Born in Atlanta, Georgia on June 8, 1977, Kanye Omari West, better known by his stage name Ye, is an American rapper, producer, performer, songwriter, and fashion designer who has won multiple Grammy awards.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia on June 8, 1977, Kanye Omari West, better known by his stage name Ye, is an American rapper, producer, performer, songwriter, and fashion designer who has won multiple Grammy awards.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia on June 8, 1977, Kanye Omari West, better known by his stage name Ye, is an American rapper, producer, performer, songwriter, and fashion designer who has won multiple Grammy awards.
In the early 1990s, West started producing beats and rapping in his birthplace of Chicago, Illinois. He joined up with fellow Chicagoans GLC and Really Doe to establish the rap trio Go Getters. Later, he became well-known across the country as a result of his work in New York, where he started producing music for performers including Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, Twista, Mase, and Talib Kweli.
In West’s production technique, pitched-up vocal samples—typically from soul songs—are frequently combined with his own drum kit and other instruments. The Truth by Beanie Sigel was his first big label hit, while This Can’t Be Life, a song from Jay-Z’s The Dynasty: Roc La Familia, was his first big release with his signature vocal sampling technique. West claimed that in order to substitute his drums on This Can’t Be Life, he cranked up the drum rhythm of Dr. Dre’s Xxplosive.
West has frequently stated that Wu-Tang rappers Ghostface Killah and Ol’ Dirty Bastard were among his all-time favorites. He has also claimed that Wu-Tang Clan producer RZA had an effect on his approach. Kanye West once said, “Wu-Tang? My buddies and I frequently discuss this. In our opinion, Wu-Tang had one of the largest influences on the movement. From vocabulary to clothing choices, skits, and model work. RZA has been producing music in a manner akin to mine.
He was able to release his debut solo album, The College Dropout, on Roc-A-Fella Records in 2004 after being passed over by numerous record labels that didn’t think he was a commercially viable hip hop artist. The album was well-received by critics, bringing West his first taste of fame with its “wordplay” and extensive sampling of 70s soul and R&B songs. It also earned 10 Grammy nominations, won Album of the Year, and won Best Rap Album.
Not one to sit back and enjoy himself, West put in two million dollars and enlisted the assistance of a string orchestra for his most recent project, Late Registration (2005). West, who had no prior expertise producing hip-hop music, worked with Jon Brion to assist create the album’s sound. Similar to its predecessor, this album was widely praised and won Best Rap Album at the Grammys.
Although West was no stranger to controversy—he famously stormed out of the 2004 American Music Awards after losing out on Best New Artist—he became embroiled in a major controversy a few days after the release of his second studio album when he went off-script during a Hurricane Katrina broadcast and declared that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Bush called this “one of the most disgusting moments of my presidency.” Once more stirring up controversy, West wore a crown of thorns as he appeared for Rolling Stone’s cover in January 2006.
West was eager to write songs for his third album that would work better live in arena settings. The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, and Johnny Cash served as musical inspiration for Kanye West’s Graduation, the third and last album in his “Dropout Bear” series. Before the record came out, he got into a lighthearted competition with 50 Cent about which of their upcoming albums would sell more because they were both coming out on the same day. Ultimately, West outsold Curtis by a wide margin, selling 957,000 copies in the first week of release. Daft Punk was sampled in the album’s lead track “Stronger,” which peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 for West. Many argue that gangster rap, the preeminent hip hop style, has died as a result of West’s “victory” over 50 Cent.
After Donda West, his mother, passed away and he broke off his engagement to longtime partner Alexis Phifer, West changed his mind and instead shocked his fans by releasing 808s and Heartbreak, an album that featured a lot of autotune singing, a lot of TR-808 drum machine use, themes of love, loss, and loneliness, and very little rapping. Though it was met with somewhat more mixed reviews than his earlier work, many reviewers credit its themes—which were unusual for popular hip-hop—for serving as the impetus for a new generation of rappers, Drake being among them.
West’s grief appeared to send him into an uncontrollable spiral, which ended with him storming onto the stage at the 2009 VMAs to interrupt Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech and declare that Beyoncé should have won instead. This move is legendary in pop culture, and it was met with widespread criticism in the wake. After this, West vanished from the public view, and Lady Gaga’s scheduled tour was canceled. The disgraced West, who President Obama called a “jackass,” appeared to have a long way to go before regaining his former prominence, but he was about to start what some critics believe to be the greatest run of his career.
Over the course of several months, West holed up in Hawaii and worked nonstop to create what many believe to be his magnum opus. West’s comeback was cemented when his fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, was released in November 2010 to overwhelmingly positive reviews from reviewers. Dark Fantasy addresses themes of extravagance and notoriety in a maximalist manner, which is a sharp contrast to his prior work, which had a minimalist tone. Along with Billboard successes Power, Monster, and Runaway—the latter of which was the title of a 35-minute film—the record featured the worldwide hit All of the Lights. Around this time, West launched the G.O.O.D. Fridays music initiative on his website, providing a free download of previously unheard tracks every Friday, some of which were used on the album. Although Dark Fantasy went on to achieve platinum status in the US, a number of media sites perceived its exclusion from consideration for Album of the Year at the 54th Grammy Awards as a “snub.”
After performing as the main act at Coachella 2011, which The Hollywood Reporter called “one of the greatest hip-hop sets of all time,” Kanye West and Jay-Z released their joint album Watch the Throne. Using a sales plan that saw the album distributed digitally many weeks ahead of its physical release, Watch the Throne became one of the rare major label releases in the era of the Internet to escape leakage. Niggas in Paris peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the record’s highest charting song. Artists from West’s record label GOOD Music contributed to the compilation album Cruel Summer, which was issued by the artist in 2012. Cruel Summer yielded four songs, Mercy and Clique being two that made it inside the Hot 100’s top twenty. The same-titled movie, which West also directed, had its world premiere at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival in a specially designed screening pavilion with seven screens in the shape of a pyramid.
Early in2013, in the living area of his hotel room in Paris, West starts recording his sixth solo album. Bringing together close collaborators once more, he set out to “undermine the commercial” by attempting to incorporate Chicago drill, dancehall, acid house, and industrial music. West was primarily inspired by architecture, but because he was a perfectionist, he called producer Rick Rubin fifteen days before the album was supposed to be released to change the record’s sound to something simpler. His sixth album was first promoted with live television appearances and global video projections of the album’s tracks.
On June 18, 2013, Kanye West’s sixth album, Yeezus, was released to acclaim by critics. The rapper’s sixth straight number one debut was achieved. The lead song from the album, “Black Skinhead,” was released by Def Jam to radio in July 2013. On September 6, 2013, it was revealed that Kanye West, accompanied by fellow American rapper Kendrick Lamar, would be doing a headline tour for Yeezus, his first solo tour in five years.
West said in November 2013 that he was in the process of writing and recording his next studio album. Rick Rubin and Q-Tip were announced as the album’s producers. On December 31, 2014, Kanye dropped the single “Only One,” which included Paul McCartney. Two months later, in January 2015, McCartney and Kanye worked together again on the Rihanna song “FourFiveSeconds.” On February 15, 2015, West made an appearance on the SNL 40th Anniversary Special to premiere a new song called Wolves, which featured Sia Furler and Vic Mensa. March 2, 2015 saw the release of a second single, “All Day,” which once more featured McCartney, Theophilus London, and Allan Kingdom. When Kanye headlined the UK’s Glastonbury Festival in June of that year, it caused a great deal of controversy and resulted in a petition with 135,000 signatures opposing his appearance. At the end of his set, West declared himself to be “the greatest living rock star on the planet,” and the performance received mixed reviews from critics and fans. During two nights in September 2015, West gave a full performance of his album {album artist kanye west]808s and Heartbreak at the Hollywood Bowl. The show was well appreciated and included a 60-piece orchestra, guests like Mr. Hudson and Kid Cudi, and over 70 dancers. At the start of the year, West published “Facts.”
Before renaming it “SWISH” and announcing its February 11 release date, West had previously said that his next album will be called “So Help Me God.” He released “No More Parties in LA” and “Real Friends,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, in January 2016. In addition to renaming the album “Waves” once more, West got embroiled in a number of Twitter controversies prior to its release. One such controversy involved rapper Wiz Khalifa, who claimed that West had appropriated the wave concept from other artists and had dissed Kim Kardashian; however, this was later clarified as a misunderstanding involving the use of the letter “KK.” Only a few days before the album’s release, West once more renamed it to “{album artist=kanye west]The Life of Pablo.” He made the album debut on February 11 at Madison Square Garden but postponed its release for a few days. West released the album and a performance on Saturday Night Live on February 14. Although West insisted that the album would only be available on Tidal, it was eventually made available on other streaming services and hasn’t been given a physical release date. Even after the album was published, West kept making changes to its production and mixing, and the last track, “Saint Pablo,” was added in June 2016. In addition, West had previously announced that he would release an album in the summer of 2016 called “Turbo Grafx 16,” which was inspired by the video game system of the 1990s. However, he did release a single titled “Champions,” which was purported to be taken from the impending G.O.O.D. Music album “Cruel Winter.” The same month, a music video for the song “Famous” featuring naked wax replicas of well-known people including Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, Donald Trump, Chris Brown, Rihanna, Bill Cosby, and George W. Bush was released.
West started the massive Saint Pablo Tour in August 2016; it featured a moveable stage that was suspended from the ceiling. Following the horrific heist of Kim’s jewelry in Paris in October, West was forced to postpone gigs and end a show early. During his subsequent performances, West abruptly canceled events, launched lengthy tirades against fellow musicians including Jay Z and Beyoncé, and made contentious political remarks that seemed to include endorsing Donald Trump. West was hospitalized on November 21, 2016, after the remainder of the tour was canceled owing to severe dehydration and lack of sleep. Following this, West vanished from social media and didn’t appear for another 11 months. Upon his reappearance, he shared a number of philosophical tweets along with the news of two albums set to drop in June 2018: a solo album featuring seven tracks on June 1 and a Kid Cudi collaboration set to drop on June 8.
Personal life: Atlanta, Georgia, is where West was born. He relocated to Chicago, Illinois, with his mother when his parents divorced when he was three years old, as was revealed in Hey Mama. In addition to being a Christian counselor, his father Ray West was a member of the Black Panthers and one of the first black photojournalists at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Before she retired to become Kanye’s manager, Dr. Donda West, Kanye’s late mother, held positions as chair of the English department at Chicago State University and professor of English at Clark Atlanta University. After moving to Chicago, he later attended Polaris High School in the Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn, Illinois, where he was nurtured in an upper middle class family.
West first attended The American Academy of Art, a Chicago art school, before enrolling at Chicago State University, which he later left to focus on his music career and bad grades. West created songs for local artists while still in school, such as rapper Grav’s debut album Down to Earth. Subsequently, he became well-known for creating hit songs for well-known hip-hop and R&B musicians, such as Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson, John Legend, Common, Mobb Deep, Jermaine Dupri, Scarface, The Game, Jay-Z, and Cam’ron. He also “ghost-produced” for Deric Angelettie, who he had earlier mentored, according to the credits of Nas’s Poppa Was a Playa and his song Last Call.
