It is irrefutable the impact Kanye West has had on the music industry. Born in Atlanta, Georgia but raised in Chicago, Illinois, West has managed to influence generations of music that have not even come. He entered the game producing for Roc-A-Fella Records until he felt that he too talented of a songwriter to not put his skills to use. The combination of producing and songwriting, along with an explosive personality and hardship gave fans an outstanding decade of musical genius.
The College Dropout
In 2004 West released his first album The College Dropout. This album was incredibly experimental and different, as it included gospel, rap, soul, and much more, all while maintaining its core as a hip-hop album It amazes me how many times the video of him performing one of the hits of the album “All Falls Down” before it was released resurfaces on social media today. Before it was “All Falls Down,” at the 2003 Def Poetry Jam it was a poem called “Self Conscious.” Watching the video still makes the hairs on my neck stand up. Other hits on this album include the iconic music video to go along with “New Workout Plan,” a song that was recorded after a life-threatening car crash “Through the Wire” and Grammy award-winning “Jesus Walks.” This album gave us the infamous line in which West states, “Everybody wanted to know what I would do if I didn’t win… I guess we’ll never know.” West entered the industry as an artist with absolute bangers. Aside from this, he created a character-the Dropout Bear-which was something not many artists had done to that point. It wasn’t exactly an alter-ego of any kind, rather just a symbol that when you saw it, you immediately knew who it resembled. There were many others to do it before him also, however, the bear may be the most iconic of them all. One artist that comes to mind when I think of the impact this bear has had is Logic with his ATM 301 robot.
Late Registration
One year later in August of 2005, West released Late Registration, which again used a combo of strong music videos to assist in the popularity of his songs. The singles “Touch the Sky” and “Gold Digger” had vibrant music videos to go along with them that stick in people’s heads. Further, it would be no surprise if these songs were played on the radio on any given day. And yes, everyone sings along. This album was also important because of the social impact West was making just after it was released. Hurricane Katrina struck three days following the release and during a telethon for Red Cross Relief West stated, “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.” A powerful statement indeed. This is by no means the first time an artist has referred to socio-political inequality, as we have songs by N.W.A. and Tupac Shakur that give very similar messages but following this statement we have seen the prevalence of politics in rap skyrocket. So much so that it has become a sub-genre of rap where people make attempts to label artists such as Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Vince Staples, Kota the Friend, and the late Nipsey Hussle to name a few.
Graduation
Two years later, West released my personal favorite-Graduation. This 2007 album featured several songs that were made with the intention of getting stadiums of people on their feet. He succeeded. Singles like “Champion,” “Stronger,” and “Good Life” had the music industry in a chokehold for a long time. West composed a tremendous ballad on “I Wonder,” and got very personal about his relationship with Jay Z on “Big Brother.” I find this album especially interesting because there are alternate endings, one of them being the track “Good Night,” which is a smooth, subtle ending. Contrary to this, the ending I love was “Bittersweet Poetry” featuring John Mayer. This track offers such an interesting contrast, it is exactly as the title states, a perfect blend of singing and rapping throughout the track.
808s & Heartbreak
Bring in the influence. West’s fourth studio album really breaks down several barriers within hip-hop, the largest one autotuning. Songs like “Love Lockdown” and “Heartless” pioneered this autotune movement along with other artists like T-Pain and Lil Wayne. This album helped influence a large portion of our current generation’s artists as their niche resides in the realm of autotune, some of the most notable artists are Juice WRLD, Travis Scott, and Lil Uzi Vert. Another agenda West helped to pioneer with this album was “emo” rap with the assist by Kid Cudi. Before this album, hip-hop and rap music never really indulged with feelings of sadness. Being that this album was recorded and released following the passing of West’s mother, we were given a very vulnerable side of his musical genius. “Welcome to Heartbreak,” “Street Lights,” “Bad News,” and “Coldest Winter” are all very emotionally charged songs where West shows how materialism, the loss of his mother, and separation from his fiancée have impacted him significantly.
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Many argue that this album is West’s best project to date. They have good reason to. Let’s start with the range that this album presents through its features and contributors. Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, Kid Cudi, Jay Z, Rick Ross, Pusha T, John Legend, Elton John, and Bon Iver. This array of musical talent all on one album together can feel overwhelming. Yet, it was executed perfectly. 2010 proved to be a year that Ye could not miss. Taking elements of all his older albums whilst incorporating new ones helped to create a true gem-a masterpiece. The point of impact I would like to key in on is the artwork. The attention to detail West has is uncanny, as this album offered five alternative album covers. The primary one being a man with a green bottle in hand engaging in intercourse with what appears to be a phoenix, as the woman has wings. The next, a ballerina holding a wine glass. The third is an abstract piece, a distortion of awkwardly proportioned images of a caricature-like image of West. The last two are very similar, one pictures a severed head wearing a crown and a sword sticking out of it in the clouds, the other pictures the crown in the same position with the sword sticking into the grass with clouds in the background. These images each offer a unique meaning in relation to the album, but in all, they add to the masterpiece; A great deal of detail in the artwork of albums following MBDTF was a direct result of West’s influence.
Yeezus
“Yeezy season approachin’ / Fuck whatever y’all been hearin’” he opens on this experimental album. Yeezus consists of heavy synthesizers, electronic sounds, and distortions. This album is definitely an acquired taste for many, myself included. Upon first listen, my initial thoughts were, “the hell is going on?” The opening track “On Sight” gives you 34 seconds to just reflect on your thoughts while distortion plays before leading into West’s verse. West uses this album to address the controversy that has surrounded him his whole career. He addressed exactly who he thinks he is on “I Am a God,” he nods to the materialism and poor financial decisions of people in the Black community on “New Slaves,” and the destruction of relationships that comes with fame on “Blood on the Leaves.” This album’s influence is evident in especially within the last five years of music, as artists like Trippie Redd and XXXTentacion, as we began to see more artists follow the trend laid down in Yeezus which consisted of fewer lyrics and more sounds.
