To say Kanye is extravagant, would be a cruel and colossal understatement. When he hasn’t been hilariously disrupting award speeches, or having his entire bottom row of team replaced with diamonds, Mr West has been piecing together his fifth album release, the epically titled My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Now unless you’re a Chilean Miner and have been living underground for the last two months, you will have heard of Good Fridays, Kanye’s weekly track giveaway over at his official site. Massively generous or an excessive publicity stunt? Both I suppose, but there’s no doubting the quality of the tracks he’s gifted to us. To date there are thirteen tracks available to download for free over at kanyewest.com, totaling more than the average album. It’s glaringly obvious that Kanye is oozing with confidence in his own music, as well as having his sights set on more than mere financial success; he wants to cement his name as a hip hop legend.

Taking this into account, his exaggeration and flamboyancy is understandable, however his approach to this album is rather different than in previous efforts. Instead of opting for pulling in the biggest names in the business, Kanye handpicks his own new brand of fresh entertainers; sure there’s several appearances from Jay-Z, as well as one from last years folk success story Bon Iver, but it’s the performances of the newcomers such as Nicki Minaj and Prynce Cy Hi that really catapult the album to the dizzy heights it reaches. The storming Monster being the best example of this; Minaj steals the track with her aggressive delivery and witty lyricism, despite confident verses from Kanye himself as well as Jay-Z.

Dark Fantasy, the albums opener is majestic and soulful, beginning with a stereotypical spoken verse from Minaj, a fitting tribute to her talents that West chose her voice to be the first heard on the record. Elsewhere the muscular Power showcases Kanye at his first best, intelligent and slick, completely different from the disappointment that was his third album Graduation. Most recent single Runaway came complete with a half an hour long short film, featuring many of the tracks from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and the track itself is one of the songs of the year. Whilst people questioned Kanye’s singing abilities on 808’s & Heartbreak, his vocals are undeniably imperfect yet ideally suited to the style of Runaway.

Album highlight All of the Lights comes with a minute long prelude, before Rihanna comes in over the top of a dubstep influenced beat. The next line is the most poignant of the record, “something wrong, I hold my head, MJ gone, our nigga dead”, bemoans Kanye, in remembrance of the late King of Pop. Some would argue too soon, but it appears Kanye is forging his own case to be heir to the prestigious throne.

As well as drafting in some of the most sought after names in hip hop, Kanye called in Justin Vernon of Bon Iver fame to provide vocals on album closer Lost In The World. One of the freshest beats on the record, West also uses a Gil Scott Heron sample to close the album, a sure testament to Kanye’s confidence in his own creativity as well as the talent of those around him.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is arguably Kanye’s most accomplished work to date, picking up the pieces that was the emotional trainwreck of 808’s & Heartbreak, combined with the positive experiences garnered from his first two records. Extravagant, exaggerated but all the same drenched in an unparalleled level of brilliance, Mr West’s is here to stay.