Music Criticism, Kanye West

Kanye West was born June 8, 1977 in Atlanta, Georgia. His music hit the surface in 2004 with his first album [The College Drop Out]. I don’t think any one has questioned the fact that Kanye West has earned the stardom status. Kanye has just produced his latest album [Graduation]. After completing his third straight album he is now being compared to 50 Cent. There is a lot of hype over the matter of when it’s all said and done who will go down as the better rapper. Some would say that conversations like this and numerous awards give him the right to be cocky and act like he is the best rapper. Kanye is known worldwide in the music industry for his rap and is the best hip hop artist in today’s era.

Kanye’s billboard rating is off the charts. [His song, stronger on [Graduation] has reached number 1 on the billboard in 2007. After 15 weeks it is still in the top 10 at number 6.] Kanye West is very modest because he continues to produce the same kind of music and doesn’t get influenced by other rappers and there changing styles. He not only produces the same style of music he produces hit songs on every album. [His song, “Good Life” is standing at number 8 on the billboard top 100 and has been in the top 10 for 8 straight weeks in 2007.]

Another positive about his new album is that he did not over do it on incorporating other artists on his tracks. He has used Lil Wayne, T-Pain and Mos Def in his album [Graduation].He used less rappers in this album making a bigger name for himself. With all the publicity and front cover magazine issues, it’s only right for him to incorporate his cockiness in his songs. [In the “Good Life” on [Graduation] he says, “And watch the money pile up, the good life”. He is definitely watching the money pile up over recent years coming out with album after album.]

Kanye is a star and he goes about his business in a smart way. Smart rappers of today will come out with a single from there album that will be a hit and make even more money. It doesn’t take a whole album to make it to stardom. You can draw a parallel to Soulja Boy who is only 17 years of age. He came out with a hit single “Crank that”. This song has made deep and lasting impressions on many people. It has been on hot 100 for 17 weeks and its peak is number 1 in 2007. And still after 17 weeks it stands at number 4. Despite coming out with hit singles, full albums have there benefits as well.

Kanye West has produced three albums which have all been very beneficial to his hip hop career. Kanye has received 6 Grammy’s, critical acclaim, and commercial success for his first two albums [College Drop Out] and [Late Registration]. Kanye West is defined by success and is the American dream as he piles up awards and hit albums year after year. Although Soulja Boy has made it big with his hit song “Crank That”, you cannot compare him to Kanye West. Soulja Boy may be young though he has only one song that is a hit. Kanye West is established and has piled up records so you can’t compare them. Once Soulja Boy comes out with more albums and stacks up awards he may be able to be compared to Kanye West. Soulja Boy’s lyrics are clearly more repetitive and less in depth then Kanye’s lyrics. Soulja Boy repeats “Now watch me YUUUAA! (Crank that Soulja Boy)”. He repeats this line four times in the first verse. Kanye’s lyrics are in depth and have more meaning to them as he states in his song “Jesus Walks” “We at war with terrorism, racism, and most of all we at war with ourselves.” Soulja Boy may be able to put a good beat in a song but his lyrics are clearly less meaningful than Kanye West.

Kanye writes lyrics that come from his heart and are in honor of people unlike Soulja Boy who strictly tries to make good club music. [Kanye wrote the song “Jesus Walks” in honor of his mother. He incorporated her into the song as he states “My momma used to say only Jesus can save us.” This makes his music modest and shows us it comes from his heart.] Few rappers can emphasize there feelings in life through there music as well as Kanye West. [In “Jesus Walks” he put his heart and soul into this song and speaks the truth. West says “God show me the way because the Devil trying to break me down”. He speaks from his heart and he uses his lyrics and hit songs to stay above the rim and continues to strive in the music world.] Despite his numerous awards, he has never let his fans down and continues to produce great records.

Despite Kanye having rough patches in his life he has used his problems to his benefit. The way Kanye continues to motivate himself to move forward despite his problems is what makes him the best rapper in the industry. On October 23, 2002 Kanye was driving home from the recording studio and fell asleep at the wheel. He got into a bad car accident, though it would seem this unfortunate scenario would only inspire him. [This happening inspired him to produce his first hit single “Through the Wire”. This hit song peaked at number 15 on billboard hot 100 in 2003.] Kanye has produced both hit singles and great albums. He has won an astounding 23 awards ranging from BET awards and Brit awards to Grammy awards. The great thing about Kanye is that he has been a rapper since 2000 and even though it took him 4 years to really hit the surface, he did it. He had the dedication and ambition to become a star. In 2005 he received a Brit award which named him the breakthrough artist of the year. Some would make the argument that each of Kanye’s albums is improving. [Graduation] received generally favorable reviews from music critics. Rolling Stones said that "none of the beats clobber you as immediately as "Jesus Walks" or “Gold Digger," but most of them improve on every listen: This is an album that you first like, then love." [His album [Graduation] sold 957,000 in its first week in the United States. This is the highest sales week for an album in 2007. He also topped his previous highest sales week which was 860,000 with [Late Registration].] This shows fans of the hip hop industry that Kanye is improving with every album which is another great characteristic of the most talented rapper in the industry.

For Kanye fans, they can only dream of what’s next in store for them. Kanye was given an award for best rapper of the year in 2007 and will continue to produce great music. [A billboard source stated “In the span of a few years, from 2001 to 2004, Kanye West from hip-hop beatmaker to worldwide hitmaker….” This is just one of the things that make Kanye all that more of an impressive rap star.] He went from having small parts in other people’s song to making his own hit albums in the span of three years. The motivation that Kanye feeds off of is putting him far above other rappers and is not only inspiring to himself but to others.