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Kanye
West
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Kanye
West truly understands the value of life. It was in October
of 2002 that his life was nearly taken from him while driving
back to his hotel late one night after a Los Angeles recording
session. The acclaimed producer and burgeoning rapper was involved
in a devastating, near fatal car accident in which he
sustained injuries that left his jaw fractured in three
places. News reports of the accident quickly spread and the disturbing image of
his bloated, severely bruised
visage laid up in a hospital bed became indelibly ingrained in
the conscience of a shocked rap nation.
"I have flashbacks of what happened everyday"
Kanye confesses. "And anytime I hear about any accident
my heart sinks in and I just thank God that I'm still here.
That steering wheel could have been two inches further out,
and that would have been it. You find out how short life is an
how blessed you are to be here."
But a remarkable thing happened in the immediate aftermath of
this tragedy. Kanye used the accident as inspiration for one
of the most arresting and triumphant creative statements rap
music has ever seen. Just weeks after skirting death, and with
his jaw still literally wired shut, he recorded "Through
the Wire," a pointed and personal account of the events
that resonates with uncanny wit and raw emotion.
Very simply, the song marks the emergence of hip hop's most
important new voice. Rap music's storied history has seen
several artists play the dual roles of word wielder on the mic
and trackmaster behind the boards. But if many have gained
notoriety for their double duty activities, only a few have
exerted a profound impact on the direction of the music
overall. Add to the latter Kanye West. With his highly
anticipated debut LP for Roc-A-Fella Records, The College
Dropout, acclaimed aural architect West not only produces,
writes and performs his own music and lyrics, but presents
himself as a thoroughly well rounded artist with a purpose and
musical vision all his own.
"In hip hop people always have pre-conceived ideas about
you when you're a producer who also rhymes," explains the
26 year old maestro. "But one of the main things I wanna
stress is that Stevie Wonder produced his own music. Prince
produced his own music. Tyrone Davis and Bobby Womac - all
these different people. And you don't even think about the
fact that they created their own songs. So I don't see what I
do as being any different."
Widely known as the sonic visionary behind such hits as
Jay-Z's "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)," "Girls Girls
Girls," "The Takeover," and "03 Bonnie
& Clyde," Beanie Sigel's "The Truth,"
Scarface's "Guess Who's Back," and Talib Kweli's
"Get By," amongst many others, Chicago-bred West is
undoubtedly one of most talented and accomplished young
producers to have emerged in recent years.
After beginning his career co-producing songs for Mase's
Harlem World, and the Madd Rapper, West caught his big break
when his work attracted the attention of decision-makers at Roc-A-Fella Records, who lauded his soulful approach
to hip hop production. West-helmed hits frequently rely on
vintage R&B samples ingeniously reconfigured for today's
digital low end theories. First fully showcased on Jigga's
2001 classic, The Blueprint, Kanye's signature style has since
rejuvenated the sound of rap music as a whole injecting
warmth and melodic savvy where cold keyboards previously
dominated and spawned a host of imitators.
Indeed, the soul that informs Kanye's tracks reaches another
level on his own material. Unbeknownst to those who may only
be familiar with him via his boardsmanship, Kanye has rhymed
avidly since his Chi-town days. So when Roc co-founder Damon
Dash heard a demo of Kanye's solo songs in 2002, the young
producer immediately joined to the label's stable of artists.
Having achieved his professional success sans a university
diploma (he dropped out of art school in Chicago after one
year), Kanye explains the meaning of the album's title as
"just saying set your own goals in life. Don't let anyone
dictate to you what you need to do to be."
For a rap audience continually weaned on thug threats and ice
worship, College Dropout, contrary to its title, provides an
educational reminder of what it means to be compelling and
human in hip hop. As one of a precious few rappers with
actually something to say in his songs, Kanye is fully aware
that his beats provide the best conduit to absorbing his
not-so-trendy content. "The best thing about the fact
that I did beats is I can make the perfect plateaus for me to
present information over. I make music that'll catch people's
ear automatically. Then when they hear what I'm saying they
go, "Oh shit, he saying some shit right there."
And even this collegiate dropout admits that as a vocalist
he's learned some valuable lessons of his own while punching
the clock at the Roc.
"It's like if you wanna rap like Jay,
it's hard to rap like Jay and not rap about what Jay is
rapping about," says Kanye. "So what I did is
incorporate all these different forms of rap together - like
I'll use old school patterns, I come up with new patterns in
my head every day. Once I found out exactly how to rap about
drugs and exactly how to rap about say no to drugs," I
knew that I could fill the exact medium between that. My
persona is that I'm the regular person. Just think about
whatever you've been through in the past week, and I have a
song about that on my album."
In essence, Kanye West's music has arrived not just for the
sake of defying expectations, but to express the truisms of
every day life as no one in hip-hop has done before.
"In music and society people tell you to pick a
side," Kanye concludes. Are you mainstream or
underground? Do you rhyme about nice cars, or about riding the
train? Are you ignorant or do you know something about
history? But I'm a person who I can do all these different
things. It's like everybody is taking that fork in the road.
They don't see the rainbow in the middle. And I'm about to
ride that. I'm the prism. And my music comes out in
colors."
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