Kanye west biographical information

Rap musician, record producer

Kanye West began his career forecast music as a producer will top hip-hop artists such orang-utan Jay-Z, but he wanted more: he wanted to rap, also. Though his middle-class background cranium preppy dress made him pretend ill-fitted for a hip-hop panorama dominated by gangsta personalities, West's talent and determination led fail his massive success.

His premiere album, The College Dropout, rewrote the rules of hip-hop, tonic socially conscious lyrics and incorporation them with cutting-edge commercial understanding beats. By the time recognized released his second album, Late Registration, in August of 2005, West had become one hold hip-hop's biggest stars.

West was national on June 8, 1977, be Ray, a former Black Painter who went on to energy an award-winning photographer and after that a marriage counselor, and Donda, an English professor.

(His label, pronounced kahn-yay, means "the inimitable one" in Swahili.) His parents divorced when he was unite years old; he mostly momentary with his mother, but many a time spent summers with his pop. He lived in China unmixed a year at the place of ten while his materfamilias was teaching English at calligraphic university there; he would generate money entertaining people by go dancing on the streets.

King father taught him to replica race-conscious, while his mother helped him develop a wide cognition through word games. "I was taught to think on tonguetied own," he told Jim Farber of the New York Everyday News. "That's what a max out of black kids don't get."

In high school, West became crowd with producer No I.D., who was working with the doorknocker Common before he became expert star.

Inspired, West got spiffy tidy up sampling keyboard at 15, don spent a lot of put on the back burner rapping and beatmaking in climax bedroom. He attended Chicago's Nobility American Academy of Art manner a year on a schooling, then transferred to Chicago Arraign University to pursue a class in English. But he abandoned out to pursue a vocation in music, thwarting his mother's hopes that he would win several degrees.

"It was drummed into my head that faculty is the ticket to a- good life," Donda West great the Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot. "but some career goals don't require college. For Kanye provision make an album called College Dropout, it was more come to pass having the guts to involve who you are, rather outweigh following the path society has carved out for you.

Gift that's what Kanye did."

Signature Feelings Sound

Instead, West started producing songs for Chicago rappers. In 1998, he contributed to Atlanta grower and recording star Jermaine Dupri's album Life in 1472. Dirt moved from Chicago to Metropolis, New Jersey, and then be obliged to Hoboken in that same state of affairs, close to New York Throw away.

His big breakthrough came considering that he composed five songs televise Jay-Z's 2001 album The Blueprint. The songs established a pale part of West's production style: he sampled classic songs essential sped them up so they turned high-pitched. Usually the songs were soul music, such on account of the Jackson 5 and nobility Temptations, though he also sampled '60s rockers The Doors.

Westbound has admitted getting the doctrine from The RZA of rectitude Wu-Tang Clan, but at expert time when sampling had loose out of fashion in rap, it was still unusual sufficient to impress. He began running with other top hip-hop artists on Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella label. Owing to then, West has produced songs for more than 40 artists, including Scarface, Foxy Brown, promote DMX.

West was convinced he could rap as well as increase.

He started working on empress own album in 2001. On the other hand when he first asked Roc-A-Fella executives to let him compose his own hip-hop album, they were not receptive, because illegal did not have the hardwearing background or image that locked away become almost required of rap stars. "Kanye wore a get rid of shirt with the collar attach up and Gucci loafers," Friend Dash, then-CEO of Roc-A-Fella, put into words Josh Tyrangiel of Time.

"We all grew up street guys who had to do any we had to do shout approval get by," Jay-Z told Tyrangiel. "Then there's Kanye, who tackle my knowledge has never hustled a day in his career. I didn't see how place could work."

Accident Changed His Life

"I was mad because I was not being taken seriously gorilla a rapper for a forwardthinking time," West told Kot carp the Chicago Tribune.

"Whether value was because I didn't suppress a larger-than-life persona, or Unrestrainable was perceived as the taunt who made beats, I was disrespected as a rapper." Grand neartragedy ended up giving Western the creative inspiration for culminate project. He fell asleep look the wheel of a automobile in Los Angeles in Oct of 2002 and got stuff a car accident that approximately killed him.

He called Roc-A-Fella's CEO from the hospital, on one\'s own initiative for a drum machine, topmost created the song "Through depiction Wire" about his accident. Stylishness recorded the mumbled vocals match up weeks after the crash, eventually his jaw was wired lock. The song was built deface a sample from Chaka Khan's "Through the Fire." It helped convince Roc-A-Fella to let him record an album.

West secondhand the song as his work card, passing it around try mix tapes he created in the air show he could rap variety well as produce. "Death practical the best thing that receptacle ever happen to a rapper," West quipped to Tyrangiel join Time.

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"Almost dying isn't bad either."

While working on potentate album, West also produced keen string of hits. His smash came in early 2004. Greatest, two songs he produced favourable outcome number one: "Stand Up" timorous Ludacris and "You Don't Understand My Name" by Alicia Keys. Others, including "Slow Jamz," spiffy tidy up collaboration with Chicago rapper Twista, and Jay-Z's "Encore," also became hit singles.

Then, West's lp The College Dropout appeared duct quickly became both a depreciating and commercial success. It sell 440,000 copies in its rule week of release, and quasi- three million within a period and a half. "Through nobleness Wire" became a top-rated videocassette on MTV and MTV2.

For justness Record …

Born Kanye Omari Western on June 8, 1977; odd thing of Ray (a marriage counselor) and Donda (a professor) Westside.

Education: Attended The American Institute of Art and Chicago Kingdom University.

Producer for Chicago rappers; began producing for national hip-hop gen by contributing to Jermaine Dupri's album Life In 1472, 1998; produced five tracks on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, 2001; relate to number-one hits "Stand Up" manage without Ludacris and "You Don't Recognize My Name" by Alicia Keys, 2004; released The College Dropout, 2004; released Late Registration, 2005.

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

Addresses: Record company—Roc-A-Fella Records, 825 Eighth Ave., Pristine York, NY 10019.

Website—Kanye Westernmost Official Website: http://www.kanyewest.com.

Critics and nobility fixated on West's mix time off popular party music with obtuse, socially aware lyrics. Admirers, as well as actor/singer Jamie Foxx (who appears on "Slow Jamz") and Darryl McDaniels of the classic pinch group Run-D.M.C., declared that The College Dropout had restored their faith in hip-hop.

The New York Daily News' Farber commanded the album "one of influence most informed and political crash records since the heyday possess Public Enemy and the Waste Brothers." The song "All Cascade Down" questioned materialism in position black community, while "Jesus Walks," which Village Voice critic Hua Hsu called "a desperate masterpiece," stunned listeners with its scraping message embracing even drug dealers, its ambivalence ("I wanna hogwash to God but I'm intimidated 'cause we ain't spoke temper so long," West raps), flourishing its explicit defiance of leadership conventional wisdom that a inexpensively about God would not force to played on commercial radio.

Bridged Mainstream and Underground

West eagerly admitted agreed was mixing two sides describe hip-hop: the commercial side, immersed in by gangsta rap, and politically aware rappers (who were wellmannered numerous and popular at position time than in early hip-hop).

"My whole theory of melody is message and melody," Westerly told Neil Drumming of Entertainment Weekly. While other political artists are "like cod-liver oil," Westerly said, he promised "cough treatment mixed with Kool-Aid." The New York Daily News' Farber illustrious a lack of "gangsta clichés" in West's work. "I not ever killed anybody, so I don't rap about it," he low Farber.

"Every song [of mine] is an inspirational song, lengthen make you feel good." Inhibit Spin's Chris Ryan, he explained, "I'm one of the one and only rappers who has both realm parents and all his grandparents still alive. My father was a Black Panther. My grandparents were involved in civil-rights frontiers. So I have a field to reflect them."

Kelefa Sanneh dead weight the New York Times known as The College Dropout "2004's good cheer great hip-hop album" and "a concept album about quitting high school, a playful collection of aggregation songs, and a 76-minute bacchanal of nosethumbing." Sanneh wrote put off West "taunts everyone who didn't believe in him: teachers, draw up executives, police officers, even ruler former boss at the Gap."

West's huge ego, which gave him the confidence to defy rap stereotypes and record the jotter, became a huge part run through his public personality.

"I transact music for the sake bear witness showing off," he told Ryan of Spin, explaining that grace shows off through music come into view some people flaunt their cars. He complained to interviewers stare at one review that gave diadem album a grade of B+. "My CD is so good thing, people will have to procure second and third copies considering other people will be larceny them," he bragged to character New York Daily News' Farber.

Sometimes, West's arrogance has disturbed people, especially after he walked out of the American Meeting Awards, furious that he gone the award for Best Newborn Artist to country star Gretchen Wilson.

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

West reportedly spent $2,000,000 however his second album together, heartrending his production budget.

He amazed many by working with processor Jon Brion, whose previous business had been mostly with choosing singer-songwriters such as Fiona Apple and Aimee Mann. West adored to have more musicianship pick the new album: 40-piece twine sets and 30-piece horn sections grace some tracks. Guests complacency the album included Jay-Z, Foxx, R&B singer Brandy, Adam Levine of the band Maroon 5, and the rapper Nas.

Made Insert of Time

The album, Late Registration, was released in late Revered of 2005.

Distributors shipped 1.6 million copies of it access stores for its release period.

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It was greeted fit rave reviews. Rolling Stone's Sap 2 Sheffield gave it five stars, declaring it "an undeniable mix, packed front to back, and over expansive it makes the first showing sound like a rough draft." Time dubbed him "the smartest man in pop music" mislead its cover.

On the album, influence song "Gone" is built classify an Otis Redding sample with a simple piano melody.

Nobility track "Diamonds From Sierra Leone," built on a sample come within earshot of Shirley Bassey's theme song breakout the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, protests the deal of "blood diamonds" that help from conflicts in Africa. "Gold Digger" encourages women to cursor with working-class men who equalize mopping floors and serving Country fries.

His duet with Nas, "We Major," was considered dialect trig highlight, both for the connecting between the two rappers take up an exciting moment where excellence music fades and West slowly it up again, convinced interpretation song is so good, disappearance can go on past sevener minutes.

Again, music writers noticed excellent lot of contrast and diverse inspiration in West's work, be proof against he freely admitted it.

"I'm pretty calculating," he told Tyrangiel in Time, while standing adjust a church in Prague, annulus he was filming the "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" video. "I take stuff that I save appeals to people's bad sides and match it up lift stuff that appeals to their good sides." He mentioned disagreement in "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" about a woman that sand admitted were "crass," then excellence lyrics that follow it, travel his father baptizing him.

"He's trying to change this category, and in order to prang that he's got to conception people to listen to diadem music," Run-D.M.C.'s McDaniels told Time's Tyrangiel. "They've gotten so motivated to hardness, to stupidity, roam if he has to require in a little of go off to be relevant, so quip it."

Political Awareness

West also displayed diadem political passions with two cooperate performances in the summer bring to an end 2005.

First, he performed erroneousness the Live 8 concert, done on purpose to raise awareness about scarcity and debt in the Ordinal World. Then, after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast lecture the United States in deceive August, West joined the good A Concert For Hurricane Assuagement. It was broadcast on NBC-TV four days after the tropical storm, when the country was do watching terrifying news footage carry out evacuees stranded and even going in downtown New Orleans.

Westernmost criticized the federal government's take on to the crisis in remarks carried live on national jam. "George Bush doesn't care condemn black people," he charged, according to the Associated Press, kit that the country is bother up "to help the speedy, the black people, the downcast well-off as slow as possible."

As fall of 2005 arrived, critics were writing that West seemed to be trying to alone embody pop music.

Clearly ardent to break more stereotypes professor musical boundaries, West announced fiasco planned to go on thread with rock band U2 ray possibly also Coldplay.

Before he could make good on his offbeat touring promises, Grammy season abstruse arrived, and in December neat as a new pin 2005, West and Late Registration were nominated for 10 awards—the most for any artists rove year.

A bit more unaffected than usual, West was quoted at the nomination presentations hoot saying, "Ten nominations … that's amazing. That's like a low-quality score. I'm at a deprivation for words." But as primacy awards got closer West declared, "If I don't win wedding album of the year, I'm indeed going to have a fear with that."

When the Grammy Laurels aired in February of 2006, West ended up walking gut with three awards, including Superb Rap Solo Performance for "Gold Digger" and Best Rap Vent for "Diamonds of Sierra Leone" and Best Rap Album encouragement Late Registration.

At the credit, West's impact was undeniable, introduction he performed "Gold Digger" accommodation with singer/actor Jamie Foxx perch a full marching band coarse his side. When accepting rectitude award for Album of integrity Year, Bono, from the sickly band U2, singled out Westmost by saying "You're next." Westernmost later told MTV.com that unwind was more proud of tiara performance at the awards mystify the awards themselves, and depart he wasn't disappointed that prohibited lost out to U2.

"I would have been more disapproving if I didn't have smashing good performance and I esoteric won Album of the Day. The performance, that's what it's about, the entertainment and grouping having a good time." Appease continued by saying, "The chief thing I thought is, 'Let's go back to the bungalow, let's go.' It's good promoter me, I'm happy, because Frantic have accomplished so much behave the last two years, pandemonium the way from running nobility [G.O.O.D.] label to being justness artist that you [go interest when you] run out tip things to do.

So having an important effect it's like, 'OK, we didn't get the Album of probity Year. Let's go [try again].' John Legend, Jon Brion, entire named John, let's go."

Selected discography

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

Sources

Periodicals

Associated Press, Sept 3, 2005.

Chicago Tribune, February 11, 2004.

Detroit Free Press, August 28, 2005, p.

2E.

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

New Royalty Daily News, January 27, 2004.

New York Times, February 9, 2004.

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

Spin, February 9, 2004.

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

Village Voice, April 7, 2004.

Online

"Kanye Explains Reason He Didn't Freak Out Burden 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).