Dark Fantasy (song)

"Dark Fantasy"
Song by Kanye West from the album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Recorded	2010
Genre	Hip hop
Length	4:41
Label	Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam
Writer	Kanye West, Robert Diggs, Ernest Wilson, Jeff Bhasker, Mike Dean, Malik Jones[1]
Producer	The RZA, Kanye West, No I.D., Jeff Bhasker, Mike Dean
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy track listing
"Dark Fantasy" (1) "Gorgeous" (2)
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy track listing "Dark Fantasy" "Gorgeous" "Power" "All of the Lights (Interlude)" "All of the Lights" "Monster" "So Appalled" "Devil in a New Dress" "Runaway" "Hell of a Life" "Blame Game" "Lost in the World" "Who Will Survive in America"

"Dark Fantasy" is a song by American hip hop artist Kanye West, from his fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.^[2] The song serves as the opening track of the album, and was written by Kanye West, Ernest Wilson, Jeff Bhasker, Mike Dean and the RZA. It features an opening narrative delivered by Nicki Minaj, contains backing vocals by Teyana Taylor and Bon Iver, and samples "In High Places" by Mike Oldfield. Despite not being released as a single, the hype generated by the release of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy caused the song to enter the Billboard Hot 100 at 60. The song received positive reviews by music critics, praising West's verses and the production.

Dark Fantasy was also used during the opening sequence of Runaway, a 35 minute music video directed by Kanye West set to music from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.^[3][4] The song was used in advertisements for the film The Hangover Part II.

Composition

Dark Fantasy is 4 minutes, 41 seconds long.^[5] The song is introduced with a narrative by Nicki Minaj, elocuting in an English accent, that serves as a retelling of writer Roald Dahl's poetic rework of "Cinderella".^[6] It introduces the album's themes of decadence and hedonism,^[7] with West musing how "the plan was to drink until the pain was over / But what’s worse, the pain or the hangover?".^[8] His lyrics on the track contain various musical and popular culture references, including those to the song "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)", the Lamborghini Murciélago sports car, rapper Nas, fashion designer Phoebe Philo, short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", the song "Sex on Fire", singer Leona Lewis, and television character Steve Urkel.^[9] The song samples a portion of "In High Places" by Mike Oldfield, a pop rock song from 1987.^[10]

Chart performance

Due to the hype generated by the anticipation of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Dark Fantasy debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at 60, without actually being released as a single.^[11] The second week it dropped to 83, and by the third week it exited the chart. ^[11] The song performed similarly in Canada, charting at 67 on the Canadian Hot 100.^[12] Other than the four singles released from the album, (Power, All of the Lights, Monster, and Runaway) Dark Fantasy was the only song off the album to chart.^[11] The song debuted at position 10 on the Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles as reported by Billboard.^[13] It also appeared at position 80 on the South Korean Gaon Chart, and at 189 the following week.^[14]

Critical reception

Dark Fantasy has received positive reviews from music critics. The Washington Post's Chris Richards described the song as having "mutant gospel crescendos",^[15] and MTV News praised Nicki Minaj's verse, declaring that "it is structured like a nursery rhyme and sets the tone for the song (which is intense and hallucinatory) and the album".^[9] Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield wrote the song contained "lethal wit" praising the lyricism, and further wrote "In "Dark Fantasy," he rhymes "mercy, mercy me, that Murcielago" with "diablo," "bravado" and "My chick in that new Phoebe Philo/So much head, I woke up in Sleepy Hollow. It's some genius stuff."^[16] David Amidon of PopMatters felt that West's vocals were "layered a baker’s dozen different ways, they’re synthetic".^[17] Dan Vidal of URB stated enjoyed Minaj's verse, describing it as a "psuedo-cockney-accented opening narration" and praised the song's arrangement as "spine-tingling".^[18] David Browne of Time wrote "Tracks like "Dark Fantasy" and "So Appalled" are built on rumbling tanks of pianos and strings that sound as if West is marching into the apocalypse."^[19]

Chart positions

Chart (2010)	Peak Position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)	67[12]
US Billboard Hot 100	60[11]
US Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles (Billboard)	10[13]
South Korean Gaon Chart	80[14]

References

1. ^ Credits: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-11-21.
2. ^ (2010) Album notes for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West. Roc-A-Fella Records.
3. ^ Concepcion, Mariel (2010-10-07). "Kanye West Premieres 35-Minute-Long 'Runaway' Video In London". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboard.com/column/the-juice/kanye-west-premieres-35-minute-long-runaway-1004119757.story. Retrieved 2010-10-23. 
4. ^ Kaufman, Gil (October 7, 2010). "Kanye West Screens 'Runaway' In London". MTV.com. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1649493/20101007/west_kanye.jhtml. Retrieved October 8, 2010. 
5. ^ Kellman, Andy. "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy". All music. http://www.allmusic.com/album/my-beautiful-dark-twisted-fantasy-r2055009. Retrieved 2011-04-22. 
6. ^ Powers, Ann (November 23, 2010). Review: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2010-11-23.
7. ^ Kot, Greg (November 17, 2010). Review: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on 2010-11-17.
8. ^ Denney, Alex (November 19, 2010). Review: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. NME. Retrieved on 2010-11-22.
9. ^ ^{a b} Anderson, Kyle (November 15, 2010). Inside Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: 'Dark Fantasy'. MTV News. Retrieved on 2010-12-07.
10. ^ "Sample Details". Whosampled. http://www.whosampled.com/sample/view/66471/Kanye%20West-Dark%20Fantasy_Mike%20Oldfield-In%20High%20Places/. Retrieved 2011-04-22. 
11. ^ ^{a b c d} "Billboard Hot 100: Week of December 11, 2010 (Biggest Jump)". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100?chartDate=2010-12-11&order=gainer. Retrieved 9 July, 2011. 
12. ^ ^{a b} "Kanye West Album & Song Chart History: Canadian Hot 100". Billboard.com. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
13. ^ ^{a b} "Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles - Issue Date: 2010-12-04". Billboard.biz. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on 9 July, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/602dvM9bI. Retrieved 9 July, 2011. 
14. ^ ^{a b} "Digital Comprehensive charts" (in Korean). Gaon Chart. http://www.gaonchart.co.kr/main/section/search/list.gaon?Search_str=dark+fantasy&x=0&y=0. Retrieved 2011-06-10. 
15. ^ Richards, Chris (November 19, 2010). Review: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2010-11-19.
16. ^ Sheffield, Rob (November 8, 2010). Review: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2010-11-11.
17. ^ Amidon, David (November 22, 2010). Review: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. PopMatters. Retrieved on 2010-11-22.
18. ^ Vidal, Dan (November 23, 2010). Review: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. URB. Retrieved on 2010-12-08.
19. ^ Browne, David (November 17, 2010). Review: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Time. Retrieved on 2010-11-18.