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“My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” is a brilliantly produced and executed album. In a time when Lil’ Wayne is able to release albums while in prison, there’s something to be said for an artist who puts as much time and effort into a project as West did with “Fantasy.” Also, much respect is due for the extremely collaborative nature of this project – the list of artists and producers who played a role in the shaping of this album is a mile long and essentially consists of a who’s who among hip hop royalty, both past and present. It deserves to be said that you cannot listen to Kanye’s latest without being overwhelmed by what a labor of love this album must have been. And so I did, only to once again find myself caught in the question of what I, as a Christian, should be devoting my time and my ears to. However, I once again found myself urged both by friends and the overwhelming hype surrounding the release, to give it a proper listen. So when I heard about his new album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” my interest level was far from peaking. Like many people though, I slowly became disillusioned with West due to his constant non-music-related antics and his absurd commentary on just about everything he could open his mouth to. I loved his honesty, his social awareness, and his passion for taking hip hop back as an art form. Needless to say, “College Dropout” went on to become one of my favorite albums of the past decade. That is, until one of my friends on the show pulled me aside one day and told me I really needed to listen to this album, because it sounded a lot like “that weird stuff” that I listened to. However, my admittedly elitist attitude toward the genre kept me from giving Kanye a fair shake. I knew Kanye’s back story, I knew of his debut album, “College Dropout,” and I knew that it was supposedly a big departure from the current sound that was dominating the radio. In 2004 I was co-hosting a hip hop talk show with three other fellow college students at a local radio station. I found most independent secular hip hop artists to be making much more progressive and thought provoking music than any of their mainstream counterparts. Also, I began following the undergound hip hop movement that was blossoming at the time. For one, during this time (early 2000s) I felt that the genre took a turn for the shallow, as a plethora of new artists emerged with a similar style and mind-numbingly similar content. The most notable lasting change that took place during this period is that I never returned to listening to mainstream rap music, for a number of reasons. To this day, I still miss particular classic albums that were disposed of during my hiatus from secular rap. On the other hand, I missed out on some great art. On one hand, perhaps it was a wise choice for a young Christian man in college to separate himself from potentially harmful influences. This new life choice lasted for the better part of two years and I still debate with myself whether this decision was helpful or not. This decision came about due to the guilt that accompanied listening to music that contained a “Parental Advisory” sticker on the cover or watching films with racy scenes and foul language while attempting to live a proper Christian life. I decided to get rid of all of my secular rap CDs and stop watching rated R movies.
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When I was a freshman in college, I made a big decision in my life.