Controversy, Art and Madness: The Official Kanye West Thread

[Soot and Stars]

KANYE WEST
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I'm a HUGE Kanye fan and after this most recent album I can't hold back any longer. I must have a thread for him. To me Kanye is the Billy Corgan of rap. He's an egotistical narcissist, he's a perfectionist, he's crazy and he's a polarizing figure. Musically both artist progressed with each album and both have made strides to evolutionize their sound with each album and take risks. Billy Corgan had the balls to go electronic after dropping one of the best rock and guitar epics of all time. Kanye had the balls to make a soul album using minimalist beats and make autotune an artists tool rather than a lame crutch in "808's and Heartbreak". With every Kanye album I've grown to like the new one more than the last with the slight exception of the most recent which about equals 808's which may never be topped for me! Whatever controversy Kanye creates he more than makes up for it and uses it in the studio. He embraces his flaws and that adds that much more to the writing. In fact, from the start Kanye has been a writer like no other. He doesn't write about guns and violence or partying. He's an interesting enough individual where he doesn't have to write cliches or anything conventional. It's the diary of a madman and his experiences with his life, art and fame. Plus he takes the most random elements lyrically and makes them work. Another thing I love about Kanye is he adds more soul music to his music than anyone. In fact, he adds more different genres to his music than ANY other rap artist going from Daft Punk to Bon Iver to Gospel to Shirley Bassey to King Crimson. Yeah, it's called sampling but he's a genius at finding an unlikely synergy between what he uses and his rapping. Kanye started from the gate as different being the suit/sweater wearing preppy producer turned rapper. I know this thread won't win any new fans but it's for a fan that's already won over and that's me! Peace!

Here are my favs by album:

The College Dropout
(This album was the one the most filled with soul samples! What I like is that the samples aren't buried and their essence remains throughout. Their are also soul elements aside from the samples. A great start of an album where Kanye discusses the car accident that almost killed him, his religious faith, materialism and personal issues. His topical content went against the gangsta rap that was popular at that time)

 

[Soot and Stars]

Late Registration

(This was a more glamorous sounding album as opposedd to the soul sampling College Dropout. Not to say it eliminated the soul but the sound was bigger, darker in ways and less laid back. A lot of the lyrics turned a spotlight on the evils of materialism and like any great artist Kanye turned the spotlight on himself and his contributions to the very thing he shows a darker side to. Kanye is Jekyl and Hyde like many of the greats)


I'm going to do bigger reviews of the next three albums as that's when the Kanye fire caught on for me!!! I liked the first two but I wanted to get them down so I could approach my favorites and start my in depth material there (especially 808's and Heartbreak and the new album which is still fresh to me)!

 

[Soot and Stars]

Graduation​

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This is the album where my Kanye obsession started picking up. One thing I love about artist is ambition and movement in their careers and this one was where the adrenaline really started moving for Kanye. It was the final installment of the album trilogy before he would dump the education theme. Kanye was inspired by anthemic rock bands and French electronica and he went to make this album bigger in scope, more introspective and more varied than any album he did up to that point. It worked! He even recorded a track with Chris Martin from Coldplay! It's a cool track too! One of my favorite stories about this album is me and a guy I work with always had a thing about who's better: 50 Cent or Kanye! I hate 50 Cent and this guy was always spouting off about how much better 50 Cent is and how he's so gangsta! He always was saying how Kanye sucked. So when Kanye's album was coming out at the same time as 50's Kanye actually challenged 50 to see who would make better sales to see who the more dominant rapper is. I brought this up to my coworker and we were placing verbal bets on our respective rappers! Well, when sales came out Kanye and I won. Kanye went to #1 and did great sales while 50's album was a commercial disappointment for him. I rubbed this into my friend for the longest time and he still made excuses. It was awesome to razz him about!


So the album itself:

Good Morning [Intro]-This track is a great sunny opener and a great alchemy of elements. It contains a Jay-Z verse, an female Australian pop singer and an Elton John sample (Someone Saved My Life Tonight). I love how Kanye took one small element of the Elton song and used it to make this vibrant track.

Champion-I love this track and the use of the Steely Dan sample (Kid Charlemagne) is awesome. I felt like I was listening to a Motown track and the loop really gets the song moving. I love the rhythms throughout, the hand claps and the electronic touches.

Stronger-I LOVED this track when it first came out and I still love it today. A brilliant club song and an innovation of combining Hip-Hop and electronica (Daft Punk-Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger). Considering that most of Daft Punks songs just repeating the same thing constantly it's great to see the music used with something containing the bravado and lyrical finesse only Kanye can bring.

I Wonder-This is my favorite track thus far on the album. The sample is from an artist Labi Saffre and the song is called "My Song". I just listened to the original. Cool track! Thanks Kanye! Anyway the sample works perfectly hear and sets up an somber introspection where Kanye just rips in and does a great fierce rap against a great beat. I love piano, the synth sound and Kanyes conviction and rap diction.

Good Life-This is my least favorite single off the album. It stars autotune only "artist" T-Pain (not a fan) and uses a weak "P.Y.T." sample from Michael jackson. The whole thing is pretty typical and does little for me but it's not bad enough to take me out of the album.

Can't Tell Me Nothing-This song more than makes up for the last. It's the most down and dirty track on the album and it has some of my favorite rhymes by Kanye on the album (collagen and apologying ). I love the vocal by Connie Mitchell, the Australian artist mentioned in track #1. Kanye gives a gruff vocal and accentuates in the coolest ways. Cool track!

Barry Bonds-This is a weird track with a sample by Mountain "Long Red". Even the Lil' Wayne verse is subpar for him. Overall the soong does little for me and is my least favorite track.

Drunk and Hot Girls-I like this song quite a bit. It sounds like an Eminem track and has a waltzy electronic feel to it. The song samples a weird obscure song "Sing Swan Song" by a group named Can. The funny thing is when the Can group sings in the original it sounds like "Drunken Hot Girls" as well but it's really "Drunky Hot Bowls"! Anyway, this track is a very hypnotic track and I like it.

Flashing Lights-This is my favorite single off of the album. The electronic beat against the disco suite. The smooth R & B vocals of Dwele and Connie as well. I think the whole thing is put together great and it's like an electronic rap odyssey.

Everything I Am-This is a real awesome old school soul jam. I just love the vibe on his one. It's just a feel good track.

The Glory-What sounds like a Jackson 5 sampling is actually a song by Laura Nyro "Save The Country". I think Kanye is the most brilliant sampler ever using a song like that to make a Motown sound.

Homecoming-I love this song. In fact these last two tracks are my favorite part of the album. I love Chris Martins part in it and the piano is a great swinging Jazzy vibe. This is a great collaboration.


Big Brother-This is my favorite of Kanye's Rapping and lyrics on the album. It's a song about his friendship and musical relation with rapper Jay-Z. It's got a great beat, tells a great story and is a great reflective lyrical track. A great closer!!!!

 

[Soot and Stars]

Just for shits and giggles here are the songs next to the originals so you can see how minute a sample can be and still make for a cool song. There has to be a good ear to here something bigger in a lot of these. Also some samples are more obvious but they are still turned on their heads and made into something completely different. Art building upon art IMO.

Good Morning [Intro]/Someone Saved My Life Tonight
(Kanye sample at 13 extracted from Elton 1:43)


Champion/Kid Charlemagne
(Kanye sample and looping from the start extracted from Steely Dan :34)


Stronger/Harder Better Faster Stronger
(Kanye sample looped throughout extracted from Daft Punk starting at :20)


I Wonder/My Song
(Kanye sample from the start and used throughout extracted from Labi Saffre from :38)


Good Life/P.Y.T.
(Kanye sample starting at :24 extracting from Micheal Jackson at :51)


Barry Bonds/Long Red
(Kanye samples at :27 extracted from Mountain "Long Red" at 2:05)


Drunk and Hot Girls/Sing Swan Song
(Kanye sample at start and loops throughout extracted from Can from :38)


The Glory/Save The Country
(Kanye West sample at the start and looped extracted from Laura Nyro from 1:57)

 

[Soot and Stars]

This is a real cool performance of Stronger that actually had Daft Punk on stage!!!! Kanye can definitely put on an awesome visual performance!!!!

Kanye West ft. Daft Punk

 

[Harkat]

Stronger is the only Kanye Song that I listen to Soot, I shall give him a bit more of a listen

 

[Sunny]

Kanye West is very popular in the wing of the hospital where I work and I have to admit that I'm a bit of a fan of his now. For years, Eminem was the only rap type music I listened to but KW features a bit on my playlist these days.

 

[METALPRIEST]

Holy Crap that's alot of samples. I appreciate your love for him and I will do the honors of checking out some tunes this weekend. Will let you know what hits my fancy man!!

Give me time though....

Nice lookin' thread!!

 

[Soot and Stars]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Thanks MP and no problem!

I'm going to cover the next c.d. track by track since it's my favorite album of his though his most recent is really starting to tie up with it! The album has almost everything that music purist hate but to me it's this generations soul album! With the simplest of beats, autotune and the most expressive of ideas and concepts Kanye delivers a mastepiece that transcends genre! The album is:

808's and Heartbreak


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[METALPRIEST]

Diamonds From Sierra Leone wasn't a bad tune...I think I like the stuff from Late Registration the best...it fits me a bit more. Not much on sampling from songs already made hits....but I did keep an open mind in the thread...love what you did with it...looks great and I found a tune or two that I can say were......not bad.