Kanye To The
Kanye. Yeezy. Mr. West. ‘Mari. Kan The Louis Vuitton Don. The LeBron of Rhyme. Whatever you want to call him, Kanye West is the greatest*. I wish I still remembered the first time I heard Kanye West as it’d make a good intro, but I don’t and it’s fine. Since around 7th grade I have listened to and loved Kanye West with all my heart. I first listened to sprinkles of his singles, just the a hit song or two from each of his albums, never delving further. At this time to me Kanye was a great, but just as good as my other favorite rappers I listened to, it wasn’t until I dug into his albums and listened to them front to back over and over did I realize his true greatness and began my fandom.
Kanye is the greatest musician of all time* for his variability and range. Nearly every one of his albums have a completely unique sound. College Dropout sampled soul and R&B hits in his now distinct high pitch sped up fashion. Late Registration took on more orchestral themes, being able to afford a full live orchestra from his newfound wealth, something no other rapper would think of doing. Graduation took a turn to the big anthemic, EDM sound that was perfect for large concerts, while keeping his signature introspection in songs like “Champion” and “Everything I Am”. After his girlfriend broke up with him and the recent passing of his mother, Kanye ventured into territory totally unfamiliar to rap with his release of 808s and Heartbreak, the emotional yet numbing album that anyone could cry to. Next is Kanye’s opus magnum, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, that holds masterful production and an extreme honesty where Kanye highlights his own weaknesses and insecurities, all while boasting about his black balls on the track before. Next is Yeezus, which hosts the harshest and most abrasize sounds and lyrics all while being extremely minimalistic; it takes a few listens to get used to and fully appreciate, but those first uncomfortable listens are quite worth it.Finally (hopefully not forever), is The Life of Pablo, which in my opinion hosts every sound he’s made to date, and after his longest break from album making since his first in 2004 I find quite poetic and makes me excited for his next album whenever that will be.
On top of creating innovative and influential music, Kanye West is influential in everyday life outside of music, especially his influence on fashion. Kanye is most known for his line of shoes, the Yeezys, which is currently produced through Adidas. Being able to produce your own clothing line through a major label like Adidas is impressive on its own, but Yeezys manage to have a resale value of over a thousand dollars. Whether the shoes are truly worth thousands or not is irrelevant. What is significant is that many people are willing to use that money for Kanye’s product over another’s product. Kanye’s fashion influence is most visible in the rap game from when he first joined the hip-hop industry to now. In the early 2000s, before Kanye really made a name in the hip-hop, the greatest rappers really didn’t worry much about high fashion; Jay-Z wore baggy tees and a simple snapback hat. After Kanye’s insistence on being fashionable, rappers nowadays are much more fashionably aware and mention fashion and labels much more in their songs. Examples are A$AP Rocky, 2 Chainz, Drake, and many more.
Now that Kanye has settled into his family and fashion business more, I have many doubts as to how much longer his music career will go on for. However, for his variability I’ve explained above, I’ll never get tired of his music and whatever mood I find myself in the future, he’ll have something for me to snack on. Also, even if he stops making music, I will still be able to appreciate his influences outside of that realm AND have the pleasure of observing the w a v e s he’s made in many spheres of life into the future. If you aren’t convinced, its because of the word limit.*
*In my meaningless opinion.
Kanye is the greatest musician of all time* for his variability and range. Nearly every one of his albums have a completely unique sound. College Dropout sampled soul and R&B hits in his now distinct high pitch sped up fashion. Late Registration took on more orchestral themes, being able to afford a full live orchestra from his newfound wealth, something no other rapper would think of doing. Graduation took a turn to the big anthemic, EDM sound that was perfect for large concerts, while keeping his signature introspection in songs like “Champion” and “Everything I Am”. After his girlfriend broke up with him and the recent passing of his mother, Kanye ventured into territory totally unfamiliar to rap with his release of 808s and Heartbreak, the emotional yet numbing album that anyone could cry to. Next is Kanye’s opus magnum, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, that holds masterful production and an extreme honesty where Kanye highlights his own weaknesses and insecurities, all while boasting about his black balls on the track before. Next is Yeezus, which hosts the harshest and most abrasize sounds and lyrics all while being extremely minimalistic; it takes a few listens to get used to and fully appreciate, but those first uncomfortable listens are quite worth it.Finally (hopefully not forever), is The Life of Pablo, which in my opinion hosts every sound he’s made to date, and after his longest break from album making since his first in 2004 I find quite poetic and makes me excited for his next album whenever that will be.
On top of creating innovative and influential music, Kanye West is influential in everyday life outside of music, especially his influence on fashion. Kanye is most known for his line of shoes, the Yeezys, which is currently produced through Adidas. Being able to produce your own clothing line through a major label like Adidas is impressive on its own, but Yeezys manage to have a resale value of over a thousand dollars. Whether the shoes are truly worth thousands or not is irrelevant. What is significant is that many people are willing to use that money for Kanye’s product over another’s product. Kanye’s fashion influence is most visible in the rap game from when he first joined the hip-hop industry to now. In the early 2000s, before Kanye really made a name in the hip-hop, the greatest rappers really didn’t worry much about high fashion; Jay-Z wore baggy tees and a simple snapback hat. After Kanye’s insistence on being fashionable, rappers nowadays are much more fashionably aware and mention fashion and labels much more in their songs. Examples are A$AP Rocky, 2 Chainz, Drake, and many more.
Now that Kanye has settled into his family and fashion business more, I have many doubts as to how much longer his music career will go on for. However, for his variability I’ve explained above, I’ll never get tired of his music and whatever mood I find myself in the future, he’ll have something for me to snack on. Also, even if he stops making music, I will still be able to appreciate his influences outside of that realm AND have the pleasure of observing the w a v e s he’s made in many spheres of life into the future. If you aren’t convinced, its because of the word limit.*
*In my meaningless opinion.
Hey Van! I thought this was an interesting post and I enjoyed hearing about your thoughts on Kanye and his influence on hip-hop and fashion. While I heard a lot about Kanye and your voice comes through, I didn't get to hear much about you. Why do you like Kanye and connect with him so much? How has listening to Kanye changed you? Perhaps an interesting way to go would be to view your life through each albums. Whatever you choose, make sure to include something personal to help me understand you (not Kanye) better. Good luck!
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