Kanye West

A presentation by Robert Dan

“Everything I’m not, made me everything I am”

Why?In my early teens I started experimenting with

different genres of music in order to find something I truly liked. Kanye West’s debut album “The College Dropout” was the first album I bought a physical copy of and taught me that the word “shit” is not a suitable alternative for the word “stuff” in day-to-day life.

During his development as a musician, I religiously bought each album that he released and he has grown to become my favourite solo artists.

Personal HistoryBorn in Atlanta, Georgia Kanye West soon moved to

Chicago, Illinois after his parents divorced. His mother was a Professor of English and West was raised in a typical middle-class, which later hindered his signing to a label as they saw him unmarketable to the “street” persona of their Hip Hop audiences.

When asked about his grades in high school, he replied “I got A’s and B’s. And I’m not even frontin’.”

He later dropped out of Chicago State University to focus more on his music career.

Professional History 1996 – 2003: West moves swiftly through the underground Hip Hop scene as a producer and eventually begins work with Jay-Z.

The College DropoutDEBUT ALBUM DEBUT SINGLE: Through the Wire

Late Registration (2005)

Graduation (2007)

Mother dies (2007)

808’s & Heartbreaks (2008)

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

Unnamed future album (2011)

Professional historyIn 2002, Kanye fell asleep at the wheel as he was

driving back from the studio. This resulted in a head-on collision with another car and West had to have his jaw wired shut. Regardless, he still made the whole of his album “The College Dropout” and one song in particular, “Through The Wire” describes his ordeal and how he got through it.

Development As an artist, Kanye’s understanding of what makes a good

track stems from the fact he used to (and still does) produce instrumentals in a very unique fashion, with extensive use of samples from mostly soul songs. Lyrically, he started off as arrogant, wild and a showman. After his mother’s death, Kanye began using AutoTune software and singing on tracks, whilst still rapping. W

With the advent of his new album, Kanye returns with clever worldplay and content that remains current, clever and attractive to a wide demographic.

Style Nicknamed the “Louis Vuitton Don” due to his affection for the label, West has always prided himself in being well-dressed as opposed to the baggy, gangster image given off by most of his contemporaries in the scene.

The “shutter shades” made famous by his video for “Stronger” were an instant hit, easy to mass produce and have consistently been distributed at raves, clubs and music events worldwide. West describes this as his first “MJ Moment”.

“Your little brother love me, he say “Yeezy got some fresh clothes!” Your grandmother love me cos I always dress in dress clothes”

Changes For his first three albums, Kanye kept a distinct style both lyrically and

technically. Lyrics spoke about money, cars, life, women and love. After the passing of his mother, West ditched the typical samples he was known

for and switched to the 808 drum machine and AutoTune voice-altering software, adopting a pained, soulful electro feel to his music. Lyrics in the whole “808’s & Heartbreaks” album talk about death, missing loved ones, lost love and solitude.

Following numerous award show fiascos, Kanye returned with a more polished, refined style of rapping and producing that critics hailed as the sum of all the techniques displayed in his previous four albums, mixed together in his “stadium music” album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”.

In order to emphasise his newly realised role in the scene, Kanye gave away one new, never-heard-before song every Friday for 14 weeks in the latter half of 2010 in a scheme called “G.O.O.D. Fridays”

Personality Previously seen as an annoying, egotistical rapper, Kanye

West is now seen as a force to be reckoned with in Hip Hop, with close ties to mogul Jay-Z and numerous other influential artists in the music industry. He takes music seriously and has been known to interrupt award shows if the results of awards do not match with his particular musical tastes. This leads to the media taking either a “pro-Kanye” or “anti-Kanye” position, one which is rewarded and spited respectively with each new project released.

SalesThe College Dropout: Over 4 million Late Registration: Over 3 million Graduation: Over 3 million (Nearly 1 million in

first week) 808’s & Heartbreaks: Over 2 million My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: Sold over 1

million in two months

Record Label Info Kanye is currently signed to Roc-A-Fella Records,

run by close personal friend Jay-Z. He also runs his own label “GOOD Music” home to artists such as Kid Cudi and John Legend. Roc-A-Fella is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, and all their products are distributed by The Island Def Jam Music Group.

The end Regarding the media, their perception and how

they alter the public’s view of artists in the music industry:

“You say anything... You lose everything...”