is the random, often nerdy stuff - including Steve Urkel, Black Sabbath, Diablo, and Napoleon Dynamite, just to name a few.

Sure, there’s the typical hip-hop stuff: designers, cars, Scarface. While we don’t feel ready to render a verdict on the album, we were pretty delighted by its range of cultural references. Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is a lot to process all at once, packed with incredible guests (Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z, Rihanna, Swizz Beats, Pusha T, Bon Iver… need we go on?), sprawling singles, and a whole lot of talk about fame, scrutiny, and their discontents.

As we’re sure many of you have already realized, perhaps the most anticipated album of the year made its internet debut yesterday.

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