My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

(Yes, I know it recommends a song by Kanye West in the handbook but I have been making this comparison since before then.)

"My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" is a hip-hop album by Kanye West that was released in 2010 to high sales and critical acclaim. It is a concept album following a character played by Kanye: a rich, cocky socialite  on the surface who is privately an empty shell. The comparisons with Gatsby are immediately obvious, as Jay Gatsby is a similar character: he surrounds himself with shallow people, holds or attends frequent parties, uses money extravagantly and yet does not quite fit into his surroundings.

There are differences between the characters, most notably in personality. Gatsby, while not exactly humble, is not nearly as brash and smug as Kanye, who revels in his success and his enemies ("Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it/ I guess every superhero need his theme music", he muses at one point). However, the most crucial differences are that Kanye's character eventually becomes disillusioned and decides to leave the upper class world in which he lives (as opposed to Gatsby, who is killed) and, of course, the difference in skin colour. Tom Buchanan, part of Gatsby' social circle, spouts racism and refers to himself as a civilized "Nordic". Indeed, there is not a single black member of this circle. Kanye's own social circle, meanwhile, is the opposite - all the characters he interacts with (portrayed by other rappers) are black, and he makes references to racial issues. "In this white man world, we the ones chosen!" he says at one point, and the impression given is a similar one to Tom Buchanan's racial musings: that they have not paid the issue much thought, despite it evidently being important to them. This is the most obvious manifestation of an impression we frequently get of the characters in both texts, thus portraying the rich elite as shallow. It also makes MBDTF an interesting update of The Great Gatsby, as black Americans are not in anywhere near the same situation as they were when it was released; now many are rich themselves. The culture now may be different, but the album is nevertheless speaking about the same cultural issues as the book, thus making it an almost direct modern equivalent.