

LB scheduled to drop Sept. 25; Kanye, Sept. 11.
New album covers New album covers
Kanye West Cant Tell Me Nothin video
A video of Kanye West’s performance at the Princess Diana concert
An entertaining live show is something very hard to pull off. One would think that if a song is popular on the airwaves, then that automatically equates high quality when performed live. However, that is not always the case, because in order to give an entertaining live show, you must involve the audience to a point where they feel the same emotion that you as the performer is trying to evoke into your songs. Enter, Kanye West, arguably the hottest act in hip hop and r&b right now. His sped up soul samples have quickly became a staple in hip hop resulting in him having simultaneous #1 songs on both the hip hop and r&b charts. If you have listened to any urban radio station for at least 15 minutes, you have probably heard one of his songs. Also, his debut album ‘College Dropout’ is the 3rd highest first week selling debut album for a hip hop artist to date.
“The future of Hip Hop” - Mos Def (prior to a Def Poetry Jam performance). What Mos Def right? What does he of all people know? Well, according to his music and personality - a shitload. His opinion regarding Kanye was nothing short of accurate.
After ghost-producing for some noteworthy artists, Kanye scored a deal with one of rap’s largest and most impressionable labels. With few artists proving to make a worthwhile enough creative impact on Rocafella (Jay being the clear exception), having Kanye along was a brilliant move.
Clinton Sparks grabbed me when I heard him speaking on his first official release stating that he wouldn’t be satisfied until people would be playing a video game of his while listening to a CD of his, drinking a drink of his etc. I can’t recall exactly what it is, but his aspirations were pretty overwhelming and entertaining. It seems though, that that piece of audio wasn’t far from the truth, as the Boston DJ/producer has what seems like an exclusive mixtape out every other week.
It is undeniable that in the past few years, hip-hop had reached a plateau. With no consistency in quality mainstream albums being released, old-schoolers dusted off their classic 90s records, nerd rap fans continued jocking pseudo-intellectual rap about asteroids and metaphysics, and Dipset dominated the airwaves. Everyone pointed their finger at someone else, and ultimately, nothing was done about it.
Hearing Kanye rap for the first time I was un-impressed. I’m too used to rap with voices which fail to grab me, and as a result, he struck my ears as a privileged producer turned rapper, like that of a singer turned actor. It’s this though, which also lead to the delight of hearing his music a second time around. What initially began on a wrong note quickly turned into making his lack of a normal sounding voice into an endearing quality.
Producer extraordinaire Kanye West rose to fame through his work on Jay-z’s classic “Blueprint†album with such joints as “Takeoverâ€, “Izzo†& “Heat Of The Cityâ€. This rag’s to riches rise to fame has lead to Kanye becoming one of the most sought out producers in the industry. He had laced joints for everybody from Scarface to Mos Def to the whole Roc-a-fella crew. However, months ago Kanye was injured in a serious car accident, leaving the producer battered and bruised. “Get Well Soon†is a mixtape dedicated to Kanye and his short but successful career. It features a variety of songs he has produced along with some of his own songs now that Kanye is a full-fledged emcee in the public’s eye.
Kanye West - Stronger [VIDEO]
