"Dark Fantasy" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Kanye West from his fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010). The song serves as the opening track of the album, and was written by West, Ernest Wilson, Jeff Bhasker, Mike Dean and Robert Diggs. It features an opening narrative delivered by rapper Nicki Minaj, and singers Teyana Taylor and Justin Vernon contribute to the song's hook and provide background vocals. The track heavily samples "In High Places" by Mike Oldfield (sung by Jon Anderson). The song introduces several of the themes presented on the album and features numerous pop culture references, a gospel-inspired production style, and piano-driven composition.

The song received acclaim from music critics, who praised the song as a strong opener to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, complementing West's vocal delivery and the song's production. Despite not being released as a single, the hype generated by the release of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy caused the song to enter the Billboard Hot 100 at position 60. It was the opening song of West's 2011 setlist at the Coachella Music Festival, and was performed at the 'Vevo Presents GOOD Music' musical venue. "Dark Fantasy" was utilized in the opening sequence of West's short film Runaway, in an extended scene where West drives down an atmospheric forest road.

Like the majority of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, the song was recorded in Oahu, Hawaii. Following several media controversies, West decided to record his next album in a reclusive manner only working with artists he considered himself familiar with. Justin Vernon of the group Bon Iver appears on backing vocals of the track and is the first voice heard on the album. West was a fan of Bon Iver's album For Emma, Forever Ago and invited him down to Hawaii to record with him. While working there, the two became friends and reportedly produced 10 songs during their sessions together. Vernon described the process as highly artistic in nature, stating that the fourteen-hour day recording schedule allowed for a lot of fun and creativity.

The song features production by RZA of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, who commented that "Dark Fantasy" was one of the many compositions that he and West collaborated on. According to him, West had a "stack of beats" and that he tried to be as productive as possible with so much material already recorded. The style of composition is deeply influenced by producer RZA, who introduces his "bring-the-ruckus" aesthetic to the song production. Nicki Minaj was asked to open the song with a spoken word introduction, a favor she was excited to perform because she was a fan of Jay-Z, a rapper who West was recording with at the time. Minaj described both Jay-Z and West as "icons", and stated that she was blessed to be working with them.

Producer No I.D. spoke about the history of the beat, and noted that it was offered to both Drake and Jay-Z before West finally decided to use it himself. According to him, producers RZA and Pete Rock had already recorded certain portions of the song, and that he and West recorded the chorus parts. Following that, he mused "then Nicki did the intro and it went crazy. That’s one of my favorite records, just because of all the emotions that came with it.”

The song is introduced with a contribution from one of Minaj's alter egos; Martha Zolanski, who appears to be a rewording of the introduction to writer Roald Dahl's poetic rework of "Cinderella". West begins his verse with the refrain "I fantasized 'bout this back in Chicago". It introduces themes referenced on the majority of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, including comments on decadence and hedonism, with West musing how "the plan was to drink until the pain was over / but what's worse, the pain or the hangover?". His lyrics on the track contain numerous musical and cultural references, including those to the song "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)", the Lamborghini Murciélago sports car, rapper Nas, fashion designer Phoebe Philo, short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", the band the Kings Of Leon and their song "Sex on Fire", singers Celine Dion and Leona Lewis, and television character Steve Urkel. The song contains the line "too many Urkels on your team / that's why your wins low", a double entendre. The "Winslows" were the family Urkel lived with on the show Family Matters, with the alternative meaning touching upon how his opponents' "wins are low". The chorus contains the line "can we get much higher?", another inquiry that is brought up during much of the proceeding album. The song samples a portion of "In High Places" by Mike Oldfield, a pop rock song from 1983 from the album Crises.

West raps in a highly melodic manner, almost singing some of his verses, over the brooding production style. The production style has been defined as having several similarities with West's prior composition styles. AbsolutePunk's Drew Beringer stated felt that the song sounded like West was "sampling his own source material" on the song, and felt that West embraced a "baroque instrumentation" on the track.

"Dark Fantasy" received acclaim by critics. The Washington Post's Chris Richards described the song as having "mutant gospel crescendos" and called it epic in nature. MTV News praised the delivery of Minaj's verse, calling it structured like a nursery rhyme, musing that it "sets the tone for the song (which is intense and hallucinatory) and the album". Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield praised the lyricism, describing it as witty, and wrote "in 'Dark Fantasy,' West rhymes "mercy, mercy me, that Murcielago" with "diablo," "bravado" and "My chick in that new Phoebe Philo/So much head, I woke up in Sleepy Hollow. It's some genius stuff." David Amidon of PopMatters felt that West's vocals were "layered a baker’s dozen different ways" and described the production as synthetic in nature.