According to Kanye's official website, Kanye Omari West was born in Atlanta Georgia and raised throughout his childhood in the suburbs of Chicago. His career took off when he was heavily featured on Jay-Z’s critically-acclaimed Blueprint in 2001. When originally signed as a producer, the label didn’t see him as a performer or an MC because he didn’t portray the “street image”. Ironically however, this “street image” was the very root of what hip hop was, not where it was going. The “Louis Vuitton Don”, with his pitched-up vocal samples and
various collaborations among many established artists such as Janet Jackson, Common, and Jay-Z, Kanye West has given hip hop a face lift. Often found wearing fine clothing such as Polo or Burberry, a diamond encrusted pennant hung by a platinum necklace, and a pair of simple white tennis shoes, West has completely flipped the industry norm on its head.Just a short seven years ago, West was critically injured in a near-fatal car accident. While a very unfortunate event in his life then, this spawned the faith that fills his records today. Despite recording the song while his jaw was sewn shut, his electrifying passion in “Through the Wire” showed us that there was something very special about this artist whether we knew it or not. In later albums, songs such as “Jesus Walks”, “Diamonds from Sierra Lione”, and “Mama”, clearly exemplify West’s unique fervor and drive to become number one.
Having personally seen West perform in Minnesota at the Target Center as well as a very personal performance at the Los Angeles Coliseum, I thought I’d seen it all. On the evening of February 10th, I was opened up to a breath taking spectacle from West that aroused a variety of emotions from the audience. Most of the performers, even pianist Alicia Keys, tended to perform amongst musicians, dancers, and other band members. West however, began his performance with no DJ or backup signers. Dressed in a light-up jacket and electrifying shades, he started performing his 2007 hit “Stronger” which samples French-native, techno duo Daft Punk. To the audience’s surprise, midway through his set, he ran off as the large, glowing pyramid behind him came into the foreground. The top opened, and the world-renowned Daft Punk, appeared with their widely recognized, neon illuminated jump suits. While this may have appeared to be one of Kanye’s many unique collaborations, Daft punk not only is considered to be musically "inactive" but even more shockingly, they have never made a television performance over their fifteen-year career. By the end of the performance, the entire Staples Center was on their feet dancing and grooving to the sounds of the mysterious “human robots”.
Directly after this adrenaline packed performance, the lights cut off and one spot light directed Kanye to the front of the stage where he performed an acapella version of his song “Mama”. “Mama” is a musical tribute to his late mother, Dr. Donda West, who recently passed in an unfortunate plastic surgery tragedy. West performed as if his mother was right next to him, just the two of them in the spotlight. Near tears, Kanye ended his song to a standing ovation from all types of people from every corner of the industry.
If this one-of-a-kind performance didn’t show the audience and music enthusiasts around the world Kanye West’s passion, his acceptance speech did. According to MTV.com news, West made the most of his time on the podium. In accepting the best rap album award, West spoke for nearly two full minutes, touching on the decline of the music industry and the state of hip hop even as the house music threatened to drown him out. With the word Mama shaved in his hair, he promised to make his late mother proud. “I know you wouldn’t want me to stop,” he said, addressing his mom, Donda West, “I know you want me to be the number one artist in the world, and Mama, all I’m gonna do is keep making you proud.”
All in all, after an amazing night of performances from legends such as Aretha Franklin, I left the building filled with excitement and hope thinking to myself, "Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger." It took me seven years of following and appreciating West’s many talents, but it only took one night to show me that there is hope that hip hop is alive.
1 comment:
MWB-
Thank you for the interesting and unique post! I was very impressed by the passion in your writing as well as your thoughts on the direction of the hip-hop industry. I think your tone is very personal and it is easy for the audience to relate to your voice in this blog. Although you may fall short in the area of professionalism, your style is very much your own. I like that you speak from personal experiences because, again, it is personal and relatable. However, the professional aspect of the post could have been improved by backing up your arguments with research and perhaps making the tone a little more formal. I really appreciated what you had to say about Kanye West and how he is taking hip-hop to new levels with his music and his message. Having little background knowledge on the topic, however, I would have liked to hear more about why people are saying that hip-hop is dead. I think had you included a couple of sources and links to relevant articles your argument could have been a bit stronger. I agree that Kanye definitely has more mass appeal as an artist, perhaps because of his non-"street" style. I think this broadens his audience a lot and exposes hip-hop to people who may not have listened before. I also like how you pointed out that the messages in his music are more meaningful than most artists in his genre. Overall, I think you did a great job with this post. I look forward to hearing more from you in the future!
-KLK
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