I think we can all agree. he is arrogant and a douche. But he brought me back to hip hop in the mid 2000s, when eminem, nas and the rest seemed to have been taking time off or making garbage. I'll never forget Kanye in punk'd.." I have a flight to Parriee(paris) to catch."
He's fashionable.. He's a lyrical wordsmith.. ..a musical genius.. He says so himself.. and of course, he likes fish sticks. <iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AAxailJPU5Q" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>
and snoop dog and tribe called quest have played lollapalooza. kanye has only put out 1/2 of a great album (college dropout). imo, the rest is more hype/media-driven than anything. amazing, creative producer but his rapping/singing is atrocious. if there was any justice in the world guys like talib and lupe would be getting all his accolades.
I don't listen to rap often, but when I do it's mostly Kanye. That being said I liked his earlier works much better than his latest release. I didn't really get the hype of his new album, as one of the best rap albums ever made. I gave his album about 4-5 full listens through though. I think the main reason I like Kanye is not for his lyrical prowess, but rather his beats. They are quite interesting and catchy.
Only idiots listen to this rip off crap. Stealing other people's tunes and making it into crappy raps and the guy can't rap worth ****.
to the OP (and others who aren't fans of hip-hop): if you don't like hip-hop, it's okay. Nothing anyone says here is going to change your mind. it IS funny though how some insist on going out of their way to classify Kanye as "not hip-hop," then claim that hip-hop isn't pushing any boundaries. to the guy holding up Common as a bastion of lyricism: that ship sailed some time ago...
Kanye is a beast. This 30 minute vid is a must-watch. <iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Jg5wkZ-dJXA" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>
I love Kanye, and I've bought all of his albums. I do think he is overrated, however. I thought Graduation was a so-so album, and I thought 808s was better. I like Kanye because he sounds different.
The album is incredible from start to finish. "I'm living in the future so the present is my past. My presence is a present, kiss my ass."
He's insanely overrated. He's a pretty good producer, but I've only enjoyed one of his solo albums, College Dropout. I think My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is one of the most overrated hip hop albums of all time, and it's only been out a few months. To me, the man is at his best when he's behind the scenes producing for great rappers. Common's Be is probably my favorite thing that he's worked on.
His albums have declined since the 2nd album and rapidly since the 3rd, but he can make good music when he doesn't overproduce it to smithereens. He's become the M. Night of music. Everything else about him, (courtesy of bonnaroo) Spoiler
"I score, he took the charge...oooh, that **** gotta hurt!" - Kanye Yes I know...it should be called a block.
Actually, charge is correct. The guy taking the charge (hooking up with the ugly girl) is on Kanye's team doing the dirty work, allowing Kanye to focus on "scoring" with the hot girl.
My take, about Kanye and hip hop overall: Kanye is an excellent producer who's beats hit the mark of what sounds good. Which is what matters the most really, if it sounds good to the ears, nothing more past that. Dr Dre was one of the first hip hop producers 10+ years ago SAYING he's been wanting to SUCCESSFULLY diversify his sound into more music spectrums and audiences. Kanye has managed to do that, along with Timbaland and a host of other producers. If anything its Dr Dre who's been more one dimensional. Cuz you also have to do that with IMAGE and STYLE to appeal to a wider based, which is another area Kanye unexpectedly does good in. He tries really hard (and somewhat succeeded) in appearing to appreciate the "finer tastes", attending art shows and such. Really the MAIN THING is, people and music listeners have been wanting to GENTRIFY hip hop for a long time. 75% of hip hop purchasers are white. They've been wanting to pattern the sound more in tune with their interests. (Which is how you're seeing acts like Ke$ha and Uffie). Kanye is an amalgamation of all that. And equally importantly, retaining his "street cred" with it. Which is why Jay-Z can do songs with Linkin Park, and he and Kanye can appear on the indie circuits. (And some indie guys can piggy back off the hip hop guys mainstream popularity for their own benefit). Cyprus Hill and Beastie Boys have been long crossing over, it was getting those "thug" guys in line. The crappy part personally is I predicted most of this a long time ago. The current trance posing as hip hop fad I'm no genie so I don't know what the next wave is. But if I had half a brain in my head I'da gotten some turntables a long ago, a DJ name, and "emo'ed" down the hip hop sound, attend a few art shows like Kanye has, be a big ego appearing like an unconstrained creative force of expression, wear some designer form fitting clothes, and gotten paid for it.
I'll add, Kanye gives you a lot to talk about, which is almost as important as musical ability. What I HATE about Kanye which I've said before on here is he really acts like he's the first to discover sense and awareness and bringing the messages to the masses in the world "All Falls Down" lyric Sure thing, bub. Thanks for the enlightenment. And there's his infamous public moments backing up my claim. Which has been a TURNOFF of me appreciating the person. But man can he make some nice sounding beats.
