Filed under: Humanities
I want to talk about the most popular genre of music in 2018, with over 24.5% of music falling under the category of ‘rap’ music. And one of the undisputed kings of this power-genre that is taking the world, is Kanye Omari West. Since releasing his first project, Kon The Louis Vuitton Don in 2004, every single on elf his albums have been giant records, all with anthems that have lasted generations. Of his 8 studio albums all 8 have gone gold and 7 have gone platinum. He has sold 21 million albums, and 100 million digital downloads.
So, back to the question. Why will we remember Kanye West’s music? Not only because of his staggering 100+ million downloads and 21+ million sales, he has changed the way we look at music. With his Yeezy fashion line he has blurred the lines between fashion, with an estimated value of $1.5billion, he inspires artists to make more products rather than music. That’s all good but what about the music? Why will he be remembered?Kanye received his first big break in 2001, producing songs for Jay-Z’s most critically acclaimed album The Blueprint. On the record, he delivered a collection of samples that provided the album with a clear soul influence, using songs from The Jackson 5, R&B group Bobby Blue Band and soul artist David Ruffin. He was the first man to do this, and some argue he still does it best. He also changed the tone of Hip-Hop. When he entered the game in the early 2000s, it was the “Bling Era,” when everyone rapped about big houses, nice cars, that kind of thing. He changed that. On his 3x platinum album College Dropout, West spoke his mind on things like religion, family, prejudice and materialism. He was famously quoted saying: “My persona is that I’m the regular person. Just think about whatever you’ve been through in the past week, and I have a song about that on my album.” He has continued that throughout his 8 solo albums, 2 collaborative albums, and 5 mixtapes. That message will stay with us. Forever.
For the Juxtapose I wanted to show something else that Mr. West has done that will keep his sound around. He has evolved. The top photo is the art from his album Graduation, my personal favourite album went 2x platinum and combined art and music. That loud explosive album cover was made by Takashi Murakami, a Japanese contemporary artist. Together West and Murakami created one of the most iconic and recognizable albums covers ever. The bottom picture is from his most recent solo album, simply titled Ye. Selling 200k+ copies, and being streamed millions of times every day, this album was his first in 2 years. And he had not lost his touch. It was his 8th billboard #1 album. With more albums expected in the coming years, there’s not telling what numbers he will put up next.