Today, after perhaps the greatest promotional cycle in the history of pop music, Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy finally arrives in stores. Since it’s already being hailed by critics (including our own Nitsuh Abebe) as a masterpiece, we decided to get a jump on the inevitable 25th-anniversary retrospective by interviewing as many principal participants as we could — Pusha-T, John Legend, George Condo, Justin Vernon, Big Sean, Pete Rock, Dwele, Charlie Wilson, and more — about the making of the album. Read on for a behind-the-scenes look at the making of an instant classic.
“He’s clearly been influenced by Michael Jackson’s legacy. He’s always thought of himself as bigger than rap. He imagines himself in the vein of the global pop megastar. Obviously Michael Jackson is someone who did everything big, everything completely tricked out, every time he came out with something. I definitely think Kanye aspires to that.â€