Wake Up, Mr. West
Mac Watson
Issue date: 10/24/08 Section: Opinions & Editorials
Throughout my life as a music lover, I have usually been the last person to scream the ever-familiar hipster battle cry, "Sellout!" Artists have the right to grow and change as they see fit and, more often than not, that change is for the better.
This is not the case with Kanye West.
Kanye has indeed changed as an artist, but that change has been unapologetically regressive.
To understand Kanye's fall to mediocrity, we must first understand his rise to superstardom. Kanye West began his career as a producer, making beats for some of hip-hop's most recognizable names.
As he became well known among the hip-hop greats, he desired to show the rest of the world what he was capable of; he did this when the released his first album, "The College Dropout," in 2004.
"The College Dropout" was a breath of fresh air for hip-hop. It was a declaration that the mainstream and underground could coexist on one album.
Kanye took celebrated artists of the underground, like Mos Def and Talib Kweli, and threw them on the same album as mainstream giants like Jay-Z and Ludacris. This was something new and something great.
While the musical content of this album was an achievement, it was the response of music fans that made Kanye truly remarkable. I saw people with very different musical tastes finding that they loved Kanye West.
I fully realized this when I saw Kanye perform at Lollapalooza in 2006. I went to this show with my best friends: A NIN-loving lighting designer, a homosexual psych major and a Jim Morrison-idolizing hippie. The second Kanye started playing "Diamonds," all of my friends threw up their hands in the shape of diamonds, along with about 70,000 other people -- now that's some mass appeal!
Kanye continued to make this wide-appealing music. His follow up album, "Late Registration," was similar in style and content but with a slightly different twist.
Enter "Graduation."
With "Graduation," Kanye set out to make a mainstream hit parade, and it worked. He put together a tight album that was fun to listen to in the car, but something felt different. This wasn't the same "College Dropout" Kanye, but a Kanye who seemed to be all about money, the club and T-Pain.
This is not the case with Kanye West.
Kanye has indeed changed as an artist, but that change has been unapologetically regressive.
To understand Kanye's fall to mediocrity, we must first understand his rise to superstardom. Kanye West began his career as a producer, making beats for some of hip-hop's most recognizable names.
As he became well known among the hip-hop greats, he desired to show the rest of the world what he was capable of; he did this when the released his first album, "The College Dropout," in 2004.
"The College Dropout" was a breath of fresh air for hip-hop. It was a declaration that the mainstream and underground could coexist on one album.
Kanye took celebrated artists of the underground, like Mos Def and Talib Kweli, and threw them on the same album as mainstream giants like Jay-Z and Ludacris. This was something new and something great.
While the musical content of this album was an achievement, it was the response of music fans that made Kanye truly remarkable. I saw people with very different musical tastes finding that they loved Kanye West.
I fully realized this when I saw Kanye perform at Lollapalooza in 2006. I went to this show with my best friends: A NIN-loving lighting designer, a homosexual psych major and a Jim Morrison-idolizing hippie. The second Kanye started playing "Diamonds," all of my friends threw up their hands in the shape of diamonds, along with about 70,000 other people -- now that's some mass appeal!
Kanye continued to make this wide-appealing music. His follow up album, "Late Registration," was similar in style and content but with a slightly different twist.
Enter "Graduation."
With "Graduation," Kanye set out to make a mainstream hit parade, and it worked. He put together a tight album that was fun to listen to in the car, but something felt different. This wasn't the same "College Dropout" Kanye, but a Kanye who seemed to be all about money, the club and T-Pain.
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