We’ve known Kanye in many eras. From the Roc-A-Fella producer behind many hits by Jay-z, Alicia Keys, Beanie Segal, and Cam'ron to name a few, to now the conflicted controversial artist everyone, including us loves to ridicule. So how did someone who respectfully gained a spot on the top 5 producers/rappers of the decade, decline into a conflicted artist in our eyes? Let’s first backtrack to the beginning of Ye, why we loved him so much. A young Chicago kid born from the late Donda West who was a Clark University professor and Ray West, a former black panther, who was one of the first black photojournalists. *scratch record* that lethal combination is probably what Malcolm X would conjure up if he could have a dream child. Not really, but you get the gist. A child with that background is one you probably would think would grow up to be a lawyer or an NAACP activist, or hell, even follow his parent’s footsteps. Whats better though? Kanye fell in love with hip-hop at a young age. The rest is history.
“I get down for my grandfather who took my momma Made her sit that seat where white folks ain’t wanna us to eat At the tender age of 6 she was arrested for the sit in With that in my blood I was born to be different” - “Never Let Me Down” The College Dropout
Kanye started in hip hop producing beats for local acts, creating a distinct sound for himself. Later on catching a big break by putting together the beats for Jay-Z’s “This Can’t Be Life”, going on to work on Jay’s Blueprint album. After that, he basically was behind several Roc-A-Fella artists. However, Kanye never had an easy transition into rapping. People were more apathetic than anything. Many wouldn’t sign him as a rapper because they only trusted his producing abilities. It wasn’t until Dame Dash, the one who most forgot had a pivotal role in Kanye’s success, decided to sign him that he got the chance to prove himself. On “Last Call” he story tells his journey over some jazzy instrumentals featuring his mother, Jay, Damon, Jessica Rivera, and more. If you haven’t heard it yet, I suggest you pause what you’re doing and check it out. Here’s part of it broken down below:
“So uh Dame took me into the office, and he’s like ‘yo man, B, B, you don’t want a brick, you don’t want a brick, you don’t wanna catch a brick. You gotta be under an umbrella, you’ll get rained on.’ I told Hiphop and Hiphop was all, ‘oh, word? Actually, even with that I was still about to take the deal with Capitol cause it was already on the table and cause of my relationship with 3H. That, you know, cause I told him I was gonna do it, and I’m a man of my word, I was gonna roll with what I said I was gonna do. Then, you know, I’m not gonna name no names, but people told me, 'oh he’s just a producer rapper’ and told 3H that told the heads of the Capitol, and right– the day I’m talking about, I planned out everything I was gonna do. Man, I had picked out clothes, I already started booking studio sessions, I started arranging my album, thinking of marketing schemes, man I was ready to go. And they had Mel call me, they said, 'yo… Capitol pulled on the deal’ And, you know I told them that Roc-A-Fella was interested and I don’t know if they thought that was just something I was saying to gas them up to try to push the price up or whatever. I went up… I called G, I said, 'man, you think we could still get that deal with Roc-A-Fella?’”
Looking back, I’m not surprised why this album was one of my favorites. It humanized Kanye and his complexes. An album that tied so many different concepts together in such a respectable manner. He goes from talking about the pressures of stereotypical success from a degree “School Spirit Skit” to the struggle of blue collar life “Spaceship”, while still keeping it light by poking fun at basketball wives “WorkOut Plan.” People forget that Kanye'sbeen somehow incorporating lovers/ex-lovers into his music since the beginning of his time. His samples on the album came from his ex-girlfriends father’s crate of records. Hip Hop went to confirm it, “His girl’s (Sumeke Rainey) father gave him a crate of records that a lot of [samples on the album] came from,” via Complex.
Late Registration went to do as well also. Still fitting Kanye under a successful conscious rapper, however still keeping it soulful and giving a touch of pop.
Meanwhile, in his personal life, Kanye was making noise. Two public relationships, one with Brooke Crittendon from Harlem Heights, and one with Alexis Phifer (who is probably his soulmate and he couldn’t accept.) Both didn’t last. But that wasn’t the last of Alexis. At this point, this is where I went beyond taking my likings to Kanye as an artist and vibed with his whole persona. His relationship with Alexis, part dos, was so interesting to me. Now, Kanye is probably one of the very few rappers I liked simply for his creativity, because let’s face it, if I could marry Nas, Cole, or Common, I would. But, what interested me about Ye and Alexis was how much they fit. She was a designer and Kanye was beginning to get into the peek of his own style. They shared an interest of fashion and arts. He was basking in the fame and she was coasting. Lowkey opposites. With honoring his late mother’s wishes, Kanye ended up proposing to her. So no, Kardashian Klan fans, Kimmy wasn’t the first. Though the passing of his mother and other things put a strain on their relationship, the engagement didn’t last. To this day, I still think of her as his “one.” She ended up being the muse behind 808’s and Heartbreaks, an album that showcased a wounded soul, over auto-tuned vocals.
Then came the era of Amber Rose, which I never truly understood. What came out of it though? His best music. I guess that should say enough huh? MBDTF is remarkable, like something you throw on a vinyl. It’s where he snaps musically. Pushing the envelope of what he considered hip hop and incorporating r&b, rock, and alien electronics samples on it. Filled with lethal wit, Kanye tries to uncover his emotions and psyche. It’s unpredictable, abrasive, and hyped… fitting to the image he holds today. So was that the clue of where Kanye himself was headed? I guess so.
Watch the Throne came, and it was almost like Jay put a God influenced hand on Kanye and told him to get it the hell together. That album right there? GOLD. Call it the soundtrack to my good, bad, or ugly days. That one was for the hood.. in the most cockiest forms. Any speculation of who was great was silenced. It’s almost like Jay came out and wanted to show the Kanye he’s always believed in. It was beautiful to witness him, in our opinion, do better than Jay on WTT.
But, like all good things, that high of “old Kanye” died. I won’t even sit here and lie, I’ve only heard one song on Yeezus. Let’s first start with the ego behind the album title. I’m not even Christian and I find the self-proclaimed God-like persona so offensive. Now, I get it. It pays to act crazy and earns you longevity, but at some point, enough is enough. It’s like he started to do it for the fame rather than the love of hip hop. The rapper who once rapped about the negative effects of materialism in “All Falls Down” is the same one who is trying to sell basic clothes and shoes for +$500. He jumps between rejecting and worshiping fame that almost makes it impossible to focus on his music. But let’s be honest, his music can’t even get you to focus on his music. I almost feel bad for Kanye because we’re publicly watching his demise play out. An unhappy soul who constantly lashes out. I get people must grow, but you can’t rise off a black support and forget us and the movement.
