Chicago Rapper Kanye West Is Back With A New Album (“My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”) And A Hip Hop Opera To Promote It.

Kanye West’s career took a dramatic turn when he interrupted Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2009. What he did that night earned him the anger not only of music fans but also critics and the media in general. Even president Barrack Obama lashed at him.

But it wasn’t until September of this year that the rapper took to Twitter in order to redeem himself. He sent over 70 tweets the same day, all within a couple of hours. As well as apologizing for his actions, he also enumerated the direct consequences of that fateful interruption.

– “Had to let employees go… for the first time I felt the impact of my brash actions … I felt the recession from an ownership side”

– “How deep is the scar… I bled hard.. cancelled tour with the number one pop star in the world … closed the doors of my clothing office”

– “That’s when you realize perception is reality. I’ve been straying from this subject on twitter but I have to give it to you guys raw now.”

– “If you google Asshole my face may very well pop up”

In hindsight, these apologetic tweets might as well be remembered as one of the cleverest ploys in Kanye’s career. He projected himself as a fallen star with a sympathetic heart, and as a person fully aware of his failings. And it is no wonder that his next album (“My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”) is already being spoken of in very favorable terms.

To stir up interest, Kanye has released a hip hop opera named Runaway that strings together remixes of many of the songs from the upcoming CD. This opera references elements from all over his career – it pays homage to the mysticism of “Power”, it has some great dance choreographies that pay homage to his SNL performance… And that is only fit, really. The narrative touches upon inner dejection most of all.

The full opera is viewable on Vevo. It last about 35 minutes, and I have embedded it below for you.

So, what is your take on this opera? A honest work of redemption? Or the result of one of the better-planned marketing campaigns of the last couple of years? You can speak your mind in the “Comments” below….