Kanye West – An inspirational story

June 8th 1977, the date doesn’t immediately jump of the page does it. Maybe even that day nobody knew how significant it was, that it would be the date hip hop and music were to be given a legend, a word not often used about a black artist. That was the day little Mr West woke to the world. Without even the ability to speak, never mind rap Kanye Omari West took his first breath. Who could have known this child would grow up to be the greatest rapper, producer, author and singer hip hop had ever seen. Kanye would see events that shape his life from this moment, his parents divorce, a near fatal car crash and a failure in college to most these events would break a person for Kanye West he used all of them to power him on to becoming the number 1 artist in the world. The ultimate pain would be to come from the death of Kanye’s friend, manager and mother Dr Donda West. To a man who has given us so much as humans as much as fans we feel his pain.

The events of Kanye’s life though gave the world a blessing in music, beats and style. The College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation and his new album 808’s and Heartbreak would scale the charts and give Kanye the recognition he deserves for being the number 1 performer and artist alive. West is not just a performer though, a producer too, running his own record company GOOD Music and is also noted for his artistic talent both in his videos and visuals as well as his dress sense (He was voted Vanity Fair’s Best Dressed Male). West’s trademark ‘Dropout Bear’ is recognised around the world.

Kanye West first rose to fame producing for Roc-A-Fella Records, with his amazing work on the classic Jay-Z album The Blueprint as well as smash hit singles from Alicia Keys, Ludacris and Janet Jackson. His style, producing originally utilized samples from wonderful soul songs then adding his own drums, beats and instrumentals, was an instant hit. Soon he would broaden his palette successfully expressing influences from 70’s R&B to Synth-pop and even classical music. He is a unique talent.

Life and Career

Like most greats Kanye’s life would feel heartache and pain. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, where he lived with both his parents Ray and Donda, little |Kanye would see his parents divorce aged just 3. He and his mother moved to Chicago Illinois to start a new life. His father Ray West is where Kanye gets his strong political influence. He was a former Black Panther and was one of the first black photojournalists at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is now a Christian Counsellor. You can see in Kanye’s determination not to let barriers stop him and his fight for the black people of America to be heard his fathers influence, even making reference to the Black Panthers in several songs. Kanye’s mother gave him the gift he would use so well in later life. Words. His mother Dr Donda West was a professor of English and chair at the English Department at Chicago State University before retiring to serve as Kanye’s manager. She was to become his closest friend and most trusted family member.

Kanye himself has a little bit of school spirit from his mother when he studied art at the American Academy for Art. A talented pupil he let his grades slip and dropped out this event was to influence his first album ‘The College Dropout’. His love for music and the need to share it with the world meant Kanye was always going to divert from his school career, for which the world would be glad. The artistic qualities he found though were to serve him later in his career when his videos would become famous not only for his music but the graphical content and artistry contained in them by Kanye himself and Hype Williams. While still at school West was already making beats and producing for local artists and it wasn’t long before bigger names were calling. Kanye started producing for major hip hop/R&B artists Jay-Z, Talib Kwelli, Cam’ron, Paul Wall, Common, Mobb Deep, Jermaine Dupri, Scarface, The Game, Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson and John Legend all lined up to utilise his extraordinary talent. He even ‘ghost produced’ for his mentor Deric Angelettie on ‘last call’ and Nas’ ‘Poppa Was a Player’

The College Dropout

23rd October 2002, Kanye’s world was about to get a massive jolt. West was involved in a near fatal car accident while driving home from the recording studio. The accident would leave him with a partial loss of sight in one eye but instead of scarring him mentally Kanye used this to power his belief that he was here for a reason. That somehow angels watched over him that day and belief was to play a huge part in his life

“That, that don’t kill me, can only make me stronger”

Kanye West

This gave him the inspiration for is first single ‘Through the Wire’ and some belief the inspiration for ‘Jesus Walks’ which also featured on The College Dropout Album. They album was pure Kanye, stylish with distinctive wordplay and sampling which would become associated with his name. The album was a huge hit critically and commercially and some believe still represents some of his greatest work, what it lacked in polished production it made up for and raw beats and soul, it also featured the classics ‘All Falls Down’, ‘The New Workout Plan’ as well as the number one hit with Twister ‘Slow Jamz’

Late Registration

Late Registration was released in 2005 in a whirlwind of expectation and anticipation. Could Kanye match his previous efforts? The answer was simple, yes! Late Registration was an unparallel success. Kanye was now flying high and ready to touch the sky. The first to singles released were monumental hits ‘Diamonds from Sierra Leone’ hit home a hard beat with a powerful political message and was followed soon after by one of hip hops greatest all time anthems ‘Gold Digga’ featuring vocals from Shirley Bassey and Jamie Foxx. In an instant Kanye could take a nations breath away with a message then blow us away with a playful catchy masterpiece about one of his true loves, the opposite sex. Pointing out their faults but admitting he loved them anyway Kanye went from political campaigner to the world’s heart in one step. No other artist on the planet had such mass appeal. Men, women, children of all races and religions couldn’t help but love his music. In it’s first week Late Registration sold almost a million copies with guest appearances from a huge list of talented artists Lupe Fiasco, Jamie Foxx, Adam Levine, Paul Wall, GLC, Cam’ron, Common, Brandy, Nas, Jay-Z, Consequence, The Game and Really Doe.

Graduation

As things were on the up for Kanye his talent shone brighter and his humorous nature seen in The College Dropout came back and his personality began to flow through into his music. He teamed up with Japanese Hip Hop group Teriyaki Boyz to produce the single ‘I still love her’ a reference to Common’s classic 1994 single ‘I used to love H.E.R’. Then during a radio show he did an impromptu freestyle to the popular ‘Throw some D’s’. Kanye’s version became more popular than the original and showed his mischievous side given the original song was about car rims and his about his beloved D-Cup breasts. As the popularity grew Kanye made a spoof video where he played his ‘old ass cousin’.

In July 2007, Kanye famously changed his release date of his album graduation to co-incide with the release of 50 cents album Curtis. This was Kanye as his prickly fun loving best. Confident in his own music and talent he went toe to toe with one of rap’s biggest names. The ‘battle’ was played out in front of a waiting world. This was the attention Kanye loved and the world wondered about the outcome. Kanye’s decision led 50 cent to say that if Graduation outsold his album Curtis he would stop releasing solo albums. A comment which he would later backtrack on, quicker than a man in the woods faced with a bear, as West album smashed his own. This was not only seen as a victory for Kanye but also for the positive music he made against the harder more violent songs by ‘Fiddy’. The battle is history now and the only thing anybody will remember is Kanye came out on top. The bear beat the gorilla.

Graduation went double platinum with outstanding guest appearances from T-Pain, Mos Def and Lil Wayne.
Then Kanye dropped two songs that were to blow the competition apart. ‘Good Life’ and ‘Stronger’ smashed the music industry and resonated hard with the masses. Positive and unbelievably powerful West was taken to a whole new level. He picked up award after award including for Grammy’s including Best Rap Album and Best Solo Performer. West performed two songs at the awards ‘Stronger’ and the more significant ‘Hey Mama’ in honour of his recently deceased mother.

Heartbreak

November 10th 2007 was to be the saddest day of Kanye’s life. Whilst his life was at a peak musically and personally his lowest point was about to come, that was the fateful day Kanye’s mother Donda died. It was an unexpected and tragic death resulting from complications from cosmetic surgery. Nobody will ever truly know how hard this hit him. She was his manger, friend and most importantly his trusted mother. He dedicated the performances of ‘Hey Mama’ and his cover of the Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ at his first concert since her passing at the o2 arena to his mother. He continued to do so through the rest of the ‘Glow in The Dark; Tour. For Kanye to perform so soon after and share his pain and dedication with his fans built a bond with his fans, a true bond intimate and on a personal level that no artist alive could match.

Glow In The Dark Tour and 808’s and Heartbreak

Kanye kicked off his Glow In The Dark Tour in Seattle at the Key Arena. He was joined on this tour and supported by many artists and friends including Lupe Fiasco, Rihanna, N.E.R.D, DJ Craze and Gnarls Barkely.
On Sept 11th West debuted a new song ‘Love Lockdown’ at the MTV Video Music awards. This was a more heart-full Kanye, a song with less brash and bravado and more soul. He revealed more of himself to his fans than over before. ‘Love Lockdown’ features no rapping and only singing using an Auto-Tune device. The song taken from 808’s and Heartbreak reflected a more introspective Kanye and a sadness his fans felt with him. Kanye still had the ability to surprise and released his album earlier than expected and with the release of his second single ‘Heartless; the album went to number 1 in the chart, astonishingly it was his third album in a row to do so.

November 28th, West performed at the American Music Awards with Alicia Keys, Rihanna. Leona Lewis and Taylor Swift amongst others and the awards kept coming. Kanye won favourite Rap/Hip Hop album for Graduation and favourite Rap/Hip Hop Artist.

In true Kanye fashion he saw his humorous side show through and joked ‘Barack might be Best Interracial Male but he was best International Male’.

Like most greats his life has been littered with highlights and pain. While we all feel for his loss we also thank him for the amazing music and entertainment he has given.