Soot and Stars
I AM SOOT!
KANYE WEST
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)
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