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The College Dropout - Kanye pops up on the scene. Debuts with Through The Wire to become something of a born again rap star, a tale almost of the underdog who had been working in the scene for a few years and now it was his time to shine. Follows this up with Slow Jamz which well a nice rap song with a bit of an RnB slow jam to it, obviously and All Falls Down, a rap song with a nice sing-a-long female chorus for mainstream measure while backing it up with a cautionary tale of running after that certain lifestyle that is fuelled by status. Jesus Walks had that political edge to get people talking, the New Workout Plan was just another fun Hip Hop song. Not to mention Two Words which while not being a single, gained him credibility in the hard to win over underground Hip Hop community.
Late Registration - This album is one of Kanye's I want to call my favourites just because it is so diverse in topic matter as well as showing range in Kanye's character. Ranging from a thankful ode to his Mum Hey Mama to controversial political beliefs - Crack Music, Diamonds; this is the Kanye I like to see, and I feel it is his most intellectual and smart work to date (again, my opinion) and one where he was really pushing the envelope on not just subject matter but production value as well - remember all the fuss about the strings and how orchestral the album was described to be. This albums singles included; Touch The Sky, Gold Digger, Diamonds from Sierra Leone and Heard 'Em Say. Except for Diamonds here in Australia, those other three tracks were wildly popular and without going into too much detail (because I'm sure most people here would know what those singles were about) ranging from introspection, critiquing, analysing cultural beliefs and society to borderline misogynistic and bragging raps to keep us all happy, it was everything a true Hip Hop album was meant to be and then went beyond that. Don't forget, this album had We Major on it. Late Registration, again to me and I more than understand people will disagree, is one of the most important Hip Hop albums in the last decade if not ever and would have been the closest thing to a game changer.
Graduation - Now here's an album that I'm not all too comfortable with and I feel will age a lot quicker (along with 808s) then the rest of his catalog. Late Registration was almost Kanye's curse because it opened up these ideas to him artistically that you wouldn't normally associate with the Hip Hop sound or the culture. Instead of his soul loops, he was now sampling Daft Punk and venturing into electronic and other areas of music which he had not seen once before. He was thinking of ways to show he could reinvent the wheel while still being able to use it so to speak (or really just staying Hip Hop while doing something differet). He gets Spike Jonze to direct Flashing Lights, Takashi Murakami to do the album art. This was also the precursor to the, it's very hard to put into words, the "fashonista" Kanye. His singles are loud, glossy pop songs; Stronger, Flashing Lights, Good Life. Homecoming was almost a glimpse of return to Late Registration form but to me it just felt contrived, like he was too far gone (although I'll admit this did get a lot of the Hip Hop community into Coldplay, Chris Martin went on to help out Jay-Z in a few tracks, and I think Coldplay might have had a mixtape-related release? Can't exactly remember). Anyway, Kanye is at popstar status at this point, starts becoming involved with fashion (albeit very electro influenced), trying to explore his artistic avenue within the music world, not just Hip Hop. Remember when Kanye came out with those damn shades in the stronger video, and he starts wearing all these crazy colours and huge kicks - how much did that influence the dress sense of Hip Hop? Everybody was dressing in that style.
808s & Heartbreak - While it is sad to say that with the death of his mum, that called off engagement (was this when the Lady Gaga tour got cancelled too?) and I'm sure all the other things associated with this in relation to his life caused a sort of comedown and humbling experience for Kanye. The hangover from Graduation was here, and it hit hard - remember that picture of Kanye with the big glasses and that grey suit? Kanye was vulnerable, he needed 808s to bare his soul that he was hurt. It was pretty hard to defend him man, I admit I kinda turned my back on him but still hung in there. I remember hearing Love Lockdown for the first time and trying so hard to like it. And autotune, remember the outcry over him using autotune? Whether it killed it, revived it; whatever it got people talking about AUTOTUNE. He managed to get some singles from this one though, Welcome to Heartbreak, Heartless, Paranoid and Amazing. He also continued, I wouldn't say display his artistic side but maybe to show and foster it - he gets KAWS to do his album art, and I must say while I'm not a fan of all of those songs the videos for them are more than great in my books.
Side note - does anybody still wish Kanye was still running his blog? While it was a bit hard to read sometimes it was definitely visually appealing and bold. Fashion, design, architecture, girls haha it was great. I loved reading it and would go on there from time to time for inspiration and it sucked that when he started to promo My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy that it went down.
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Which pretty much brings us up to speed with now (I'm not including Watch the Throne as its too early, and its more of a joint thing with Jay-Z). Good Fridays utilises the free internet model to build hype, Kanye is laying low after years of scrutiny (which he deserved) for Taylor, people still riding him about Bush, probably still people riding him about the Justice video reaction and a few other award show mess ups. He starts to mature up and focus, this is even reflected in his fashion sense through his "Rosewood" movement (acting like gentleman, wearing suits, "it isn't just a look it's an attitude). But the rumours of the production and people involved get people excited that Kanye will be returning "to rap", returning to form - making a comeback. And that's what he did, he brought out Power, Monster, Runaway and All of The Lights. These singles, while not really anything deep politically or in the message or content, were just really good produced, emotionally driven pop songs which is why they were so successful. And it was Kanye, it was just him being him doing what he does best.
Long story short, his albums, singles, Kanye himself has been a game changer. Without him you would not have Lupe Fiasco, Drake, Kid Cudi ... it might be a reach but even I feel artists like the Cool Kids could almost be drawn from Graduation-era Kanye (and all the legion of kids who then became knock offs of Cool Kids, Kid Cudi etc). Probably a lot more to be proven that he influenced, but there also could not be. Would No I.D. really be as popular now if Kanye didn't call him his mentor? (Granted though, No I.D. still gets heaps of work from Kanye, Jay and camp). Just think, if Kanye were to die tomorrow - huge knock on wood - don't just think how the Hip Hop community would react but even mainstream media. Because his influence has been pretty overarching, for better or for worse. Short of me quoting actual album sales which I really couldn't be bothered to find, and as if you wouldn't know without seeing those numbers anyway. From The College Dropout he made being a rapper different, not just all bragging and jewellery but not just all serious and artistic - he found a lane and has been carving it ever since.
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