Kanye West’s MBDTF Studio Session Rules

Kanye West’s funny yet inspiring 12 studio rules from the My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy sessions.

During the recording sessions for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West had 12 studio rules printed on white printer paper and tapped across a wall of the studio him and his collaborators were recording at. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was recorded from 2009-2010 with most of the album recorded in 2010 and also released that same year.

Pusha T, who was featured on two songs on the album (So Appalled & Runaway), spoke on the experience working with Kanye saying,

“Once we hit the studio, it was just all focus on the music. All focus was one hundred percent on the music. There were rules: no Twittering, no e-mailing, no blog-watching – no stupid questions. All of this stuff is posted all over the walls. A wall of questions, for inspirations. ‘What would Mobb Deep do?’ All types of stuff.”

Pusha T

via Rappers In The Stu

Kanye West’s 12 studio rules from MBDTF sessions:

1. NO TWEETING
2. NO HIPSTER HATS
3. ALL LAPTOPS ON MUTE
4. JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP SOMETIMES
5. NO BLOGGING
6. NO TWEETING PLEASE THANK YOU (AGAIN)
7. NO NEGATIVE BLOG VIEWING
8. DON’T TELL ANYONE ANYTHING ABOUT ANYTHING WE ARE DOING!
9. NO RACKING FOCUS WHEN MUSIC IS BEING PLAYED OR MUSIC IS BEING MADE
10. TOTAL FOCUS ON THIS PROJECT IN ALL STUDIOS
11. NO ACOUSTIC GUITAR IN THE STUDIO
12. NO PICTURES

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was recorded in multiple places across America, including Avex Recording in Honolulu, Electric Lady & Platinum Sound in New York, and Glenwood Place in Burbank, California. There is no confirmation of which exact studio the photo with the rules was taken at.

If you’re looking to book a studio near you, Stufinder is a good place to start.