The Listomania I make the lists, you shoot them down. Quid Pro Quo.

107. Kanye West – Flashing Lights

The American public is a fickle, fickle bitch. Going from poster boy to whipping boy isn't a new story. In fact, it's become somewhat of a natural transition in our society, and I can't say I'm surprised about the current state of affairs for Mr. West. I am surprised, however, by all the people who are letting an (ridiculous, unnecessary, immature, far from savvy) outcry taint their opinion of Kanye's music. One not surprising in the slightest mistake doesn't undo a decade of brilliant, groundbreaking, occasionally gut-punching music. I don't care how you feel about the man, he's one of the most important music figures of the '00s, and probably the MOST important of the second half of the decade. Really. Who else has put out three fantastic albums since 2003, been nominated for as many Grammy's in such a short amount of time, and been at once the subject of so much controversy and praise? This is being a rockstar, kids. Baby-boomers will remember this from their childhoods as HOW THIS IS SUPPOSED TO WORK. John Lennon claimed to be bigger than Jesus. Kanye only shit on a horrible pop artist at a poorly-viewed awards show.

Why am I focusing on this so much? Because we will be talking about Kanye a bunch more on this blog.

But here is the basic concept behind Kanye. He does what he wants without consideration for the current state of hip-hop music. He follows his own set of rules, and consistently does what no one else is doing. And then everyone follows. And with 2007's Graduation, the third in Mr. West's immaculate trifecta, it appears that Kanye decided he wanted to be grandiose, giant, and neon. Like he wanted to glow in the dark, ride in space ships, and make hip-hop more shiny and epic than anything that had come before. And through his futuretro beatmaking, he infused his genre with more techno sheen than ever before.

This song has three things. Strings, electronics, and Kanye. With those three elements, he constructs the most ambitiously futuristic soundscape in the history of rap music. Like the soundtrack to a blacksploitation sci-fi sex scene. Picture THAT. With a foot in the past and the remaining 95% of his body pulsing into the future, Kanye took off from this planet in his sexy, female-voiced spaceship and reached for the fucking outer reaches of the music galaxy, certainly outside of the realm of everything hip-hop was doing in 2007. It's just unfortunate that snafus and public opinion have brought Mr. West crashing back down to earth, and hip-hop as well, without giving other artists the chance to strive for the same Daft Punk-ian and Air-esque beats. Shit was about to get really good. Then it got all thuggy again.