"Monster" is a song by American rapper Kanye West, released as the third single from his fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010). The song features rappers , Rick Ross, and Nicki Minaj, along with indie folk group Bon Iver. All five credited acts have writing credits on the posse cut, with the production handled by West, Mike Dean, and Plain Pat. The instrumental is atmospheric and drum-heavy, and the lyrics reflect influences from horror films, creating an eerie composition which drew critical comparisons to the Michael Jackson track "Thriller".
Originally released through West's GOOD Friday initiative, a weekly free music giveaway he started to promote My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, "Monster" was later confirmed to be featured on the album, and was released as a digital download on October 23. It was met with mostly positive reviews from music critics, with Minaj's verse receiving widespread acclaim, and West's production being well received. However, critics were mixed in their assessing of who had the better verse between West and Jay-Z. The song was listed amongst the best tracks of 2010 by publications, with NME placing it at number 53 on its list of the "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". The song debuted and peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at position 18.
"Monster" was promoted with a music video directed by Jake Nava. The video featured atmospheric cinematography and extensive horror imagery, including zombies and decapitated corpses, as well as visual references to classic horror films. Critics described the content of the video as weird and disturbing, and it drew criticism for its portrayal of women. The controversy resulted in a ban from MTV.
Background To promote his upcoming fifth album, West launched GOOD Fridays, a weekly free music giveaway. The intention was to release a free new song every Friday for a few months, and the weekly tracks generally featured various rappers from his label, GOOD Music, and other artists he usually collaborated with. In the first week West released onto his website a remix of the album's first single, "Power", and "Monster" was released on the second week. The song was promptly removed from his website and replaced with another track, with "Monster" being uploaded as a digital single onto iTunes. West announced that "Monster" was actually intended for his collaborative album Watch the Throne with Jay-Z. West's announcement failed to surface however, and the song actually appeared on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and was released as the album's third single.
Recording Following some media controversies, West chose to record his fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in a reclusive manner in Oahu, Hawaii.Rodriguez, Jayson (2010-05-25). Kanye West's 'Power' Producer Explains How Song Happened. MTV. Viacom Retrieved on 2010-11-30. Like the majority of the album, "Monster" was composed there.Columnist (2010-09-03). Kanye West Hiding Out in Milan!. Posh24. Retrieved on 2010-11-30. Rapper Rick Ross was invited to Hawaii to work with West, because West was set to produce the song "Live Fast, Die Young", which appeared on Teflon Don, an album by Ross. While Ross was there with West in his recording studio, he actually walked in on West while recording another song. Ross was not initially intended to be featured on West's album, however Ross was so impressed with what he heard he decided to record a quick, though short verse.
Ross had the concept of the song explained to him by West, which according to Ross, blew him away in presentation. West was so impressed by Ross that he invited him back to his studio during the final stages of the album, where he also appeared on "Devil in a New Dress". While Ross was there, both Jay-Z and Minaj were recording their verses. Ross expressed his admiration for Minaj, who impressed him during the recording. He stated that what he had observed had earned him respect for Minaj, who called the recording process a "moment of history".
Minaj expressed excitement when approached to collaborate on the song, and she had contributed 32 bars to the track. Her main inspiration behind working on the track was the possibility of meeting Jay-Z, with whom she was obsessed since a young age. According to her, she literally couldn't have a conversation without quoting a line by him, and it was a dream come true to collaborate with the artist. Minaj had recorded her lines around four months before the lyrics finally appeared on the song. Minaj described both Jay-Z and West as "icons", and stated that she was blessed to be working with them. In an interview with Rap-Up, Minaj mused "never in a billion years would've thought that I would've not only been on a song with one of them but both them".
Justin Vernon's involvement on the song stemmed from being approached by West directly. West first got into contact with Vernon when he directly phoned him, with the intention of sampling his song "Woods". The two talked on the phone for about 40 minutes, where West explained some of the concepts for the project, and invited him down to his studio in Hawaii. West is a big admirer of Bon Iver's album For Emma, Forever Ago, and was impressed with Vernon's unique use of auto-tune. The two artists became friends while playing games of basketball together, and West introduced him to Jeff Bhasker, one of his main producers.
Vernon was sampled on another song from the album, "Lost in the World" and appears on vocals on "Monster". While there during recording sessions, he had reportedly recorded 10 tracks. He watched Minaj record her verse, and he too, expressed admiration for Minaj's performance on the song, however he noted that initially he had no idea who she was. Vernon described the process as highly artistic, stating that the fourteen-hour day recording schedule allowed for a lot of fun and creativity. West, talking about recording the song with Vernon, stated that he was "similar to me, where he just does shit just so people would be like, 'Oh shit, how did you do that? How did that happen?' He's just a really cool guy to be around."
Composition
Considered a horrorcore song, "Monster" has been described as brooding, disturbing, creepy and the "weirdest A-list event-rap posse cut in recent memory." (2010-12-11). Review: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved on 2010-11-21. The song begins with an ominous, distorted vocal roar, sung by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, with Vernon declaring "I shoot the lights out", which sets up the dark atmosphere of the track.Weiner, Jonah (2010-11-22). Review: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Slate. Retrieved on 2011-01-29. The intro of the song is followed by a brief verse given by Ross, delivered in the rapping style of boom bap. In a deep voice, Ross asserts the lines "bitch, I'm a monster, no good bloodsucker, fat motherfucker, now look who's in trouble," over the eerie production featured during the beginning. Following the introduction by Ross, West then provides the song's hook, singing "everybody know / I'm a motherfuckin' monster" in a heavily distorted manner. West then launches into a full verse. Chicago Sun-Times writer stated that West rhyming "esophagus" with "sarcophagus" was surely a hip-hop first.
Jay-Z appears on the song after West's verse, and raps in a more forceful, sinister flow. During his verse, Jay-Z references several different horror characters, including the Sasquatch, Godzilla, King Kong, the Loch Ness Monster, goblins, ghouls and zombies. Lyrically Jay-Z discusses his discontent at former associates, and concludes his verse by admitting that his Achilles' heel is "love". Minaj is the final rapper to appear on the song, who delivers her lines in an urgent, energetic manner. Minaj's delivery has been described as surreal, changing delivery in mid-line. In her verse, Minaj references Jamaican DJ Tony Matterhorn. The song ends in a spooky, hoarse vocal riff delivered by Vernon, reminiscent of the track "Thriller". An extended vocal riff, described as "scratchy" closes the track.Paine, Jake (2010-10-04). Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy . HipHopDX. Retrieved on 2010-11-27. Pitchfork's Tom Breihan summarized the content of the song, writing:
Rick Ross drops by to say hi, keeping his appearance so brief that I can't help but wonder what he's even doing here. Justin Vernon inexplicably bookends the thing, pushing his falsetto into Antony range on the outro and muttering befuddling lyrics that have nothing to do with the rest of the song. All this over the straight-up funkiest beat Kanye West has made in years, a rippling electro push-pull that adds an effortless strut to his recent progged-out chilliness. But all that other stuff fades into the background when Nicki Minaj shows up. [...] She's a whirlwind of energy, showing her full repertoire of nutso voices and kicking the living f*ck out of the beat, sounding like she's having an absolute blast the whole time."
The song heavily features bombastic tribal drums, and paranoia-inducing strings that create a feeling of tension.Sheffield, Rob (2010-11-22). Review: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy . Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2010-11-22. The beat of "Monster" has been described as a "hyperventilating death rattle" by The Washington Posts Chris Richards, commenting that the song was permeated with dark, urgent-sounding moans.Richards, Chris (2010-11-19). Review: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2010-11-19. The chorus of the song has two separate meanings; on the surface, it appears that West is bragging about his abilities as a rapper, while also making a comment on the media's reception of him, with lines like "gossip, gossip, nigga just stop it, everybody knows I'm a muthafuckin' monster".
Critical reception
"Monster" was well received by critics, with most singling out Minaj's verse as a highlight of the song. Becky Bain of Idolator stated that while the song featured five distinct artists, Minaj actually had the brightest appearance on the song. Sara D. Anderson of AOL gave the song a positive review, complimenting each artist on their contribution. Chris Ryan of MTV positively reviewed West, Jay-Z and Minaj as the stand out rappers in the song, stating "on car stereos, computers and in clubs all over, nothing got more burn than 'Monster,' his new beastly posse cut. Kanye spits about his presence being a present to us all, Jay-Z comes through with what might be his strongest verse in years, and that's where Nicki comes in, more than holding her own against the bad boys." Pitchfork Media's Ryan Dombal reported that Minaj gave the verse of her life, and applauded the contributions by Ross, who added a "hallucinatory tone" to the song.Dombal, Ryan (2010-12-21). Review: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Pitchfork. Retrieved on 2010-11-21. Another Pitchfork writer, Tom Breihan mused that the track contained the "straight-up funkiest beat" West has made in years, while commenting that Minaj was the best in show.