I Love Kanye West
People say a lot of things about Kanye West. Kanye West says a lot of things about Kanye West. What arguably no one can disagree with is that Kanye West is a polarizing figure. Some people just know him for interrupting Taylor Swift’s VMA acceptance speech or saying “George Bush doesn’t care about black people on TV.” I was in the same boat, with no idea who this dude was. That all changed during my freshman year of high school that I first heard the song “All of the Lights.” As a kid who didn’t listen to any hip-hop before, the song was a complete revelation. The overall cinematic nature of the song was incredible, building up from a piano/cello intro leading into the incredible hook by Rihanna. The whole song is so over-the-top, using trumpets, and layered vocals, including 14 different voices.
From that minute, I knew I had to find more about this guy. Back then, I was discovering a lot of music from YouTube, so stumbled upon the music video for “Otis,” watching Kanye and Jay-Z destroy a car and drive around while rapping with a trademark braggadocio. After that, I plunged headfirst down a rabbit hole, listening to each and every album by Kanye through and through. Each one had its own unique flavor that made it incomparable to the others. As I listened to them all, I felt like I learned more and more about Kanye’s life.
The College Dropout is Kanye’s solo debut, filled with unique production, relatable themes and an authenticity that’s so lovable.
Late Registration shows us his love for his family and his mother on “Roses” and “Hey Mama.” The whole album explores a lot of ideas but overall feels like a triumphant continuation of Kanye’s career and success.
With Graduation, we find Kanye thinking more deeply about his fame and success on an overall calmer record.
To me, Kanye’s fourth album 808s & Heartbreak is his most powerful and important. Following the death of his mother and the end of a longterm relationship, Kanye lays his heart and soul on the track, in the form of minimal production and autotuned vocals. With this album, Kanye felt like a friend opening up to me. The second track opens “My friend showed me pictures of his kids/And all I could show him was pictures of my cribs/He said his daughter got a brand new report card/And all I got was a brand new sports car, oh.” On this album, for the first time, we really get to see Kanye as another damaged human being, instead of an impossible figure constantly declaring his influence with bravado.
As a lover of hip-hop, I can say with confidence that I agree when Kanye says he’s a genius, or that he’s is “this generation's closest thing to Einstein." His influence on hip-hop and music as a whole is incredible, consistently setting the course for how other artists create. He’s had a huge impact on fashion, creating an enormous brand of shoes that are consistently sought over. All of those things are amazing, but they’re not why I love Kanye.
Kanye has his unique, unbound confidence that he always sticks to. He isn’t always right, but no one is. He knows who he is and found success from believing in himself. He shows gratefulness to those who helped him, he loves his family more than anything else and is overall an extremely interesting person. But more than anything else, I just love that he reminds us all that he’s just another human being.
This topic was based on a suggestion on Twitter - let me know if there's anything you want me to write about, and I just might do it!
Drops of the Week
where I *drop* recommendations of cool things this week
Longread
“For Two Months, I Got My News From Print Newspapers” by Farhad Manjoo - interesting read that makes you think about how you consume news. I was particularly interested in the idea that opinions dominate online, compared to print, which is more focused on communicating the story.
Album
Yeezus by Kanye West - current favorite Kanye album, and did you really expect anyone else’s music here?
Art Project
“digital ruin” by Dan Eden - sad, digital messages and images. I’ve thought about making a project like this for years, but never got around to it.
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:~)
Love,
Nikhil