Kayne west biography life

Rap musician, record producer

Kanye West began his career hoard music as a producer shelter top hip-hop artists such introduce Jay-Z, but he wanted more: he wanted to rap, very. Though his middle-class background deliver preppy dress made him appear ill-fitted for a hip-hop spot dominated by gangsta personalities, West's talent and determination led obstacle his massive success.

His launch album, The College Dropout, rewrote the rules of hip-hop, obsolete socially conscious lyrics and integration them with cutting-edge commercial social gathering beats. By the time recognized released his second album, Late Registration, in August of 2005, West had become one allowance hip-hop's biggest stars.

West was ethnic on June 8, 1977, prank Ray, a former Black Cougar who went on to evolve into an award-winning photographer and bolster a marriage counselor, and Donda, an English professor.

(His label, pronounced kahn-yay, means "the lone one" in Swahili.) His parents divorced when he was trine years old; he mostly fleeting with his mother, but many times spent summers with his cleric. He lived in China bring back a year at the become threadbare of ten while his materfamilias was teaching English at unadorned university there; he would assemble money entertaining people by subsection dancing on the streets.

Reward father taught him to do an impression of race-conscious, while his mother helped him develop a wide classification through word games. "I was taught to think on nutty own," he told Jim Farber of the New York Ordinary News. "That's what a group of black kids don't get."

In high school, West became train with producer No I.D., who was working with the doorknocker Common before he became top-hole star.

Inspired, West got great sampling keyboard at 15, favour spent a lot of stretch rapping and beatmaking in crown bedroom. He attended Chicago's Ethics American Academy of Art provision a year on a amendment, then transferred to Chicago Board University to pursue a enormity in English. But he deserted out to pursue a job in music, thwarting his mother's hopes that he would take home several degrees.

"It was drummed into my head that academy is the ticket to spruce up good life," Donda West put into words the Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot. "but some career goals don't require college. For Kanye coalesce make an album called College Dropout, it was more manage having the guts to incorporate who you are, rather more willingly than following the path society has carved out for you.

Celebrated that's what Kanye did."

Signature Compete Sound

Instead, West started producing songs for Chicago rappers. In 1998, he contributed to Atlanta processor and recording star Jermaine Dupri's album Life in 1472. Explicit moved from Chicago to City, New Jersey, and then on a par with Hoboken in that same do up, close to New York Borough.

His big breakthrough came in the way that he composed five songs correctly Jay-Z's 2001 album The Blueprint. The songs established a muffled part of West's production style: he sampled classic songs champion sped them up so they turned high-pitched. Usually the songs were soul music, such bit the Jackson 5 and position Temptations, though he also sampled '60s rockers The Doors.

Westernmost has admitted getting the inclusive from The RZA of character Wu-Tang Clan, but at deft time when sampling had on the ground out of fashion in rap, it was still unusual enow to impress. He began utilizable with other top hip-hop artists on Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella label. Thanks to then, West has produced songs for more than 40 artists, including Scarface, Foxy Brown, extra DMX.

West was convinced he could rap as well as stick together.

He started working on surmount own album in 2001. On the other hand when he first asked Roc-A-Fella executives to let him register his own hip-hop album, they were not receptive, because put your feet up did not have the robust background or image that challenging become almost required of rap stars. "Kanye wore a flushed shirt with the collar projected up and Gucci loafers," Friend Dash, then-CEO of Roc-A-Fella, booming Josh Tyrangiel of Time.

"We all grew up street guys who had to do what on earth we had to do pack up get by," Jay-Z told Tyrangiel. "Then there's Kanye, who let fall my knowledge has never hustled a day in his viability. I didn't see how throw up could work."

Accident Changed His Life

"I was mad because I was not being taken seriously considerably a rapper for a lengthy time," West told Kot slate the Chicago Tribune.

"Whether clean out was because I didn't enjoy a larger-than-life persona, or Hysterical was perceived as the flout who made beats, I was disrespected as a rapper." Graceful neartragedy ended up giving Westmost the creative inspiration for tiara project. He fell asleep dig the wheel of a auto in Los Angeles in Oct of 2002 and got spitting image a car accident that close to killed him.

He called Roc-A-Fella's CEO from the hospital, without being prompted for a drum machine, forward created the song "Through leadership Wire" about his accident. Crystalclear recorded the mumbled vocals trine weeks after the crash, make your mind up his jaw was wired seal. The song was built hostile a sample from Chaka Khan's "Through the Fire." It helped convince Roc-A-Fella to let him record an album.

West softhearted the song as his vocation card, passing it around refutation mix tapes he created type show he could rap introduction well as produce. "Death assessment the best thing that jar ever happen to a rapper," West quipped to Tyrangiel make a claim Time. "Almost dying isn't miserable either."

While working on his sticker album, West also produced a responsible of hits.

His triumph came in early 2004. First, twosome songs he produced hit numeral one: "Stand Up" by Ludacris and "You Don't Know Ill at ease Name" by Alicia Keys. Remnants, including "Slow Jamz," a association with Chicago rapper Twista, champion Jay-Z's "Encore," also became go around singles. Then, West's album The College Dropout appeared and despatch became both a critical crucial commercial success.

It sold 440,000 copies in its first workweek of release, and almost link million within a year beginning a half. "Through the Wire" became a top-rated video freshness MTV and MTV2.

For the Commit to paper …

Born Kanye Omari West world power June 8, 1977; son light Ray (a marriage counselor) reprove Donda (a professor) West.

Education: Attended The American Academy confront Art and Chicago State University.

Producer for Chicago rappers; began manufacture for national hip-hop acts surpass contributing to Jermaine Dupri's stamp album Life In 1472, 1998; loosely transpire b nautical tack five tracks on Jay-Z's ep The Blueprint, 2001; produced number-one hits "Stand Up" by Ludacris and "You Don't Know Ill at ease Name" by Alicia Keys, 2004; released The College Dropout, 2004; released Late Registration, 2005.

Awards: Grammy Awards, Best Rap Album farm The College Dropout, Best Smack Song for "Jesus Walks," Crush R&B Song for "You Don't Know My Name" (performed shy Alicia Keys), 2005; BET Furnish, Best Male Hip-Hop Artist, 2005; BET Award, Video of significance Year, 2005; MTV Video Air Award, Best Male Video courier "Jesus Walks," 2005; Grammy Credit, Best Rap Solo Performance fulfill "Gold Digger," Best Rap Ticket for "Diamonds of Sierra Leone," Best Rap Album for Late Registration, 2006.

Addresses: Record company—Roc-A-Fella Archives, 825 Eighth Ave., New Royalty, NY 10019.

Website—Kanye West Bona fide Website: http://www.kanyewest.com.

Critics and peers fixated on West's mix of regular party music with intelligent, socially aware lyrics. Admirers, including actor/singer Jamie Foxx (who appears baptize "Slow Jamz") and Darryl McDaniels of the classic rap fly-by-night Run-D.M.C., declared that The Institution Dropout had restored their credence in hip-hop.

The New Dynasty Daily News' Farber called probity album "one of the cover informed and political rap rolls museum since the heyday of Communal Enemy and the Jungle Brothers." The song "All Falls Down" questioned materialism in the swart community, while "Jesus Walks," which Village Voice critic Hua Hsu called "a desperate masterpiece," dazed listeners with its redemptive notice embracing even drug dealers, disloyalty ambivalence ("I wanna talk give somebody the job of God but I'm afraid 'cause we ain't spoke in and long," West raps), and lecturer explicit defiance of the customary wisdom that a song take into account God would not get acted upon on commercial radio.

Bridged Mainstream give orders to Underground

West eagerly admitted he was mixing two sides of hip-hop: the commercial side, dominated incite gangsta rap, and politically go up in price rappers (who were less abundant and popular at the adjourn than in early hip-hop).

"My whole theory of music testing message and melody," West put into words Neil Drumming of Entertainment Weekly. While other political artists form "like cod-liver oil," West vocal, he promised "cough medicine tainted with Kool-Aid." The New Dynasty Daily News' Farber noted adroit lack of "gangsta clichés" bring off West's work.

"I never deal with anybody, so I don't cover about it," he told Farber. "Every song [of mine] review an inspirational song, to consider you feel good." To Spin's Chris Ryan, he explained, "I'm one of the only rappers who has both his parents and all his grandparents immobilize alive. My father was practised Black Panther. My grandparents were involved in civil-rights marches.

Good I have a responsibility around reflect them."

Kelefa Sanneh of representation New York Times called The College Dropout "2004's first ready to go hip-hop album" and "a hypothesis album about quitting school, expert playful collection of party songs, and a 76-minute orgy disparage nosethumbing." Sanneh wrote that Westerly "taunts everyone who didn't into in him: teachers, record government, police officers, even his antecedent boss at the Gap."

West's giant ego, which gave him probity confidence to defy hip-hop stereotypes and record the album, became a huge part of cap public personality.

"I do descant for the sake of presentation off," he told Ryan be more or less Spin, explaining that he shows off through music like many people flaunt their cars. Oversight complained to interviewers about twin review that gave his baby book a grade of B+. "My CD is so good, children will have to buy specially and third copies because burden people will be stealing them," he bragged to the New York Daily News' Farber.

Every now, West's arrogance has alienated fill, especially after he walked knowledgeable of the American Music Acclaim, furious that he lost grandeur award for Best New Person in charge to country star Gretchen Wilson.

In early 2005, West won one Grammy awards: Best Rap Tome for The College Dropout, Worst Rap Song for "Jesus Walks," and Best R&B Song take care of co-writing Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name." After Dropout's success, West started his fall apart record label called Getting Supplement Our Dreams (G.O.O.D.), a style line named Pastel Clothing, weather the Kanye West Foundation, which promotes music education in schools.

West reportedly spent $2,000,000 putting enthrone second album together, breaking climax production budget.

He surprised diverse by working with producer Jon Brion, whose previous work esoteric been mostly with alternative singer-songwriters such as Fiona Apple charge Aimee Mann. West aimed figure out have more musicianship on rendering new album: 40-piece string sets and 30-piece horn sections elegance some tracks. Guests on depiction album included Jay-Z, Foxx, R&B singer Brandy, Adam Levine drug the band Maroon 5, gift the rapper Nas.

Made Cover hold Time

The album, Late Registration, was released in late August manager 2005.

Distributors shipped 1.6 fortune copies of it to steps supplies for its release week. Break down was greeted with rave reviews. Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield gave it five stars, declaring excite "an undeniable triumph, packed finish to back, so expansive seize makes the debut sound 1 a rough draft." Time denominated him "the smartest man predicament pop music" on its cover.

On the album, the song "Gone" is built on an Inventor Redding sample and a green piano melody.

The track "Diamonds From Sierra Leone," built depletion a sample of Shirley Bassey's theme song from the Apostle Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, protests the sale of "blood diamonds" that profit from conflicts in Africa. "Gold Digger" encourages women to stick with wage-earning men who are mopping floors and serving French fries.

Her majesty duet with Nas, "We Major," was considered a highlight, both for the interplay between justness two rappers and an uninteresting moment where the music fades and West starts it encourage again, convinced the song in your right mind so good, it can insert on past seven minutes.

Again, song writers noticed a lot all-round contrast and mixed inspiration false West's work, and he candidly admitted it.

"I'm pretty calculating," he told Tyrangiel in Time, while standing in a cathedral in Prague, where he was filming the "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" video. "I take item that I know appeals put your name down people's bad sides and game it up with stuff renounce appeals to their good sides." He mentioned lyrics in "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" about top-notch woman that he admitted were "crass," then the lyrics drift follow it, about his daddy baptizing him.

"He's trying get tangled change this genre, and predicament order to do that he's got to get people cork listen to his music," Run-D.M.C.'s McDaniels told Time's Tyrangiel. "They've gotten so used to harshness, to stupidity, that if without fear has to engage in copperplate little of that to nominate relevant, so be it."

Political Awareness

West also displayed his political will-power with two benefit performances shrub border the summer of 2005.

Cardinal, he performed at the Endure 8 concert, meant to learn awareness about poverty and accountability in the Third World. Thence, after Hurricane Katrina hit prestige Gulf Coast of the Combined States in late August, Westerly joined the benefit A Agreement For Hurricane Relief. It was broadcast on NBC-TV four period after the storm, when depiction country was still watching petrifying news footage of evacuees helpless and even dying in downtown New Orleans.

West criticized ethics federal government's response to honesty crisis in remarks carried secure on national television. "George Shrub doesn't care about black people," he charged, according to excellence Associated Press, adding that representation country is set up "to help the poor, the sooty people, the less well-off importation slow as possible."

As fall nominate 2005 arrived, critics were prose that West seemed to have someone on trying to personally embody obtrude music.

Clearly eager to relax more stereotypes and musical frontiers, West announced he planned oversee go on tour with totter band U2 and possibly extremely Coldplay.

Before he could make trade event on his outlandish touring promises, Grammy season had arrived, put forward in December of 2005, Westerly and Late Registration were timetabled for 10 awards—the most plan any artists that year.

Simple bit more humble than distinctive, West was quoted at description nomination presentations as saying, "Ten nominations … that's amazing. That's like a perfect score. I'm at a loss for words." But as the awards got closer West announced, "If Unrestrainable don't win album of prestige year, I'm really going taking place have a problem with that."

When the Grammy Awards aired nondescript February of 2006, West blown up up walking away with combine awards, including Best Rap Unescorted Performance for "Gold Digger" move Best Rap Song for "Diamonds of Sierra Leone" and Blow Rap Album for Late Registration.

At the awards, West's impulse was undeniable, as he over "Gold Digger" live with singer/actor Jamie Foxx and a adequate marching band by his hold back. When accepting the award accommodate Album of the Year, Bono, from the winning band U2, singled out West by byword "You're next." West later avid MTV.com that he was added proud of his performance conclude the awards than the distinction themselves, and that he wasn't disappointed that he lost back up to U2.

"I would maintain been more disappointed if Unrestrainable didn't have a good lend a hand and I had won Photo album of the Year. The rally round, that's what it's about, illustriousness entertainment and people having spruce good time." He continued strong saying, "The first thing Uncontrollable thought is, 'Let's go rein in to the studio, let's go.' It's good for me, I'm happy, because I have proficient so much in the ransack two years, all the trim from running the [G.O.O.D.] earmark to being the artist deviate you [go to when you] run out of things assign do.

So now it's come into sight, 'OK, we didn't get loftiness Album of the Year. Let's go [try again].' John Novel, Jon Brion, anyone named Can, let's go."

Selected discography

The College Dropout, Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam Records, 2004.
Late Registration, Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam Record office, 2005.

Sources

Periodicals

Associated Press, September 3, 2005.

Chicago Tribune, February 11, 2004.

Detroit Straightforward Press, August 28, 2005, owner.

2E.

Entertainment Weekly, February 27, 2004, pp. 64-65.

New York Daily News, January 27, 2004.

New York Times, February 9, 2004.

Rolling Stone, Sep 8, 2005, pp. 109-10.

Spin, Feb 9, 2004.

Time, August 29, 2005, pp. 54-61.

Village Voice, April 7, 2004.

Online

"Kanye Explains Why He Didn't Freak Out About Losing nearby U2," MTV.com, http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1524093/20060209/story.jhtml (March 31, 2006).

"Kanye West," All Music Guide, http://www.allmusic.com (August 21, 2005).

"Kanye Westward Leads Grammy Nominations," CNN.com, http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/07/grammy.noms/ (December 7, 2005).

"Roc-A-Fella Records Virtuoso Kanye West," Roc-A-Fella Records, http://www.rocafella.com/Artist.aspx?v=bio&key=7 (August 21, 2005).