Posts tagged kanye west

Mr. West is In the Building

            Kanye West is an American rap artist and a paragon of excellence in the music industry. It is an understatement to say that Kanye has experienced success in the music industry with all five of his solo albums going platinum. Kanye West has not only dominated the hip-hop and rap genre of music, he has also spread his talents across the fashion industry as well. Although Kanye West has had several public blunders they do not overshadow everything he has achieved in his career.

            Kanye West grew up in Chicago, Illinois. Kanye’s parents divorced when he was three and he was raised by his mother. He would later describe how much his mother meant to him in his song, “Hey Mama” off of the album, Graduation. Kanye’s mother, Donda West, was the Chair of the English department at the Chicago State University. Unlike many other rap artists, Kanye West did not grow up in the ghetto. Kanye lived in a suburban, middle-class area. He attended Chicago State University but dropped out to pursue his true passion, music. Kanye produced beats for local rappers and got his big break when Sean Carter, more commonly known as Jay-Z, asked him to produce a song for him. His career only escalated from there. Kanye West had a typical childhood but everything that happened made him who he is today.

            Kanye is an exceedingly passionate man. His passion has brought him success in his music, but also has brought him trouble through the media. In 2005 at a Katrina Relief Concert Kanye West made controversial comments about President Bush. Instead of reading the script Kanye said, “Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Kanye later said that he was in a state of high emotion and said what felt right to him. In 2007 Kanye West’s mother died during a cosmetic surgery. Kanye was deeply affected by this and did not produce or release music for over a year following her death. Later that year he performed “Hey Mama” at the Grammy’s and broke down and cried during his performance. The most notorious Kanye West outbreak occurred at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. During Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech Kanye walked on stage and interrupted her. He grabbed the microphone mid speech and said “I’m going to let you finish… but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.” Taylor Swift started to cry on stage and did not finish her acceptance speech. Later in the night when Beyonce won Best Music Video of the Year, she invited Taylor on stage to finish her speech. Kanye is still criticized for his drunken mistake. In December of 2012 he announced to a crowd of over 5,000 fans that his girlfriend Kim Kardashian is having a child. Kanye puts passion into his social acts as well as his music.

            Everything Kanye has done in the music industry has been a success. Kanye’s music career began with him producing beats for rap artists to use on their songs. Beats that he produced for Jay-Z’s album The Blueprint were his most notable. It was on Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse that Kanye debuted rapping; shortly after Kanye was signed to Jay-Z’s Roc-a-fella Records. In 2004 Kanye released his first solo album, The College Dropout. This album featured hit songs such as “Jesus Walks” and “Through the Wire.” “Through the Wire” was a song that Kanye rapped with his jaw wired shut after he got in a terrible accident that he statistically should have died from. “Jesus Walks” is one of Kanye’s most renowned songs. In the song Kanye describes the role religion has played in his life. He writes “They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus/ That means guns, sex, lies, video tapes / But if I talk about God my record won’t get played…” The next solo album he released was Late Registration. The hit song “Gold Digger” was released on this album. This album was also home to the song “Diamonds from Sierra Leone.” This song discusses the blood diamond business in Sierra Leone and how it connects to America; a problem that people were not aware of. The album sold 2.3 million copies by the end of the year, was nominated for eight Grammys, and is certified triple platinum. Kanye West’s Graduation album released shortly before his mother passed away in 2007. This album went platinum and his song “Stronger” went platinum as a single. Kanye was nominated for eight Grammys and won four of them. Kanye’s next album, 808s and Heartbreak, was a heartfelt album that shattered the stereotypical ideas about the rap genre. This album had deep, intellectual, and well crafted verses about life and love. The only explicit language on the album is not even by Kanye, but by someone featured in his song “See You in My Nightmares.” Kanye’s single from the album, “Heartless,” talks about the things that occur following the end of a relationship. In his song “Street Lights,” Kanye talks about how memories and moments in life are like street lights, in that they are constantly passing us by. The last solo album he released was My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy. One of his deepest songs on the album was “Blame Game,” featuring John Legend. This song talks about when Kanye’s girlfriend Amber Rose left him for another man, after spending his money on cocaine. He also directed a twenty-seven-minute long video, in which the album is explained and played throughout the film. Kanye West’s music career has been well decorated with awards and sales springing from his deep, intellectual work.

            From designing clothes for Louis Vuitton to having every album he released go platinum, Kanye West has lived an incredibly successful life. After dropping out of college, he proved everyone wrong that it was not a mistake by becoming on of the best selling artists of his time. After being cheated on by his long time girlfriend and the loss of his mother he faced adversity and bounced back stronger than before. Kanye West is an incredible man who has influenced many lives through his music and art.

There is no Gucci I can buy
There is no Louis Vuitton to put on
There is no YSL that they could sell
To get my heart, out of this hell
And my mind, out of this jail

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