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Kanye West Wins One For the Douchebags
Our poll winner and his runner-up James Murphy turn their private flaws into public triumphs
But he can't, really—hence "Runaway," "Hell of a Life," "Blame Game," and "Lost in the World," the second half of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and the sound of a man looking in the mirror, hating what he sees, and recording it for posterity anyway. Put that stretch of music up against This Is Happening's own "All I Want," "I Can Change," and "You Wanted a Hit," and decide which is more abject—or better yet, don't, unless you want to start wondering if Murphy fucks with the lights on, too.
It's an odd thing to say about a millionaire and a much-loved globetrotting DJ, but these artists sacrificed in 2010, pointing up their flaws and vanities in full view of anyone who cared to look. And we cared, of course. Murphy and West's elaborate celebrity lives may have seemed more vivid than ours at times, but as artists, they held up their end of the deal: What they lived, they made work about; what adoration and income they received from us, they used to make still more. They weren't perfect, no. But in 2010, they made listening worth it.
Ruvan Wijesooriya
James Murphy, kissing his band goodbye
Details
Kanye West
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
(#1 album, #4-6 singles)
LCD Soundsystem
This Is Happening
(#2 album)
Pazz and Jop 2010
Never Forget
Cee Lo Green sums up 2010 in two little words
By Rob Harvilla
Little Pink Polos for You and Me
Wallowing and/or reveling in social anxiety with Arcade Fire and Vampire Weekend
By Eric Harvey
The Wayward Crucifixion of M.I.A.
On the dodgy, opportunistic, truffle-fry-fueled campaign against both Maya and Maya
By Charles Aaron
Leave Chillwave Alone
In defense of the nostalgia-steeped genre Ariel Pink both invented and abandoned
By Simon Reynolds
Attack of the Singing Rappers
On Drake, Nicki Minaj, B.o.B., and the art of the debut-as-pop-crossover
By Clover Hope
The Great Gay-Pander-Off of 2010
Katy, Nicki, Ke$ha, P!nk, and Gaga taste the rainbow
By Rich Juzwiak
The Internet-Rap Atomization
Odd Future, Lil B, Wiz Khalifa, et al. build tiny kingdoms, and rule them
By Tom Breihan
Justin Bieber, Twitter Casanova
The Most Popular Boy in the World rules the only voting bloc that matters: pre-teen girls
By Camille Dodero
The Top Ten
From Kanye West to The Suburbs
Stuff We Like
Rick Ross Lies, the Rolling Stones Plunder, And Taylor Swift Triumphs
The Personals
Industry Woes, Cultural Theories, Polite Suggestions, and Calls of Bullshit
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
(#1 album, #4-6 singles)
LCD Soundsystem
This Is Happening
(#2 album)
Pazz and Jop 2010
Never Forget
Cee Lo Green sums up 2010 in two little words
By Rob Harvilla
Little Pink Polos for You and Me
Wallowing and/or reveling in social anxiety with Arcade Fire and Vampire Weekend
By Eric Harvey
The Wayward Crucifixion of M.I.A.
On the dodgy, opportunistic, truffle-fry-fueled campaign against both Maya and Maya
By Charles Aaron
Leave Chillwave Alone
In defense of the nostalgia-steeped genre Ariel Pink both invented and abandoned
By Simon Reynolds
Attack of the Singing Rappers
On Drake, Nicki Minaj, B.o.B., and the art of the debut-as-pop-crossover
By Clover Hope
The Great Gay-Pander-Off of 2010
Katy, Nicki, Ke$ha, P!nk, and Gaga taste the rainbow
By Rich Juzwiak
The Internet-Rap Atomization
Odd Future, Lil B, Wiz Khalifa, et al. build tiny kingdoms, and rule them
By Tom Breihan
Justin Bieber, Twitter Casanova
The Most Popular Boy in the World rules the only voting bloc that matters: pre-teen girls
By Camille Dodero
The Top Ten
From Kanye West to The Suburbs
Stuff We Like
Rick Ross Lies, the Rolling Stones Plunder, And Taylor Swift Triumphs
The Personals
Industry Woes, Cultural Theories, Polite Suggestions, and Calls of Bullshit
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9 comments
Bring back Christgau....this shit passes for criticism? Kanye West is an asshole? That's really the best you can do? Thanks for the insight....now I can get back to ICarly...
I only heard of these two from the bad stuff written about them; I never heard any of their music, I'm proud to say.
now is hope he'll know to too keep his damn big mouth shut before saying one word.....as you we all now know if you don't have a high school diploma graduating from your original class (instead of one's GED to believe that'll cut the mustard for those of such character as his) we have now speculatively observered........
Come on everybody... do you really not recognize that Kanye West is a Wanker, and he will grow up to be a bigger wanker? Please....
I want to thank James Murphy for giving me something to believe in in music in 2010. And I'm sorry he's choosing to leave.
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