Kanye West
Kanye West |
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Kanye West (born June 8 1977) is a six-time Grammy Award-winning American producer/rapper.
Biography
West was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and moved to Blue Island, Illinois with his family when he was three years old. His father, Ray West, was an award-winning photo-journalist at the time, and now works as a pastoral marriage counselor.[1][2] Kanye's mother, Dr. Donda West, worked as the Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University before retiring to serve as Kanye's manager.
After attending Columbia College Chicago, a Chicago art school, West attended Chicago State University, but eventually dropped out in order to begin working on his music career. While attending school, West produced for local artists. He later gained fame by producing hit singles for major hip-hop/R&B artists, including Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, Cam'ron, Janet Jackson, Brandy, Talib Kweli, Dilated Peoples, Ludacris, Carter Hays, and John Legend.
West's style of production utilized pitched-up vocal samples, usually from soul songs, with his own drums and instruments. The first song he produced featuring vocal samples was "This Can't Be Life," a track from Jay-Z's The Dynasty: Roc La Familia. Kanye admitted that Wu-Tang Clan producer RZA influenced him in his style;[3].
Kanye is also credited with revitalizing the careers of such rappers as Common and Twista.
2001
Kanye West's sound featured heavily on Jay-Z's critically-acclaimed album The Blueprint, released September 11 2001, most notably on the lead single "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)". West soon became a major name in hip-hop production following the release of the album, but due to his appearance and overall style, struggled to find a way to get his own voice on record. Jay-Z admitted that Roc-A-Fella was initially reluctant to support West as a rapper, claiming that he saw him as a producer first and foremost, and multiple record companies put him aside because he was not a former street hustler and did not wear stereotypical hip-hop apparel. He was therefore not marketable the way other rappers were.
2002-2004
On October 23, 2002, Kanye was involved in a car crash after he fell asleep at the wheel while driving home from the recording studio. The crash left his jaw fractured in three places, and he barely survived. The crash also provided inspiration for West's first single, "Through the Wire," which he recorded two weeks after the incident while his mouth was still wired shut. Following his recovery, Kanye became a born again Christian, crediting Jesus for his quick recovery. West's faith is apparent in many of his songs, such as "Jesus Walks," which became a staple at his benefit performances, such as the Live 8 concert. These songs were featured on West's debut album, The College Dropout, which was released on Roc-a-Fella Records in February 2004, and went on to receive critical acclaim. The album also defined the style for which West would become known, including clever wordplay and creative sampling.
Kanye was involved in a financial dispute over Royce da 5'9"'s song "Heartbeat", produced by West and released on Build & Destroy: The Lost Sessions. Kanye maintains that Royce never paid for the beat but recorded to it and released it; hearing him on the beat, the original customers decided not to buy it from West. After the disagreement, West vowed to never work with Royce again.[1]
2005
On August 30th, 2005, Kanye West released his second album Late Registration. Reviews ranged from glowing ("Late Registration is an undeniable triumph" -Rolling Stone) to mixed ("As ornate and bloated as West's ego". -Spin magazine Sep 2005, p.99). With the help of producer Jon Brion, West expanded his sound on Late Registration utilizing samples in different ways along with compositions of strings and other sounds. [2] The first two singles from Late Registration were "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" (which contains samples from Shirley Bassey's "Diamonds Are Forever") and "Gold Digger" featuring Jamie Foxx (which contains samples from Ray Charles's "I Got a Woman." The album went on to sell over 860,000 copies in its first week[citation needed], and earned him eight Grammy Award nominations including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for the song "Gold Digger". West announced that his third and fourth albums will be titled Graduation and A Good Ass Job, respectively.
2006
In January 2006, West again sparked controversy when he appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in the image of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns. Later that month, he suggested in Playboy that he'd be a griot in a modern day Bible claiming, "I bring up historical subjects in a way that makes kids want to learn about them." Seeing himself as an inspirational speaker, West claimed he would be "a part of the Bible" citing he is "definitely in the history books already."
After the 2006 Grammy nominations were released, West said he would "really have a problem" if he didn't win the Album of the Year award because of the comments, saying: "I don't care what I do, I don't care how much I stunt — you can never take away from the amount of work I put into it. I don't want to hear all of that politically correct stuff." [3]. West won several Grammy awards, including Best Rap Album, but did not win the Album of the Year Award.
On August 5th, 2006 Kanye headlined the second day of the Lollapalooza music festival in his hometown of Chicago.
On August 11th, 2006, People Magazine reported that Kanye became engaged to his girlfriend Alexis while spending two weeks overseas with her. [4]
Political views
On July 2, 2005, West appeared on the Philadelphia bill of Live 8, using the global platform to refer to "man-made diseases placed in African communities," a reference to his belief that AIDS was introduced to Africa via the CHAT polio vaccine. [verification needed] He also accused American politicians of insensitivity, claiming they "...[ride] home in their Benzes and Bentleys while poor Africans starve."
In the song "Crack Music", he raps, "How [did] we stop the Black Panthers?/Ronald Reagan cooked up an answer." In the second verse, he raps, "Who gave Saddam anthrax?/George Bush got the answer."
Demonstrating his views against George W. Bush, in a 2006 live orchestral performance of "All Falls Down" (later released on "Late Orchestration "), Kanye replaced "the White man gets paid off of all of that", with "George Bush gets paid off of all of that".
On August 22, 2005, the MTV special All Eyes on Kanye West aired, in which West spoke out against homophobia in Hip-Hop, claiming that hip hop has always been about "speaking your mind and about breaking down barriers, but everyone in hip-hop discriminates against gay people." He then reflected on a personal experience. He said that he had a "turning point" when he realized one of his cousins was gay. He said, regarding this experience, "This is my cousin. I love him and I've been discriminating against gays." He went on to say that "not just hip-hop, but America just discriminates against gay people." He concluded by saying "I wanna just come on TV, and just tell my rappers, just tell my friends, 'Yo, stop it.'" He also drew comparison between African Americans' struggle for civil rights and today's gay rights movement.[4]
The following year, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, West further expounded his experiences with and views on the relationship between the black and gay communities:
I think in the daily life of a black male, we gay-bash way more than we disrespect women. We would call a gay guy a fag to his face. But if we walked up to a woman and said Aiight, bitch! we would know that was disrespectful. I remember five years ago I was in this clothing store in Greenwich Village with my old girlfriend. I said the word fag kind of loud and there were some gay dudes in the store. My girlfriend was like, Yo, c'mon, step into the new millennium. Well, my level of consciousness has since raised. And I actually think that standing up for gays was even more crazy than bad-mouthing the president. In the black community someone could label you gay and bring your career down. But that was me showing what black people are really about today, or at least what we need to be about.
Hurricane Katrina Controversy
On September 2, 2005, during a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina relief on NBC, A Concert for Hurricane Relief, West was a featured speaker. Controversy arose when West was presenting, as he deviated from the prepared script:
I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family, it says, 'They're looting.' You see a white family, it says, 'They're looking for food.' And, you know, it's been five days [waiting for federal help] because most of the people are black. And even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite because I've tried to turn away from the TV because it's too hard to watch. I've even been shopping before even giving a donation, so now I'm calling my business manager right now to see what is the biggest amount I can give, and just to imagine if I was down there, and those are my people down there. So anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can help — with the way America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible. I mean, the Red Cross is doing everything they can. We already realize a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way — and they've given them permission to go down and shoot us! (Black People)
Mike Myers, whom West was paired with to present, spoke next and continued as normal by reading the script. Once it was West's turn to speak again, he said, "George Bush doesn't care about black people".
Although the camera quickly cut away, West's comments still reached all of the U.S.
West and Myers would meet again on a brief sketch on Saturday Night Live, in which Myers jokes that since the telethon, the government has stripped him of his American citizenship ("still got my Canadian citizenship to fall back on," Myers joked,) and placed him under heavy government surveillance. As West moves on to his scheduled performance, Myers breaks down.
A week after the event, Kanye was booed by 50,000 fans in Boston when he appeared via satellite from L.A. playing at the halftime show at the opening game of the 2005 NFL football season when the New England Patriots faced the Oakland Raiders.
GOOD Music
Main article: GOOD Music
"GOOD Music" (an acronym for Getting Out Our Dreams), is Kanye West's own record label. Artists on the GOOD Music label include John Legend, Common, GLC, Consequence, Sa-Ra, and Fonzworth Bentley. West is currently working on upcoming albums from these artists.
Pastelle Clothing
Main article: Pastelle Clothing
In September 2005, West announced that he will release his Pastelle Clothing line in spring 2006. [5] The clothing line has been delayed until the fall of 2006. [5]
Awards
2006 Grammy Awards
On February 8, 2006, West won three Grammy Awards after being nominated for eight, alongside Mariah Carey and his own protégé, John Legend. At the ceremony, West performed "Gold Digger" with Jamie Foxx and members of the Florida A&M Marching 100 marching band. He also performed "Touch the Sky" after an appearance by long-time friend and comedian DeRay Davis, who revisited his character as the leader of the fictional fraternity "Broke Phi Broke" from Late Registration. His nominations included (Awards won in bold):
- Album of the Year, for Late Registration
- Album of the Year, for contributions to Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi
- Record of the Year, for "Gold Digger" (featuring Jamie Foxx) (from Late Registration)
- Best Rap Album, for Late Registration
- Best Rap Song, for "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" (from Late Registration)
- Best Rap Solo Performance for Gold Digger (from Late Registration)
- Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, for "They Say" (featuring John Legend and Common) (off Common's Be)
- Best R&B Song, for co-writing Alicia Keys' "Unbreakable"
2005 Grammy Awards
In 2005, Kanye West received ten Grammy Award nominations, making him the most nominated artist of 2005. At the 47th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony held on February 13, 2005, West won Best Rap Album for his album The College Dropout, Best Rap Song, along with long-time friend and rapper Rhymefest, for his single "Jesus Walks", and Best R&B Song for producing Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name." West performed at the show alongside John Legend, Mavis Staples and the Blind Boys of Alabama.
His 2005 Grammy nominations were (Awards won in bold):
- Album of the Year, for The College Dropout
- Album of the Year, for contributions to The Diary of Alicia Keys
- Song of the Year, for writing "Jesus Walks", along with co-writer Rhymefest off The College Dropout
- Best New Artist
- Best Rap Album, for The College Dropout
- Best Rap Song, for writing "Jesus Walks", along with co-writer Rhymefest off The College Dropout
- Best R&B Song, for co-writing Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name" off The Diary of Alicia Keys
- Best Rap Solo Performance, for "Through The Wire," off The College Dropout
- Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, for "All Falls Down (featuring Syleena Johnson" off The College Dropout
- Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, for "Slow Jamz" (featuring Twista and Jamie Foxx) off The College Dropout
West's 2005 Grammy Acceptance Speech:
Y'all might as well get the music ready 'cause this is gonna take a while. When I had my accident, I found out at that moment, nothing in life is promised except death. If you have the opportunity to play this game called life, you have to appreciate every moment. A lot of people don't appreciate their moment until it's passed. And then you got to tell those Al Bundy stories: 'You remember when I..." Right now, it's my time, and my moment, thanks to the fans, thanks to the accident, thanks to God, thanks to Roc-A-Fella, Jay-Z, Dame Dash, G, my mother, Rhymefest, everyone that's helped me. And I plan to celebrate, and scream and pop champagne every chance I get, 'cause I'm at the Grammys baby! I know everybody asked me the question, they wanted to know, 'What, Kan, I know he's gonna wile out, I know he's gonna do something crazy.' Everybody wanted to know what I would do, if I didn't win... I guess we'll never know.
Others
His work with pop icon Janet Jackson also earned him a Grammy nomination for her single "I Want You," produced by West, which was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
After losing the Best New Artist award to Gretchen Wilson at the 2004 American Music Awards, West went on a rant against the music industry, claiming "I was the best new artist this year," and "I got 10 Grammy nominations, and won three — even if I should have won all 10" [6].
Kanye West was named 'Best International Male' at the 2006 Brit Awards in London. He also gave what was generally considered one of the standout performances of the ceremony[citation needed], performing a medley of Diamonds from Sierra Leone, Gold Digger, and Touch The Sky. During Gold Digger, he danced with over seventy female dancers, who were painted gold and dressed in gold bikinis.
West has opened up U2 on quite a few dates during their Vertigo International tour and is set to open 3 dates for the Rolling Stones on their 2006 "A Bigger Bang" Tour.
Discography
Albums
| Album cover | Album information |
|---|---|
The College Dropout
| |
Late Registration
| |
 |
Graduation
|
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | US Pop 100 | US R&B/Hip-Hop | US Rap | UK | AUS | |||
| 2004 | "Slow Jamz" (featuring Twista & Jamie Foxx) | #1 | - | #1 | #1 | #3 | #26 | The College Dropout / Kamikaze |
| 2004 | "Through the Wire" | #15 | - | #6 | #4 | #9 | - | The College Dropout |
| 2004 | "All Falls Down" (featuring Syleena Johnson) | #7 | - | #4 | #2 | #10 | - | The College Dropout |
| 2004 | "Jesus Walks" | #11 | - | #2 | #3 | #18 | - | The College Dropout |
| 2004 | "The New Workout Plan" | - | - | #59 | - | - | - | The College Dropout |
| 2005 | "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" | #48 | #40 | #21 | #11 | #8 | - | Late Registration |
| 2005 | "Gold Digger" (featuring Jamie Foxx) | #1 | #1 | #1 | #1 | #2 | #1 | Late Registration |
| 2005 | "Heard 'Em Say" (featuring Adam Levine) | #28 | #34 | #12 | #17 | #22 | #27 | Late Registration |
| 2006 | "Touch The Sky" (featuring Lupe Fiasco) | #41 | #42 | #28 | #10 | #8 | #10 | Late Registration |
| 2006 | "Drive Slow" (featuring Paul Wall & GLC) | #42 | #45 | #21 | - | - | - | Late Registration/The Peoples Champ |
Guest appearances
Kanye has collaborated with numerous artists, including Twista on songs such as "Overnight Celebrity" and "Slow Jamz" (also featuring Jamie Foxx) — the latter would reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, becoming the first number one hit for all artists involved. Other songs Kanye has featured on include:
- "Welcome 2 Chicago" by Abstract Mindstate feat. Kanye West (2001)
- "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" by Consequence feat. Kanye West (2003)
- "Higher" by Do or Die feat. Kanye West (2003)
- "Oh Oh" by Melbeatz feat. Kanye West (2004)
- "So Soulful" by Consequence feat. Kanye West, Khayree, & John Legend (2004)
- "03' Til Infinity" by Consequence feat. Kanye West (2004)
- "Take It As A Loss" by Consequence feat. Kanye West (2004)
- "I See Now" by Consequence feat. Kanye West, & Little Brother (2004)
- "Where You At" by Kanye West feat. The Game & Ludacris (2004)
- "Getting Out The Game" by Consequence feat. Kanye West (2004)
- "Gettin' It In" by Jadakiss feat. Kanye West (2004)
- "Turn Yourself In" by Consequence feat. Kanye West (2004)
- "Get By (Remix)" Talib Kweli feat. Mos Def, Jay Z, Kanye West, and Busta Rhymes (2004)
- "Overnight Celebrity" by Twista feat. Kanye West (2004)
- "This Way" by Dilated Peoples feat. Kanye West (2004)
- "Changing Lanes" by CHOPS feat. Kanye West (2004)
- "Down And Out" by Cam'ron feat. Kanye West and Syleena Johnson (2004)
- "The Food" by Common feat. Kanye West (2004)
- "Talk About Our Love" by Brandy feat. Kanye West (2004)
- "Confessions Part 2 (Remix)" by Usher feat. Kanye West, Shyne and Twista (2004)
- "I Gotta Love" by Jin feat. Kanye West (October 2004)
- "Selfish" by Slum Village feat. Kanye West and John Legend (2004)
- "Pusha Man" by Bump J feat. Kanye West, & Rick James (2004)
- "Pusha Man Remix" by Bump J feat. Kanye West, Keyshia Cole, & Rhymefest (2004)
- "The Way That U Do" by Carl Thomas feat. Kanye West (2004)
- "Talk About Our Love" by Brandy feat. Kanye West (2004)
- "Crazy" by Aura feat. Kanye West, & Malice (2004 or 05)
- "Fly Away" by Miri Ben-Ari feat. Fabolous, Kanye West, & Musiq Soulchild (2005)
- "Number One" by John Legend feat. Kanye West (2005)
- "Go" by Common feat. Kanye West (2005)
- "Stay the Night" by Mariah Carey (produced by Kanye West) (2005)
- "Extravaganza" by Jamie Foxx feat. Kanye West (2005)
- "Brand New" by Rhymefest feat. Kanye West (February 2006)
- "Tell Me When To Go (Remix)" by E-40 feat. Kanye West, The Game, and Ice Cube (2006)
- "Back Like That (Remix)" by Ghostface feat. Kanye West and Ne-Yo (2006)
- "Side 2 Side" by Three 6 Mafia feat. Kanye West and Bow Wow (2006)
- "More" by Rhymefest feat. Kanye West (2006)
- "Rise of the Phynx. Jet Phynx
- "Number One" by Pharrell feat. Kanye West (2006)
- "Grammy Family" by DJ Khaled & Consequence feat. Kanye West, & John Legend (2006)
Mixtapes
Note: The following mixtapes are compilations of tracks put together by various Hip-Hop DJs. Not all of them are directly affiliated with Kanye West
Motion Picture Soundtracks
Kanye West has interpreted the theme music for "Mission Impossible 3". He has also recorded a song ("Impossible" featuring Keisha Cole and Twista) for the movie. West performed Impossible on TRL with Keisha Cole and Twista.
Trivia
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- In his home, he has paid for a painting on his ceiling similar to Michelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, saying, "It's gonna have over 50 cherubs and saints." .[6]
- West Lived in China with his mother when he was 10.
- Kanye was an English major at Chicago State University.
- His second album Late Registration sold over 904,000 copies in its first week.
- His statement "George Bush doesn't care about black people" was satirized on Arrested Development. GOB's puppet Franklin Delano Bluth wore a t-shirt with the slogan "George Bush doesn't care about black puppets" in one of the series' final episodes.
- West started his career as a ghost-producer. (Producing songs by proxy)
- Before West became well-known, he had produced a track for The Madd Rapper featuring Eminem called "Stir Crazy."
- West is known for directly mimicking the lyrics of other rappers. A portion of his song "I Need to Know" imitates Eminem's "Dead Wrong"; West's "Drop Dead Gorgeous" borrows lyrics from Notorious B.I.G.'s verse from the same song; and "Doin' Fine" apes an intentional stutter ("wa-wa-wait") from Onyx's "Slam."
- He performed karate demonstrations outside his house at a young age to make money. His mother told him to stop, telling him that it wasn't nice to take money from people who were less fortunate.[7][8]
- West opened for U2 on their Vertigo Tour.
References
- ^ Jones, Steve. "Kanye West, hip-hop's writer-in-residence". USA Today. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
- ^ Davis, Kimberly (April 2005). "Kanye West hip-hop's new big shot". Ebony. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
- ^ "Black History - Biographies - Kanye West". Newsmakers, Thomson Gale. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
- ^ "Kanye West calls for end to gay bashing". USA Today. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
{{cite web}}: Text "2005-08-18" ignored (help) - ^ Rae, Kelly (2005-09-09). "Stuff Style Icon of the Year". Stuff Magazine. Retrieved 2006-08-08.
"Now that I have a Grammy under my belt and Late Registration is finished, I am ready to launch my clothing line next spring." - ^ "Kanye opts for elaborate ceiling". 2004-02-08. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
- ^ "Kanye West's karate busking". FemaleFirst.co.uk. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
- ^ "Kanye West knows karate". The Superficial. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
See also
External links
- Official Site
- Allmusic.com artist page
- Kanye West on ARTISTdirect.com
- Kanye West discography at MusicBrainz
- Video of Kanye West's controversial comments on Hurricane Katrina & President Bush on YouTube
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