Kanye West

Kanye West, Music Producer / Rapper

Born: 8 June 1977
Birthplace: Atlanta, Georgia
Best Known As: Producer and rapper of "Through the Wire"

Beatmaking music producer Kanye West's 2004 debut album, The College Dropout, jumped to the top of the charts and earned him 10 Grammy nominations in 2005. Raised in Chicago, West got his start in the business as a producer. His mixes and beats drew the attention of Jay-Z, who hired him to produce songs for The Blueprint (2001). After producing for stars such as Ludacris, Alicia Keys and Jamie Foxx, West began work on his first solo album as a rapper. The College Dropout featured the hits "Jesus Walks" and "Through the Wire," the latter a reference to a car accident West had in October of 2003 (he recorded the song while his jaw was wired shut). The album ended up winning three Grammys, including Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song ("Jesus Walks"). In 2005 he released Late Registration, which included the hit song, "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" and featured guest appearances by Jamie Foxx and Jay-Z. The album earned 8 Grammy nominations and West won three, for Best Rap Album, Best Rap Solo Performance (for "Gold Digger") and Best Rap Song ("Diamonds From Sierra Leone").

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Kanye West

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rap musician; music producer

Personal Information

Born on June 8, 1977, in Atlanta, GA; son of Ray West, a photojounalist, and Dr. Donda West, a college professor
Education: Attended the American Academy of Art, Chicago, and Chicago State University.

Career

Producer, performer, and songwriter, 1997-.

Life's Work

The double-platinum, triple-Grammy award success of Kanye West's debut album, The College Dropout, was a surprise to many in the industry, but not to West himself. The young rapper and producer had confidently touted the classic status of his work, shaped creatively during a harrowing period of recovery from an auto accident. Some charged him with arrogance, but West, as he put it in his autobiographical track "Last Call," used "arrogance as the steam to power my dreams." "I always say you have to be a little postal to push the envelope," he pointed out to Margena A. Christian of Jet. And push the envelope he did: The College Dropout was a brilliantly innovative 21-track production that diverged sharply from the gangster stereotypes of the hip-hop music of its day and, in its hit single "Jesus Walks," merged hip-hop and gospel musical languages in an entirely new way.

Born to Be a Star

Born June 8, 1977 in Atlanta, Kanye West (whose first name is Swahili and has been translated as "only one") was raised on Chicago's South Side. His father Ray West was a former Black Panther who earned two master's degrees, becoming an award-winning photojournalist and later a counselor. West's paternal grandfather, West told Chris Campion of England's Daily Telegraph newspaper, was "the original hustler. He shined shoes and did whatever he had to do to send all his kids to college." His mother Donda West was an English professor at Chicago State University. A strong thread of activism ran through both sides of the family. West's parents divorced when he was three, but both remained involved in his upbringing. As a child, West often spent summers with his father in Maryland.

"I was really raised in the church, and raised as a good Black man," West told Kimberly Davis of Ebony. That said, his background was an unusually varied one; when he was ten, his mother landed a one-year teaching job in Nanjing, China, and West became proficient enough in the Chinese language to be an interpreter for his mother in restaurants. "I think that got me ready to be a celeb because, at that time, a lot of Chinese had never seen a black person," he told Campion. "They would come up and stare at me, rub my skin, fishbowl me." West became fascinated by hip-hop music at a young age, successfully badgered his mother into buying him a sophisticated electronic keyboard, and wrote his first raps by the time he was ten. His abilities first became apparent at school talent shows. "I would help the others because I just knew I was going to win anyway," West told Campion. "The teachers used to say, 'This ain't meant to be the Kanye West show.'"

Soon West had his eye on bigger and better things. "I thought I was going to get signed back when I was 13 years old," he explained to Associated Press writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody, "and come out with a record and take [youthful rap group] Kriss Kross out." These ambitions had to take a back seat to West's education for a while, though. He graduated from Chicago's Polaris High School, and, having shown skills as a visual artist as well as a verbal one, enrolled at Chicago's American Academy of Art on a scholarship. He then transferred to Chicago State, declaring an English major but spending most of his time, he told Campion, "in music class or in the lunch room talking to girls."

Made Misstep in Meeting at Columbia

An initial brush with the big time helped to divert West's interests away from higher education. The Columbia label made noises about offering him a recording contract, and he was shuttled to Columbia's offices in a limousine. But West mishandled his meeting with Columbia executive Michael Mauldin, claiming confidently that he would be bigger than superstar Michael Jackson or Atlanta producer and rapper Jermaine Dupri--not knowing at the time that Mauldin was Dupri's father. Whether or not it was because of that faux pas, West's promised contract did not materialize. But the experience only strengthened his determination.

West left Chicago State, becoming the college dropout later referred to in the title of his debut album. After The College Dropout became a hit, West took criticism from some who believed he was encouraging young African Americans to abandon their schooling. In response, he drew a distinction between high school and college. "I feel like high school is a necessity, but college is a choice...," he explained to Davis. "[Some people] have no idea what they're even going to college for, other than they believe that's what you're supposed to do." West backed up his commitment to education by forming the Kanye West Foundation, whose "Loop Dreams" initiative helped finance production equipment for school music programs.

Initially, it was West's production skills that helped him break into the music business. In 1997 he co-produced some cuts on rapper Mase's album Harlem World; Mase later returned the favor by making a guest appearance on a remix of "Jesus Walks." He notched other successes as a writer and producer in the late 1990s, but his music-business profile spiked sharply upward after he began working with rapper Jay-Z, one of the top hip-hop hitmakers of the day. He produced Jay-Z's "This Can't Be Life" and composed such Jay-Z cuts as "Izzo H.O.V.A," "Encore," and "'03 Bonnie and Clyde." Soon West found himself in demand as a producer, working with rappers Twista and Ludacris and with R&B chanteuse and pianist Alicia Keys ("You Don't Know My Name").

West's production style was distinctive, and he succeeded in transferring it to his own music after being signed to entrepreneur Damon Dash's Roc-a-Fella label in 2002. He favored samples from classic soul and R&B pieces, with the vocals often sped up so that they turned into rhythmic high-pitched squeaks but were not distorted to a point where they were totally unrecognizable. This technique, the All Music Guide pointed out in its analysis of West's "peerless" beatmaking skills, was matched by "a likewise trademark stutter-step drum-programming touch--a simple yet potent combination." West's eclectic tastes brought him in contact with new sounds that showed up in his own music; he was known as a fan of the alternative rock band Franz Ferdinand.

Sampled Vandross Hit

A good example of West's characteristic sound was provided by his composition "Slow Jamz," based on a sample from the Luther Vandross hit "A House Is Not a Home" (originally composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David) and first recorded in a version featuring fellow Chicago rapper Twista before West added new text on a single released at the beginning of 2004. Samples from the Vandross song are heard at various speeds, while West's rap likewise manipulates the listener's perception of time, accelerating to a blistering pace in one extended passage. On top of this virtuoso mastery of the ebb and flow of musical time, West delivers a rap that deftly satirizes the seduction clichés of urban contemporary music.

By the time "Slow Jamz" appeared, West had gone through a near-death experience: he fell asleep at the wheel of his Lexus after a late-night production session in October of 2002. He later recalled little of the episode except for intense pain and the sensation of the steering wheel hitting his face. His jaw was broken in three places, and he underwent reconstructive surgery. "Being that I was so close to dying, I realized that nothing in life is promised except death," West told Davis. "So, while I'm here, I have to make the most of it."

During his rehabilitation, West continued working on the album that became The College Dropout--not just thinking about it, but actually rapping through his wired jaw about his own predicament on "Through the Wire," a piece that cleverly samples a song by R&B vocal diva Chaka Khan called "Through the Fire." "Through the Wire" was also released at the beginning of 2004 and became a hit along with "Slow Jamz," setting the stage for the debut of the long-delayed but much-anticipated The College Dropout. West's skill as a producer was unquestioned, but whether he could put together an album's worth of original raps and concepts was in doubt.

Remixed Album to Foil Pirates

Any doubts were dispelled when advance tracks of the album leaked out. The hyperactive West stayed one step ahead of the pirates by remixing much of the album's contents and adding several tracks. What finally emerged in February of 2004 was a complex group of 21 pieces that touched on many different themes but completely avoided the violence of many of West's hip-hop contemporaries. Much of the album was marked by West's pointed sense of humor, rooted in everyday situations; "Workout Plan" satirized aerobics programs and their music, while "Spaceship" depicted the frustrations of a token black employee at a mall clothing store. "All Falls Down" took aim at materialism with its jab at a "single black female addicted to retail." New versions of "Slow Jamz" and "Through the Wire" were also included.

The most successful track from The College Dropout was "Jesus Walks," which West, clad in white, performed at the 2005 Grammy awards ceremony. Three separate videos of the song were aired. Religiously oriented hip-hop had been attempted almost since the genre's beginnings, but "Jesus Walks," with its serious marching-band rhythms and rhythmically complex gospel vocal-group backing, sounded completely new. The song referred to police abuse and included a long passage in which West listed "hustlers, killers, murderers, drug dealers, even the strippers" and had his backing vocal group affirm that "Jesus walks for them." Ebony's Davis praised West for his "amalgamation of the street hustler's credo and the Black Protestant ethos." With his mother Donda serving as his manager (and experiencing what she described to Christian as "a huge learning curve" in moving from her professorial duties to the music industry), West went on tour with R&B superstar Usher.

West's frequent assertions of the value of his work ("It's something completely different.... It's definitely a classic," he told Moody) gained support when he garnered ten 2004 Grammy nominations, eight of them for The College Dropout and two for his work on the album The Diary of Alicia Keys. He won three (for best rap album, best rap song for "Jesus Walks," and best R&B song for Keys's "You Don't Know My Name"), losing the best new artist award to rock group Maroon 5--who seemed surprised to win and praised West from the podium as they accepted the award. Sales of The College Dropout, even in a depressed music market, rose toward the three-million mark.

By early 2005, Kanye West was riding high. He had founded his own record label, G.O.O.D. (Getting Out Our Dreams), and it had already delivered a major hit album, balladeer John Legend's Get Lifted. He was preparing to launch a line of sneakers, and his preppy look, which he himself compared to that of the character Carlton on the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, seemed to offer potential big dividends in its total divergence from the bling-bling trends of the day. Unattached after several years in a committed relationship, he inspired speculation about his romantic future. The only question mark was his sophomore CD, Late Registration, whose release date was pushed back several times and was finally slated for the summer of 2005. At first West seemed daunted by the idea of following up what was widely considered a hip-hop masterpiece, but by 2005 he had warmed to the task. "The best thing [about success] is being able to get my creative ideas out," he told Davis. "That's why I rap in the first place-so my voice can be heard."

Awards

Grammy Awards for best rap song, best rap album, and best R&B song, 2004.

Works

Selected discography

The College Dropout, Roc-a-Fella, 2004.

Kanye West

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For The Record...

Born Kanye Omari West on June 8, 1977; son of Ray (a marriage counselor) and Donda (a professor) West. Education: Attended The American Academy of Art and Chicago State University.

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

Awards: Grammy Awards, Best Rap Album for The College Dropout, Best Rap Song for "Jesus Walks," Best R&B Song for "You Don't Know My Name" (performed by Alicia Keys), 2005; BET Award, Best Male Hip-Hop Artist, 2005; BET Award, Video of the Year, 2005; MTV Video Music Award, Best Male Video for "Jesus Walks," 2005; Grammy Awards, Best Rap Solo Performance for "Gold Digger," Best Rap Song for "Diamonds of Sierra Leone," Best Rap Album for Late Registration, 2006.

Addresses: Record company—Roc-A-Fella Records, 825 Eighth Ave., New York, NY 10019. Website—Kanye West Official Website: http://www.kanyewest.com.

Rap musician, record producer

Kanye West began his career in music as a producer for top hip-hop artists such as Jay-Z, but he wanted more: he wanted to rap, too. Though his middle-class background and preppy dress made him seem ill-fitted for a hip-hop scene dominated by gangsta personalities, West's talent and determination led to his massive success. His debut album, The College Dropout, rewrote the rules of hip-hop, reviving socially conscious lyrics and mixing them with cutting-edge commercial party beats. By the time he released his second album, Late Registration, in August of 2005, West had become one of hip-hop's biggest stars.

West was born on June 8, 1977, to Ray, a former Black Panther who went on to become an award-winning photographer and then a marriage counselor, and Donda, an English professor. (His name, pronounced kahn-yay, means "the only one" in Swahili.) His parents divorced when he was three years old; he mostly lived with his mother, but often spent summers with his father. He lived in China for a year at the age of ten while his mother was teaching English at a university there; he would make money entertaining people by break dancing on the streets. His father taught him to be race-conscious, while his mother helped him develop a wide vocabulary through word games. "I was taught to think on my own," he told Jim Farber of the New York Daily News. "That's what a lot of black kids don't get."

In high school, West became friends with producer No I.D., who was working with the rapper Common before he became a star. Inspired, West got a sampling keyboard at 15, and spent a lot of time rapping and beatmaking in his bedroom. He attended Chicago's The American Academy of Art for a year on a scholarship, then transferred to Chicago State University to pursue a degree in English. But he dropped out to pursue a career in music, thwarting his mother's hopes that he would earn several degrees. "It was drummed into my head that college is the ticket to a good life," Donda West told the Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot. "but some career goals don't require college. For Kanye to make an album called College Dropout, it was more about having the guts to embrace who you are, rather than following the path society has carved out for you. And that's what Kanye did."

Signature Soul Sound
Instead, West started producing songs for Chicago rappers. In 1998, he contributed to Atlanta producer and recording star Jermaine Dupri's album Life in 1472. He moved from Chicago to Newark, New Jersey, and then to Hoboken in that same state, close to New York City. His big breakthrough came when he composed five songs on Jay-Z's 2001 album The Blueprint. The songs established a key part of West's production style: he sampled classic songs and sped them up so they turned high-pitched. Usually the songs were soul music, such as the Jackson 5 and the Temptations, though he also sampled '60s rockers The Doors. West has admitted getting the idea from The RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan, but at a time when sampling had fallen out of fashion in hip-hop, it was still unusual enough to impress. He began working with other top hip-hop artists on Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella label. Since then, West has produced songs for more than 40 artists, including Scarface, Foxy Brown, and DMX.

West was convinced he could rap as well as produce. He started working on his own album in 2001. But when he first asked Roc-A-Fella executives to let him record his own hip-hop album, they were not receptive, because he did not have the tough background or image that had become almost required of hip-hop stars. "Kanye wore a pink shirt with the collar sticking up and Gucci loafers," Damon Dash, then-CEO of Roc-A-Fella, told Josh Tyrangiel of Time. "We all grew up street guys who had to do whatever we had to do to get by," Jay-Z told Tyrangiel. "Then there's Kanye, who to my knowledge has never hustled a day in his life. I didn't see how it could work."

Accident Changed His Life
"I was mad because I was not being taken seriously as a rapper for a long time," West told Kot of the Chicago Tribune. "Whether it was because I didn't have a larger-than-life persona, or I was perceived as the guy who made beats, I was disrespected as a rapper." A neartragedy ended up giving West the creative inspiration for his project. He fell asleep at the wheel of a car in Los Angeles in October of 2002 and got in a car accident that nearly killed him. He called Roc-A-Fella's CEO from the hospital, asked for a drum machine, and created the song "Through the Wire" about his accident. He recorded the mumbled vocals three weeks after the crash, while his jaw was wired shut. The song was built on a sample from Chaka Khan's "Through the Fire." It helped convince Roc-A-Fella to let him record an album. West used the song as his calling card, passing it around on mix tapes he created to show he could rap as well as produce. "Death is the best thing that can ever happen to a rapper," West quipped to Tyrangiel in Time. "Almost dying isn't bad either."

While working on his album, West also produced a string of hits. His triumph came in early 2004. First, two songs he produced hit number one: "Stand Up" by Ludacris and "You Don't Know My Name" by Alicia Keys. Others, including "Slow Jamz," a collaboration with Chicago rapper Twista, and Jay-Z's "Encore," also became hit singles. Then, West's album The College Dropout appeared and quickly became both a critical and commercial success. It sold 440,000 copies in its first week of release, and almost three million within a year and a half. "Through the Wire" became a top-rated video on MTV and MTV2.

Critics and peers fixated on West's mix of popular party music with intelligent, socially aware lyrics. Admirers, including actor/singer Jamie Foxx (who appears on "Slow Jamz") and Darryl McDaniels of the classic rap group Run-D.M.C., declared that The College Dropout had restored their faith in hip-hop. The New York Daily News' Farber called the album "one of the most informed and political rap records since the heyday of Public Enemy and the Jungle Brothers." The song "All Falls Down" questioned materialism in the black community, while "Jesus Walks," which Village Voice critic Hua Hsu called "a desperate masterpiece," stunned listeners with its redemptive message embracing even drug dealers, its ambivalence ("I wanna talk to God but I'm afraid 'cause we ain't spoke in so long," West raps), and its explicit defiance of the conventional wisdom that a song about God would not get played on commercial radio.

Bridged Mainstream and Underground
West eagerly admitted he was mixing two sides of hip-hop: the commercial side, dominated by gangsta rap, and politically aware rappers (who were less numerous and popular at the time than in early hip-hop). "My whole theory of music is message and melody," West told Neil Drumming of Entertainment Weekly. While other political artists are "like cod-liver oil," West said, he promised "cough medicine mixed with Kool-Aid." The New York Daily News' Farber noted a lack of "gangsta clichés" in West's work. "I never killed anybody, so I don't rap about it," he told Farber. "Every song [of mine] is an inspirational song, to make 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 still alive. My father was a Black Panther. My grandparents were involved in civil-rights marches. So I have a responsibility to reflect them."

Kelefa Sanneh of the New York Times called The College Dropout "2004's first great hip-hop album" and "a concept album about quitting school, a playful collection of party songs, and a 76-minute orgy of nosethumbing." Sanneh wrote that West "taunts everyone who didn't believe in him: teachers, record executives, police officers, even his former boss at the Gap."

West's huge ego, which gave him the confidence to defy hip-hop stereotypes and record the album, became a huge part of his public personality. "I do music for the sake of showing off," he told Ryan of Spin, explaining that he shows off through music like some people flaunt their cars. He complained to interviewers about one review that gave his album a grade of B+. "My CD is so good, people will have to buy second and third copies because other people will be stealing them," he bragged to the New York Daily News' Farber. Sometimes, West's arrogance has alienated people, especially after he walked out of the American Music Awards, furious that he lost the award for Best New Artist to country star Gretchen Wilson.

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

West reportedly spent $2,000,000 putting his second album together, breaking his production budget. He surprised many by working with producer Jon Brion, whose previous work had been mostly with alternative singer-songwriters such as Fiona Apple and Aimee Mann. West aimed to have more musicianship on the new album: 40-piece string sets and 30-piece horn sections grace some tracks. Guests on the album included Jay-Z, Foxx, R&B singer Brandy, Adam Levine of the band Maroon 5, and the rapper Nas.

Made Cover of Time
The album, Late Registration, was released in late August of 2005. Distributors shipped 1.6 million copies of it to stores for its release week. It was greeted with rave reviews. Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield gave it five stars, declaring it "an undeniable triumph, packed front to back, so expansive it makes the debut sound like a rough draft." Time dubbed him "the smartest man in pop music" on its cover.

On the album, the song "Gone" is built on an Otis Redding sample and a simple piano melody. The track "Diamonds From Sierra Leone," built on a sample of Shirley Bassey's theme song from the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, protests the sale of "blood diamonds" that profit from conflicts in Africa. "Gold Digger" encourages women to stick with working-class men who are mopping floors and serving French fries. His duet with Nas, "We Major," was considered a highlight, both for the interplay between the two rappers and an exciting moment where the music fades and West starts it up again, convinced the song is so good, it can go on past seven minutes.

Again, music writers noticed a lot of contrast and mixed inspiration in West's work, and he freely admitted it. "I'm pretty calculating," he told Tyrangiel in Time, while standing in a church in Prague, where he was filming the "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" video. "I take stuff that I know appeals to people's bad sides and match it up with stuff that appeals to their good sides." He mentioned lyrics in "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" about a woman that he admitted were "crass," then the lyrics that follow it, about his father baptizing him. "He's trying to change this genre, and in order to do that he's got to get people to listen to his music," Run-D.M.C.'s McDaniels told Time's Tyrangiel. "They've gotten so used to hardness, to stupidity, that if he has to engage in a little of that to be relevant, so be it."

Political Awareness
West also displayed his political passions with two benefit performances in the summer of 2005. First, he performed at the Live 8 concert, meant to raise awareness about poverty and debt in the Third World. Then, after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States in late August, West joined the benefit A Concert For Hurricane Relief. It was broadcast on NBC-TV four days after the storm, when the country was still watching terrifying news footage of evacuees stranded and even dying in downtown New Orleans. West criticized the federal government's response to the crisis in remarks carried live on national television. "George Bush doesn't care about black people," he charged, according to the Associated Press, adding that the country is set up "to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow as possible."

As fall of 2005 arrived, critics were writing that West seemed to be trying to personally embody pop music. Clearly eager to break more stereotypes and musical boundaries, West announced he planned to go on tour with rock band U2 and possibly also Coldplay.

Before he could make good on his outlandish touring promises, Grammy season had arrived, and in December of 2005, West and Late Registration were nominated for 10 awards—the most for any artists that year. A bit more humble than usual, West was quoted at the 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 I don't win album of the year, I'm really going to have a problem with that."

When the Grammy Awards aired in February of 2006, West ended up walking away with three awards, including Best Rap Solo Performance for "Gold Digger" and Best Rap Song for "Diamonds of Sierra Leone" and Best Rap Album for Late Registration. At the awards, West's impact was undeniable, as he performed "Gold Digger" live with singer/actor Jamie Foxx and a full marching band by his side. When accepting the award for Album of the Year, Bono, from the winning band U2, singled out West by saying "You're next." West later told MTV.com that he was more proud of his performance at the awards than the awards themselves, and that he wasn't disappointed that he lost out to U2. "I would have been more disappointed if I didn't have a good performance and I had won Album of the Year. The performance, that's what it's about, the entertainment and people having a good time." He continued by saying, "The first thing I thought is, 'Let's go back to the studio, let's go.' It's good for me, I'm happy, because I have accomplished so much in the last two years, all the way from running the [G.O.O.D.] label to being the artist that you [go to when you] run out of things to do. So now it's like, 'OK, we didn't get the Album of the Year. Let's go [try again].' John Legend, Jon Brion, anyone named John, let's go."

Selected discography
The College Dropout, Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam Records, 2004.Late Registration, Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam Records, 2005.
Sources
Periodicals
Associated Press, September 3, 2005.
Chicago Tribune, February 11, 2004.
Detroit Free Press, August 28, 2005, p. 2E.
Entertainment Weekly, February 27, 2004, pp. 64-65.
New York Daily News, January 27, 2004.
New York Times, February 9, 2004.
Rolling Stone, September 8, 2005, pp. 109-10.
Spin, February 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 to 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 West Leads Grammy Nominations," CNN.com, http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/07/grammy.noms/ (December 7, 2005).
"Roc-A-Fella Records Artist Kanye West," Roc-A-Fella Records, http://www.rocafella.com/Artist.aspx?v=bio&key=7 (August 21, 2005).

AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:

Kanye West

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Genres: Rap

Biography

In the span of three short years, Kanye West went from hip-hop beatmaker to worldwide hitmaker, as his stellar production work for Jay-Z led to a major-label recording contract and, ultimately, a wildly successful solo career. West paired his beats with tongue-twisting raps and a self-assured, flamboyant personality. His dapper fashion sense set him apart from many of his rap peers, and his confidence often came across as boastful or even egotistical, albeit amusingly so. This flamboyance, of course, made for good press, something that West enjoyed in spades during his sudden rise to celebrity status. He was a media darling, appearing and performing at countless awards shows (and winning at them, too), delivering theatrical videos to MTV, and mouthing off about whatever happened to cross his mind. He frequently spoke out against the rampant homophobia evident in much rap music, posed for the cover of Rolling Stone as Jesus Christ, and even claimed during a televised Hurricane Katrina fundraiser that "George Bush doesn't care about black people." West courted controversy, no question about it, but his steady presence in the celebrity limelight couldn't eclipse his musical talent. His production abilities seemed boundless during his initial surge of activity, as he not only racked up impressive hits for himself (including "Jesus Walks" and "Gold Digger"), but also collaborated on smash hits with the likes of Jay-Z and Ludacris. As his career progressed throughout the early 21st century, West shattered certain stereotypes about rappers, becoming a superstar on his own terms without adapting his appearance, his rhetoric, or his music to fit any one musical mold.

Coming out of left field (i.e., Chicago, a city rarely praised for its hip-hop exports), West was an unlikely sensation and more than once defied adversity. Like so many others who were initially inspired by Run-D.M.C., he began as just another aspiring rapper with a boundless passion for hip-hop, albeit a rapper with a Midas touch when it came to beatmaking. Indeed, it was his beatmaking prowess that got his foot in the industry door. Though he did quite a bit of noteworthy production work during the late '90s (Jermaine Dupri, Foxy Brown, Mase, Goodie Mob), it was West's work for Roc-a-Fella at the dawn of the new millennium that took his career to the next level. Alongside fellow fresh talent Just Blaze, West became one of the Roc's go-to producers, consistently delivering hot tracks to album after album. His star turn came on Jay-Z's classic Blueprint (2001) with album standouts "Takeover" and "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)." Both songs showcased West's signature beatmaking style of the time, which was largely sample-based; in these cases, the former track appropriated snippets of the Doors' "Five to One," while the latter sampled the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back."

More high-profile productions followed, and before long word spread that West was going to release an album of his own, on which he planned to rap as well as produce. Unfortunately, that album was a long time coming, pushed back and then pushed back again. It didn't help that West was in a tragic car accident in October 2002 that almost cost him his life. He capitalized on the traumatic experience by using it as the inspiration for "Through the Wire" (and its corresponding video), which would later become the lead single for his debut album, 2004's The College Dropout. As the album was continually delayed, West continued to churn out big hits for the likes of Talib Kweli ("Get By"), Ludacris ("Stand Up"), Jay-Z ("'03 Bonnie & Clyde"), and Alicia Keys ("You Don't Know My Name"). Then, just as "Through the Wire" was breaking big-time at the tail end of 2003, another West song caught fire, a collaboration with Twista and comedian/actor Jamie Foxx called "Slow Jamz," which gave the rapper/producer two simultaneously ubiquitous singles and a much-anticipated debut album. As with so many of West's songs, the singles were driven by somewhat recognizable sample-based hooks: Chaka Khan's "Through the Fire" in the case of "Through the Wire," and Luther Vandross' "A House Is Not a Home" in the case of "Slow Jamz."

In the wake of his breakout success, West earned a whopping ten nominations at the 47th annual Grammy Awards, held in early 2005. The College Dropout won the Best Rap Album award, "Jesus Walks" won Best Rap Song, and a songwriting credit on "You Don't Know My Name" for Best R&B Song award was shared with Alicia Keys and Harold Lilly. Later that year, West released his second solo album, Late Registration, which spawned a series of hit singles ("Diamonds in Sierra Leone," "Gold Digger," "Heard 'Em Say," "Touch the Sky"). The album topped the charts, as did the "Gold Digger" single, and Late Registration eventually won a Grammy for Album of the Year. West's production work continued more or less unabated during this time; particularly noteworthy were hits for Twista ("Overnight Celebrity"), Janet Jackson ("I Want You"), Brandy ("Talk About Our Love"), the Game ("Dreams"), Common ("Go!"), and Keyshia Cole ("I Changed My Mind"). West also founded his own label, GOOD Music (i.e., "Getting Out Our Dreams"), in conjunction with Sony BMG. The label's inaugural release was John Legend's Get Lifted (2004), followed one year later by Common's Be. In addition to all of his studio work, West also toured internationally in support of Late Registration and released Late Orchestration: Live at Abbey Road Studios (2006) in commemoration.

After retreating from the spotlight for some time, West returned to the forefront of the music world in 2007 with a series of album releases. Consequence's Don't Quit Your Day Job and Common's Finding Forever, both released by GOOD, were chiefly produced by West; the latter proved to be particularly popular, topping the album chart upon its release in July. And then there was West's third solo album, Graduation, which was promoted well in advance of its September 11 release (a memorable date that pitted Kanye against 50 Cent, who in one interview swore he would quit music if his own album, Curtis, wasn't the top-seller). A pair of singles -- "Can't Tell Me Nothing" and "Stronger," the latter an interpolation of Daft Punk's 2001 single "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" -- led the promotional push. It became his third consecutive chart-topping album, and its success culminated in eight Grammy nominations. West was the victor in four of the categories, and he performed two songs during the ceremony, including Late Registration's "Hey Mama," chosen in honor of his recently deceased mother. That loss, compounded by a breakup with his fiancée, informed 2008's 808s & Heartbreak, a major change of pace that saw West singing most of his emotionally pained lyrics with the assistance of Auto-Tune. As polarizing as it was, it went platinum. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, most of which was recorded in Hawaii and involved guest vocal spots from the likes of Nicki Minaj, Kid Cudi, Rick Ross, and the RZA, was released in November 2010. It was preceded by the bombastic, King Crimson-sampling single "Power." A sprawling and audacious album, MBDTF debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and also went platinum. While the album was still hot, West recorded the aggressive and boast-heavy Watch the Throne with Jay-Z and numerous producers and songwriters. Billed as a set by the Throne, it was released in August 2011 and entered the Billboard Top 200 chart at number one. ~ Jason Birchmeier & Andy Kellman, Rovi

Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Kanye West

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Kanye West
West at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival
Background information
Birth name	Kanye Omari West
Born	June 8, 1977 (1977-06-08) (age 34) Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Producer, rapper, musician, singer
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards, sampler, percussion, synthesizer
Years active	1996–present
Labels	GOOD Music, Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam
Associated acts	Go Getters, Child Rebel Soldier, Jay-Z, The Throne, Common, John Legend, Kid Cudi, Rihanna, Jeff Bhasker, Pusha T, Mos Def, Mr Hudson, Talib Kweli, Big Sean, A-Trak, Pharrell, Lupe Fiasco, RZA
Website	kanyewest.com

Kanye Omari West ( /ˈkɑːnjeɪ/; born June 8, 1977)^[1] is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and Janet Jackson. His style of production originally used pitched-up vocal samples from soul songs incorporated with his own drums and instruments. However, subsequent productions saw him broadening his musical palette and expressing influences encompassing '70s R&B, baroque pop, trip hop, arena rock, folk, alternative, electronica, synth-pop, and classical music.^[2]

West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004, his second album Late Registration in 2005, his third album Graduation in 2007, his fourth album 808s & Heartbreak in 2008, and his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. West released a collaborative album, Watch the Throne, with Jay-Z on August 8, 2011, which is the duo's first collaborative album. His five solo albums, all of which have gone platinum, have received numerous awards and critical acclaim.^[3] As of 2011, West has won a total of fourteen Grammy Awards.^[4]^[5]^[6] All albums have been very commercially successful, with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy becoming his fourth consecutive No.1 album in the U.S. upon release.^[7] West has had 5 songs exceed 3 million in digital sales as of July 2011, with "Gold Digger" selling 3,086,000, "Stronger" selling 4,402,000, "Heartless" selling 3,742,000, "E.T." selling over 4,000,000 and "Love Lockdown" selling over 3,000,000^[8]^[9] placing him third in overall digital sales of the past decade.^[10]^[11] He has sold over 25 million digital songs in the United States placing him second for solo male artists on the list and sixth overall for best selling digital artists.^[12]

West also runs his own record label GOOD Music, home to artists such as John Legend, Common and Kid Cudi.^[13] West's mascot and trademark is "Dropout Bear," a teddy bear which has appeared on the covers of three of his five albums as well as various single covers and music videos.^[14] About.com ranked Kanye West No.8 on their "Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers" list.^[15] On May 16, 2008, Kanye West was crowned by MTV as the year's No.1 "Hottest MC in the Game."^[16] On December 17, 2010, Kanye West was voted as the MTV Man of the Year by MTV.^[17] Billboard ranked Kanye West No. 3 on their list of Top 10 Producers of the decade.^[18] West has also been included in the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world as well as being listed in a number of Forbes' annual lists.^[19]

Early life

Kanye West was born in Atlanta, Georgia,^[20] where he lived with his parents. When he was three years old, his parents divorced, and he and his mother moved to Chicago, Illinois.^[21] His father was Ray West, a former Black Panther who was one of the first black photojournalists at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and is now a Christian counselor.^[21] West's mother, Dr. Donda West, was a Professor of English at Clark Atlanta University, and the Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University before retiring to serve as West's manager. He was raised in a middle-class background, attending Polaris High School^[22] in suburban Oak Lawn, Illinois after living in Chicago.^[23] When asked about his grades in high school, West replied, "I got A's and B's. And I'm not even frontin'".^[24]

West attended art classes at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, and also enrolled at Chicago State University, but dropped out to focus on his music career.^[25] While attending school, West produced for local artists. He later gained fame by producing hit singles for major hip hop/R&B artists, including Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, Cam'ron, Paul Wall, Common, Mobb Deep, Jermaine Dupri, Scarface, The Game, Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson, John Legend among others. He also "ghost-produced" for his mentor Deric Angelettie, according to his song "Last Call" and the credits of Nas' "Poppa Was a Playa".^[25]

Music career

1996–2003: Career beginnings

Kanye West's first career productions came on Chicago rapper Grav's 1996 debut album Down to Earth. West produced eight tracks on the album. While the album did not attract much attention and would be the only album released by Grav, West would soon be producing for higher profile artists. In 1998–1999 he produced for well-known artists such as Jermaine Dupri, Foxy Brown, Goodie Mob, and the group Harlem World.

West got his big break in the year 2000, when he began to produce for artists on Roc-a-Fella Records. He produced the well-received Jay-Z song "This Can't Be Life" off of the album The Dynasty: Roc La Familia. West would later state that to create the beat for "This Can't Be Life", he sped up the drum beat from Dr. Dre's song "Xxplosive".^[26]

After producing for Jay-Z earlier, West’s sound was featured heavily on Jay-Z's critically acclaimed album The Blueprint, released September 11, 2001.^[27] His work was featured on the lead single "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)," "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)" and a diss track against Nas and Mobb Deep named "Takeover"; West has worked with Mobb Deep and Nas since the track's release.^[27]

After meeting great commercial success and critical acclaim for his productions on The Blueprint, West became a sought after producer in the hip-hop industry, even before he became known as a rapper and solo artist. In the years 2002–2003 he would produce for artists such as Nas, Scarface, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, T.I., Ludacris, DMX, and Monica. He also continued producing for Roc-a-Fella Records artists and contribued four tracks to Jay-Z's follow up album to The Blueprint, The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse.

After great successes as a producer, West now looked to pursue a career as a rapper and solo artist, but struggled to get a record deal. Chris Anokute, then A&R at Def Jam, said that when West regularly dropped by the office to pick up his producer checks he would play demos of solo material to Anokute in his cubicle and bemoan the fact that no one was taking him seriously as a rapper.^[28] Jay-Z admitted that Roc-A-Fella was initially reluctant to support West as a rapper, claiming that he saw him as a producer first and foremost.^[29] Multiple record companies felt he was not as marketable as rappers who portray the "street image" prominent in hip hop culture.^[26] Beginning his career as a rapper, Kanye West recorded the third verse on the song "The Bounce" off of Jay-Z's The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse, an album he produced for, from the same label he was signed to as a rapper.

2004–05: The College Dropout and Late Registration

On October 23, 2002, West was involved in a near fatal car crash while driving home from the recording studio. The crash provided inspiration for West's first single, "Through the Wire".^[30] West's faith is apparent in many of his songs, such as "Jesus Walks", which became a staple at his benefit performances, such as the Live 8 concert. These songs were featured on West's debut album, The College Dropout, which was released on Roc-A-Fella Records in February 2004, and went on to receive critical acclaim. The album also defined the style for which West would become known, including wordplay and sampling.^[30] The album was eventually certified triple platinum. Guest appearances included Jay-Z, Ludacris, GLC, Consequence, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Common, and Syleena Johnson. The album also featured the singles, "All Falls Down" and "The New Workout Plan", as well as Twista's number one single, "Slow Jamz".^[31] During 2003 West also co-produced songs for British singer Javine Hylton, even appearing in the music video to Real Things playing the love interest of Javine.

West was involved in a financial dispute over Royce Da 5'9"'s song "Heartbeat", produced by West and released on Build & Destroy: The Lost Sessions. West maintains that Royce never paid for the beat, but recorded to it and released it; hearing him on the beat, the original customers decided not to buy it from West. After the disagreement, West vowed to never work with Royce again.^[32] Other Kanye West-produced hit singles during the period The College Dropout was released included "I Changed My Mind" by Keyshia Cole, "Overnight Celebrity" by Twista and "Talk About Our Love" by Brandy.^[30]

West and Jamie Foxx performing "Gold Digger" at the Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado

Taking a more eclectic route, West collaborated with American film score composer Jon Brion to construct his second album, Late Registration, which was released on August 30, 2005.^[33] Like its predecessor, the sophomore effort garnered universal acclaim from music critics.^[34] Late Registration topped countless critic polls and was revered as the best album of the year by numerous publications, including USA Today, Spin, and Time.^[35]^[36] Rolling Stone awarded the album the highest position on their end of the year record list and hailed it as a "sweepingly generous, absurdly virtuosic hip-hop classic."^[37] The record earned the number one spot on the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll of 2005 for the second consecutive year.^[38] Late Registration was also a commercial success, selling over 860,000 copies in its first week alone and topping the Billboard 200.^[39] Grossing over 2.3 million units sold in the United States alone by year's end, Late Registration was considered by industry observers as the sole majorly successful album release of the fall of 2005, a season that was plagued by steadily declining CD sales.^[40] The second album earned eight Grammy Award nominations including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for the song "Gold Digger".^[41] The album is certified triple platinum.^[42]

On August 22, 2005, the MTV special All Eyes On Kanye West aired, in which West spoke out against homophobia in hip-hop. He claimed that hip-hop has always been about "speaking your mind and about breaking down barriers, but everyone in hip-hop discriminates against gay people."^[43] He then reflected on a personal experience. He said that he had a "turning point" when he realized one of his cousins was gay. He said regarding this experience: "This is my cousin. I love him and I've been discriminating against gays." He drew comparison between African Americans' struggle for civil rights and today's gay rights movement. The following year, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, West further expounded his experiences with and views on the relationship between the black and gay communities.^[44]

In September 2005, West announced that he would release his Pastelle Clothing line in spring 2006:^[45] "Now that I have a Grammy under my belt and Late Registration is finished, I am ready to launch my clothing line next spring." In that year, West produced the hit singles "Go" by Common and "Dreams" by The Game.^[46]

2007–09: Graduation and 808s & Heartbreak

In 2007, it was announced that West would be starring in a series directed by Larry Charles. He has been working on the pilot episode for the past two years with Larry Charles and Rick Rubin. He also had this to say on January 14: "I wouldn't do something as cliché as a reality show. At least give me the credit for being more creative than that. It's a situational half-hour comedy. It's fictional, and loosely based on my life.^[47] " West also collaborated with Japanese hip-hop group Teriyaki Boyz to produce the single "I Still Love H.E.R.," a reference to Common's 1994 single "I Used to Love H.E.R.". Further to this, during a radio appearance in early 2007, West, like many of his peers, recorded an impromptu freestyle to the popular song "Throw Some D's." The song that to all other rappers was about automobile rims, was used by West to comically refer to D-cup breasts. Because of the unexpected success of the song, West went on to make a video for the freestyle, in which he is seen playing his 'Old Ass Cousin'.^[48]

West performing at a concert in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

West was also featured in a new song called "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)". It was believed to be a single for, Graduation, because he is featured on the track, but Nike quickly explained that it was for the Nike Air Force 1's anniversary. It was meant only to be an exclusive track for the company.^[49]

On March 25, 2007, he and his father Ray West supported World Water Day by having a "Walk for Water" rally.^[50] After a two-year break, West has returned to being a fashion columnist in lifestyle magazine Complex.^[51] On July 7, 2007, West performed with The Police and John Mayer at the American leg of Live Earth.^[52] West hosted the August 17 edition of British comedy- variety show The Friday Night Project.^[53]

In July 2007, West changed the release date of Graduation, his third album, from September 18, 2007, to the same release date as 50 Cent's album Curtis, September 11, 2007.^[54] 50 Cent later claimed that if Graduation were to sell more records than Curtis, he would stop releasing solo albums. However, 50 Cent would later dispel his comments.^[55] The album has been certified double platinum. Guest appearances included T-Pain, Mos Def, and Lil Wayne.^[56]

“

When I heard that thing about the debate, I thought that was the stupidest thing. When my albums drops and 50's album drops, you're gonna get a lot of good music at the same time.^[57]

”

On August 26, 2007, West appeared as himself on the HBO television show Entourage which he used as a platform to premier his new single "Good Life" during the end credits. On September 9, 2007, West performed at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, losing in every category he was nominated for; he gave an angry speech immediately afterward. (see "Controversies" section)

Following the MTV stint, West was nominated in eight Grammy Award categories for the 50th annual Grammy Awards.^[58] He won four of them,^[6] including Best Rap Album for Graduation and Best Rap Solo Performance for "Stronger" from Graduation. During the four-hour televised Grammy Awards ceremony, West also performed two songs: "Stronger" (with Daft Punk) and "Hey Mama" (in honor of his recently deceased mother).^[59]

West performing at the United Center in Chicago

West kicked off the Glow in the Dark Tour in Seattle at the Key Arena on April 16. The tour was originally scheduled to end in June in Cincinnati but was extended into August. Over the course of the tour West was joined by a varying group of opening acts, including Lupe Fiasco, Rihanna, N.E.R.D., DJ Craze, and Gnarls Barkley. On June 15, West was scheduled to perform a late night set at the Bonnaroo Music Festival. His performance started almost two hours late and ran for half of its alloted time, angering many fans in the audience. West later wrote an outraged entry on his blog, blaming the festival organizers as well as Pearl Jam's preceding set, which ran longer than expected.

On September 7, West debuted a new song "Love Lockdown" at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. "Love Lockdown" features no rapping and only singing using an auto-tune device. This song appears on West's fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak. The new album was expected to be released on December 16, but West announced on his blog on September 24, 2008, that he had finished the album and would be releasing it sometime in November, earlier than previously scheduled. In early October, West made a surprise appearance at a T.I. concert in Los Angeles, where he stated that 808s & Heartbreak was scheduled to be released on November 25, though it was actually released on the 24th, and that the second single is "Heartless". The album was another number one album for West, even though the first week numbers fell well short of Graduation with 450,145 sold.^[60]

West performing in 2008

West performed at the American Music Awards ceremony on November 23.^[61] That same night he won two AMA awards, including Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album for Graduation and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Male Artist. West performed at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August 2008, along with Wyclef Jean and N.E.R.D. in support of Barack Obama. On January 20, 2009, Kanye West performed at the Youth Inaugural Ball hosted by MTV for Obama's inauguration.

On February 17, 2009, West was named one of Top 10 Most Stylish Men in America by GQ.^[62] The next day, February 18, 2009, West won International Male Solo Artist at The Brit Awards 2009. West was not in attendance but accepted his award with a video speech, saying "Barack is the 'Best Interracial Male' but I'm proud to be the Best International Male in the world.^[63]

In April 2009, Kanye West recorded a song called "Hurricane" with 30 Seconds to Mars to appear on their album This Is War, but was not released due to legal issues with both record companies. The song was eventually released on the deluxe version of This Is War, titled "Hurricane 2.0".^[64]^[65]^[66]

2010–present: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Watch the Throne

In May 2010, West made an animated television guest appearance on Fox's animated television series The Cleveland Show (a spin-off of Family Guy) as the voice behind "Kenny West", a rival of Cleveland Brown's son.^[67] In his first episode he performed in a rap battle with Cleveland's son. The producers stated working with West was a very good experience and a reason they chose him was because they knew he was a fan of Family Guy.^[68] Kenny West re-appeared in the season 2 premiere of The Cleveland Show.

West spent the first half of 2010 in Honolulu, Hawaii, working on his new album with the working title "Good Ass Job", later named My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, released on November 22, 2010.^[69] West has cited Maya Angelou, Gil Scott-Heron and Nina Simone as his musical inspirations for this album. Outside production is said to come from RZA, Q-Tip, Pete Rock, and DJ Premier.^[70]^[71] West also had Justin Vernon flown into his studio on Oahu after seemingly expressing interest in sampling one of Bon Iver's songs; Vernon proceeded to feature on a number of new tracks, including "Lost In The World," which features Vernon's vocal line from Woods.^[72]

On May 28, the Dwele-assisted first single from the album, entitled "Power", leaked to the Internet. On June 30, the track was officially released via iTunes. The upcoming music video was quoted as being "apocalyptic, in a very personal way" by the director Marco Brambilla.^[73]

On September 12, 2010, West performed a new song, "Runaway" featuring Pusha T, at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards.^[74] Shortly after the performance, Kanye revealed he was working on a 35 minute short film based around the song. The movie is said to be influenced by film noir and concerns a fallen phoenix whom Kanye falls in love with.^[75] On October 15, 2010, Kanye West was ranked 3rd in BET's "Top Ten Rappers of the 21st Century" list.^[76]

West performing in 2011

Watch the Throne, a collaborative studio album by West and Jay-Z,^[77] was released by Def Jam Recordings on August 8, 2011.^[78] It has been under production since August 2010 as part of West's GOOD Friday initiative of releasing new songs every Friday between August 20 and Christmas 2010.^[79] West said through a recent interview with MTV that the album is "going to be very dark and sexy, like couture hip hop."^[79]^[80]^[81] He appeared at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, performing the track "Lost in the World" from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.^[82] On January 6, 2011, Kanye announced via Twitter that the first official single from Watch the Throne would be a song called "H•A•M" produced by Lex Luger. The song was released on January 11, 2011.^[83] On January 23, 2011, Kanye revealed via his Twitter account that he will be releasing a new album in summer 2011.^[84] On April 17, 2011, West closed the Coachella Festival with a headlining set that received glowing praise from fans and critics alike.^[85]^[86] On July 13, the official tracklisting for Watch The Throne was revealed.^[87] On July 20, a track titled "Otis" from the album was released in the iTunes Store. It samples "Try a Little Tenderness" by Otis Redding.^[88]

On October 19, 2011, West announced on his Twitter plans for a Spring 2012 GOOD Music album release.^[89] On January 8, 2012, According to Nielsen SoundScan was elected the ninth artist (third male artist) all-time best-selling tracks digital with 30,242,000 million alone USA to the end of 2011.^[90]

Other ventures

Business ventures

In August 2008, West revealed plans to open 10 Fatburger restaurants in the Chicago area; the first was set to open in September 2008 in Orland Park. The second followed in January 2009, while a third location is yet to be revealed, although the process is being finalized. His company, KW Foods LLC, bought the rights to the chain in Chicago.^[91] Additionally, West planned to launch his fashion career, and applied for internships with major European fashion houses.^[92] He was due to release his own clothing line called Past Tell in 2009. He also collaborated with Nike to release his own shoe, Air Yeezys.

On January 22, 2009, during Paris Fashion Week, West introduced his first shoe line designed for Louis Vuitton. The line was released in summer 2009.

On October 01, 2011, Kanye West premiered his women's fashion label, DW Kanye West^[93] at Paris Fashion Week. He received support from DSquared2 duo Dean and Dan Caten, Olivier Theyskens, Jeremy Scott, Azzedine Alaïa, and the Olsen twins, who were also in attendance during his show. His debut fashion show received mixed-to-negative reviews,^[94]^[95] ranging from reserved observations by Style.com^[96] to excoriating commentary by The Wall Street Journal,^[97] the New York Times,^[98] the International Herald Tribune, Elleuk.com, The Daily Telegraph, Harper's Bazaar and many others.^[99]^[100]^[101]

Philanthropy

West started the "Kanye West Foundation" in Chicago in 2003. On August 24, 2007, West hosted the inaugural benefit concert to launch the foundation's partnership with Strong American Schools. It is focused on helping Latino and African American children stay in school and to get a proper education through grade school, high school, and college. The foundation also helps children to stay in high school by finding a path through music. West has contributed over $500,000 to his foundation. The foundation has also been called the "Donda West Foundation".

Kanye West has appeared and participated in many fundraisers, benefit concerts, and has done community work for Hurricane Katrina relief, the Kanye West Foundation, the Millions More Movement, 100 Black Men of America, a Live Earth concert benefit, World Water Day rally and march, Nike runs, and a MTV special helping young Iraq War veterans who struggle through debt and PTSD a second chance after returning home.^[102]

Musical style and influences

West working in the studio with his mentor No I.D. (left)

At the start of his career, Kanye West's production style often used pitched-up vocal samples, usually from soul songs, with his own drums and instruments.^[27] His first major release featuring his trademark vocal sampling style was "This Can't Be Life", a track from Jay-Z’s The Dynasty: Roc La Familia. West said he sped up the drum beat of Dr. Dre's "Xxplosive" to use as a replacement for his drums on "This Can't Be Life".^[26]

West has said that Wu-Tang Clan producer RZA influenced him in his style,^[23]^[103] and has said on numerous occasions that Wu-Tang rappers Ghostface Killah and Ol' Dirty Bastard were some of his all-time favorites, "Wu-Tang? Me and my friends talk about this all the time... We think Wu-Tang had one of the biggest impacts as far as a movement. From slang to style of dress, skits, the samples. Similar to the [production] style I use, RZA has been doing that."^[104] RZA himself has spoken quite positively of the comparisons, stating in an interview for Rolling Stone, "All good. I got super respect for Kanye. He came up to me about a year or two ago. He gave me mad praising and blessings... For people to say Wu-Tang inspire Kanye, Kanye is one of the biggest artists in the world. That goes back to what we say: 'Wu-Tang is forever.' Kanye is going to inspire people to be like him."^[105] After hearing his work on The Blueprint, RZA claimed that a torch-passing had occurred between him and West, saying, "The shoes gotta be filled. If you ain't gonna do it, somebody else is gonna do it. That's how I feel about rap today."^[105]

West accompanied by an eleven-piece chamber orchestra

While his use of sampling has lessened over time, West's production continues to feature distinctive and intricate string arrangements. This characteristic arose from him listening to the English trip hop group Portishead, whose 1998 live album Roseland NYC Live, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra inspired him to incorporate string sections into his hip hop production.^[2] Though he was unable to afford live instruments beyond violin riffs provided by Israeli violinist Miri Ben-Ari around the time of his debut album, its subsequent commercial success allowed him to hire his very own eleven-piece string orchestra. For a time, West stood as the sole current pop star to tour with a string section.^[2]

West has stated on several occasions that outside of work, he favors listening to rock music over hip-hop. He cites Franz Ferdinand, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Killers as some of his favorite musical groups. Additionally, on Graduation, West drew inspiration from arena rock bands such as U2, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin for melody and chord progression.^[106] Both a fan and supporter of indie culture, West uses his official website to promote obscure indie rock bands, posting up music videos and mp3s on a daily basis.^[107] This musical affinity is mutual, as West has collaborated with indie artists such as Santigold, Peter Bjorn and John and Lykke Li while his songs have gone on to be covered countless times by myriad rock bands.^[108]

Personal life

Relationships

Kanye West and designer Alexis Phifer ended their 18-month engagement in 2008. The couple had been dating on and off since 2002, with West eventually proposing in August 2006. According to a friend, the couple's relationship had become increasingly strained, burdened by the sheer amount of time and attention West was dedicating to his current concert tour. "It's always sad when things like this end, and we remain friends," Phifer told People.^[109]

West was also in a high profile on/off relationship with Amber Rose from 2008 until the summer of 2010.

Mother's death

Donda West in August 2007

On November 10, 2007, West's mother, Donda West, died of complications from cosmetic surgery involving abdominoplasty and breast augmentation.^[110] TMZ reported that Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Andre Aboolian refused to do the surgery because Donda West had a health condition that placed her at risk for a heart attack.^[110] Aboolian referred her to an internist to investigate her cardiac issue.^[110] Donda never met with the doctor recommended by Aboolian and had the procedures performed by a third doctor, Jan Adams.^[110] She was 58 years old (1949–2007).

Adams sent condolences to Donda West's family but declined to publicly discuss the procedure because of confidentiality.^[111] He had previously been under scrutiny by the medical board.^[112]^[113]^[114] Adams appeared on Larry King Live on November 20, 2007 but left before speaking. Two days later, he appeared again, with his attorney, stating he was there to "defend himself." He said that the recently released autopsy results "spoke for themselves".^[115] The final coroner's report January 10, 2008 concluded that Donda West died of "coronary artery disease and multiple post-operative factors due to or as a consequence of liposuction and mammoplasty."^[116]

The funeral and burial for Donda West was held in Oklahoma City on November 20, 2007.^[117] West held his first concert following the funeral at The O2 in London on November 22. He dedicated a performance of "Hey Mama", as well as a cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", to his mother, and did so on all other dates of his Glow in the Dark tour.^[118]

At a December 2008 press conference in New Zealand, West spoke about his mother's death for the first time. "It was like losing an arm and a leg and trying to walk through that," he told reporters.^[119]

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger passed the "Donda West Law," a legislation which makes it mandatory for patients to provide medical clearance for elective cosmetic surgery.^[120]

Legal issues

In December 2006, Robert "Evel" Knievel sued West for trademark infringement in West's video for "Touch the Sky." Knievel took issue with a "sexually-charged video" in which West takes on the persona of "Evel Kanyevel" and attempts flying a rocket over a canyon. The suit filed in federal court claims infringement on his trademarked name and likeness. Knievel also claims the "vulgar and offensive" images depicted in the video damage his reputation. The suit seeks damages and to stop distribution of the video.^[121] West's attorneys argued that the music video amounted to satire and therefore was covered under the First Amendment. Just days before his death in November 2007, Knievel amicably settled the suit after being paid a visit from West, saying, "I thought he was a wonderful guy and quite a gentleman."^[122]

On September 11, 2008, West and his road manager/bodyguard Don "Don C." Crowley were arrested at Los Angeles International Airport and booked on charges of felony vandalism after an altercation with the paparazzi in which West and Crowley broke the photographers' cameras.^[123]^[124] West was later released from the Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division station in Culver City on $20,000 bail bond. On September 26, 2008 the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said it would not file felony counts against West over the incident. Instead the case file was forwarded to the city attorney's office, which charged West with one count of misdemeanor vandalism, one count of grand theft and one count of battery and his manager with three counts of each on March 18, 2009.^[125] West's and Crowley's arraignment was delayed from an original date of April 14, 2009.^[126]

West was arrested again on November 14, 2008 at the Hilton hotel near Gateshead after another scuffle involving a photographer outside the famous Tup Tup Palace nightclub in Newcastle Upon Tyne. He was later released "with no further action", according to a police spokesperson.^[127]

Controversies

General media

West has had several controversies throughout his career. On September 2, 2005, during a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina relief on NBC, A Concert for Hurricane Relief, West was a featured speaker. When West was presenting alongside actor Mike Myers, he deviated from the prepared script. Myers spoke next and continued to read the script. Once it was West's turn to speak again, he said "George Bush doesn't care about black people." At this point, telethon producer Rick Kaplan cut off the microphone and then cut away to Chris Tucker, who was unaware of the cut for a few seconds. Still, West's comment reached much of the United States.^[128]^[129] Bush stated in an interview that the comment was "one of the most disgusting moments” of his presidency.^[130]

In January 2006, West again sparked controversy when he appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in the image of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns.^[131]

In November, 2010, Kanye West, in a taped interview with Matt Lauer for the Today Show, West expressed regret for his criticism of Bush. "I would tell George Bush in my moment of frustration, I didn't have the grounds to call him a racist," he told Lauer. "I believe that in a situation of high emotion like that we as human beings don't always choose the right words." The following day, Bush reacted to the apology in a live interview with Lauer saying he appreciated the rapper's remorse. "I'm not a hater," Bush said. "I don't hate Kanye West. I was talking about an environment in which people were willing to say things that hurt. Nobody wants to be called a racist if in your heart you believe in equality of races."

Reactions were mixed, but some felt that West had no need to apologize. "It was not the particulars of your words that mattered, it was the essence of a feeling of the insensitivity towards our communities that many of us have felt for far too long," noted Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons.^[132] Dr. Boyce Watkins said that West was, "now part of the establishment, where waffling on your principles is fully expected. Bush deserved no apology, for you don’t apologize to a criminal after repudiating him for an egregious crime.^[133] " Bush himself was acceptive towards the apology, saying, "I appreciate that. It wasn't just Kanye West who was talking like that during Katrina, I cited him as an example, I cited others as an example as well. You know, I appreciate that."^[134]

Award shows

In 2004, West had his first of a number of incidents involving music award events. At the American Music Awards of 2004, West stormed out of the auditorium after losing Best New Artist to country singer Gretchen Wilson. He later commented, "I felt like I was definitely robbed [...] I was the best new artist this year."^[135] After the 2006 Grammy nominations were released, West said he would "really have a problem" if he did not win the Album of the Year, saying, "I don't care what I do, I don't care how much I stunt – you can never take away from the amount of work I put into it. I don't want to hear all of that politically correct stuff."^[136] On November 2, 2006, when his "Touch the Sky" failed to win Best Video at the MTV Europe Music Awards, West went onto the stage as the award was being presented to Justice and Simian for "We Are Your Friends" and argued that he should have won the award instead.^[137]^[138] Hundreds of news outlets worldwide criticized the outburst. On November 7, 2006, West apologized for this outburst publicly during his performance as support act for U2 for their Vertigo concert in Brisbane.^[139] He later spoofed the incident in the season premiere of Saturday Night Live.

On September 9, 2007, West suggested that his race had to do with his being overlooked for opening the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) in favor of Britney Spears; he claimed, "Maybe my skin’s not right."^[140] West was performing at the event; that night, he lost all 5 awards that he was nominated for, including Best Male Artist and Video of the Year. After the show, he was visibly upset that he had lost at the VMAs two years in a row, stating that he would not come back to MTV ever again. He also appeared on several radio stations saying that when he made the song "Stronger" that it was his dream to open the VMAs with it. He has also stated that Spears has not had a hit in a long period of time and that MTV exploited her for ratings.^[141]

On September 13, 2009, during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards while Taylor Swift was accepting her award for Best Female Video for "You Belong with Me", West went on stage and grabbed the microphone to proclaim that Beyoncé's video for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", nominated for the same award, was "one of the best videos of all time". He was subsequently removed from the remainder of the show for his actions.^[142]^[143]^[144] When Beyoncé later won the award for Best Video of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", she called Swift up on stage so that she could finish her acceptance speech.^[142] West was criticized by various celebrities for the outburst,^[143]^[145]^[146]^[147]^[148] and by President Barack Obama, who called West a "jackass".^[149]^[150]^[151]^[152]^[153] In addition, West's VMA disruption sparked a large influx of Internet photo memes with blogs, forums and "tweets" with the "Let you finish" photo-jokes.^[154] Subsequently, West posted two apologies for the outburst on his personal blog; one on the night of the incident and the other the same day he appeared on The Jay Leno Show, on September 14, 2009, where he apologized again.^[146]^[155] After Swift appeared on The View two days after the outburst, partly to discuss the matter, West called her to apologize personally. Swift said she accepted his apology.^[156]^[157]^[158] In September 2010, West wrote a series of apologetic tweets addressed to Swift including "Beyonce didn't need that. MTV didn't need that and Taylor and her family friends and fans definitely didn't want or need that" and concluding with "I'm sorry Taylor." West also revealed he had written a song for Swift and if she did not accept the song, he would perform it himself.^[159] However, on November 8, 2010, in an interview with a Minnesota radio station, West seemed to recant a bit of his past apologies by attempting to describe the act at the 2009 awards show as "selfless" and downgrade the perception of disrespect it created.^[160]^[161]

Discography

Main articles: Kanye West discography and Kanye West production discography

Solo Albums

The College Dropout (2004)
Late Registration (2005)
Graduation (2007)
808s & Heartbreak (2008)
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

Collaborations

G.O.O.D. Morning, G.O.O.D. Night (2009) - with Malik Yusef
Watch the Throne (2011) – with Jay-Z
G.O.O.D. Music (2012) – with GOOD Music artists^[89]

Filmography

We Were Once a Fairytale (2009)
Runaway (2010)

Awards and nominations

Kanye West portal

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Kanye West

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^ You Da One! Rihanna named best-selling digital download artist of ALL TIME
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External links

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v d e Kanye West

Discography · Production discography · Awards and nominations

Studio albums	The College Dropout (2004) · Late Registration (2005) · Graduation (2007) · 808s & Heartbreak (2008) · My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

Collaborations	Watch the Throne (with Jay-Z)

Live albums	Late Orchestration · VH1 Storytellers

Mixtapes	Freshmen Adjustment · Freshmen Adjustment 2 · Freshmen Adjustment 3 · Can't Tell Me Nothing

DVDs	The College Dropout Video Anthology · Late Orchestration

Films	We Were Once a Fairytale · Runaway

Tours	School Spirit Tour (2006) · Touch The Sky Tour (2007) · Glow in the Dark Tour (2008) · Fame Kills: Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga (2009) · Watch the Throne Tour (2011)

Books	Glow in the Dark

Related articles	Roc-A-Fella Records · GOOD Music · G.O.O.D. Fridays · Child Rebel Soldier · Nike Air Yeezy

Book · Category · Portal

v d e Kanye West singles

Discography

The College Dropout	"Through the Wire" • "Slow Jamz" • "All Falls Down" • "Jesus Walks" • "The New Workout Plan"

Late Registration	"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" • "Gold Digger" • "Heard 'Em Say" • "Touch the Sky" • "Drive Slow"

Graduation	"Can't Tell Me Nothing" • "Stronger" • "Good Life" • "Flashing Lights" • "Homecoming"

808s & Heartbreak	"Love Lockdown" • "Heartless" • "Amazing" • "Paranoid"

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy	"Power" • "Runaway" • "Monster" • "All of the Lights"

Watch the Throne (with Jay-Z)	"H•A•M" • "Otis" • "Lift Off" • "Niggas in Paris" • "Why I Love You" • "Gotta Have It"

Non-album singles	"Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)"

Featured artist	"Talk About Our Love" • "The Food" • "I Changed My Mind" • "The Corner" • "Go!" • "Number One" • "Extravaganza" • "Number One" • "Wouldn't Get Far" • "I Still Love H.E.R." • "Pro Nails" • "Finer Things" • "American Boy" • "Put On" • "Stay Up! (Viagra)" • "Swagga Like Us" • "Go Hard" • "Knock You Down" • "Kinda Like a Big Deal" • "Walkin' on the Moon" • "Supernova" • "Maybach Music 2" • "Make Her Say" • "Digital Girl" • "Run This Town" • "Forever" • "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" • "Erase Me" • "Start It Up" • "Hurricane 2.0" • "E.T." • "Marvin & Chardonnay"

Other songs	"I'll Fly Away" • "Hey Mama" • "Us Placers" • "Good Morning" • "Champion" • "Big Brother" • "Welcome to Heartbreak" • "See You in My Nightmares" • "Dark Fantasy" • "Gorgeous" • "So Appalled" • "Devil in a New Dress" • "Lost in the World • "No Church in the Wild" • "Who Gon Stop Me"

Book · Category · Portal

v d e Def Jam Recordings

Founders	Russell Simmons Rick Rubin

Current artists	Ace Hood Ameriie Asher Roth Big Boi Big Sean Brutha Chrisette Michele DJ Clue? The-Dream Electrik Red Fabolous Fast Life Yungstaz Ghostface Killah Jadakiss Jennifer Lopez Jeremih Juelz Santana Kanye West Karina LL Cool J Ludacris Method Man Method Man & Redman Nas Ne-Yo Patti LaBelle Pusha T Redman Rick Ross Rihanna Ron Isley Sheek Louch Shyne The Roots Triple C's U.S.D.A YG Young Jeezy

Former artists	3rd Bass Alyson Williams Ashanti Beanie Sigel Beastie Boys B.G. Knocc Out Bobby V Boss Cam'ron Capone-N-Noreaga Case Chingy Cormega Cru Davy D Def Squad The Diplomats DJ Richie Rich DMX Domino Downtown Science The Dove Shack Dresta Dru Hill EPMD Fam-Lay Flatlinerz Foxy Brown Funkmaster Flex Flesh-n-Bone I-20 Ja Rule Jay-Z Jayo Felony Joe Budden · Jonell Keith Murray Kelly Price Lady Gaga Lady Luck Lil Ru Lil Scrappy Lloyd LovHer Megan Rochell MoKenStef Montell Jordan Musiq Soulchild Nikki D N.O.R.E. Nice & Smooth Nicole Wray N-Dubz Onyx Oran "Juice" Jones Peedi Peedi Pete Nice Playa Rell Rev Run Richie Rich Scarface Selan Lerner Shareefa Shawnna Sisqó Slayer Slick Rick South Central Cartel Terminator X Terri Walker Unladylike Warren G WC Y?N-Vee

v d e Roc-A-Fella Records

Artists	Kanye West

Former artists	Allen Anthony · Amil · Aztek Escobar · Billy Gamble & Jackie O. · Bink · Beanie Sigel · Cam'ron · Casha · Christion · Da Ranjahz · DJ Clue · Foxy Brown · Freeway · Freekey Zekey · Grafh · Hector "El Father" · Jadakiss · Jay-Z · Jim Jones · Just Blaze · Juelz Santana · Lil' Red · M.O.P. · Memphis Bleek · Neef Buck · Neo Da Matrix · Nicole Wray · N.O.R.E. · Ol' Dirty Bastard · Omillio Sparks · Oschino · Oschino & Sparks · Peedi Peedi · Rell · Rick Vocals · Samantha Ronson · Sauce Money · State Property · Teairra Marí · The Diplomats · Tru-Life · Uncle Murda · Young Chris · Young Gunz · Young Steff

v d e GOOD Music

Founder	Kanye West

Clients	John Legend · Common · Kid Cudi · Big Sean · Malik Yusef · Mr Hudson · Teyana Taylor · CyHi the Prynce · Pusha T · Mos Def · D'Banj

Persondata
Name	West, Kanye Omari
Alternative names
Short description	Rapper, record producer
Date of birth	June 8, 1977
Place of birth	Atlanta, Georgia
Date of death
Place of death

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