Kanye West has transformed himself from hip-hops most creative producer to one of rap and hip-hops biggest superstars. In a short span of four years Kanye West has lived his professional success and personal trauma in front of the world and of course the tabloids.

Kanye West – Hip Hop Superstar And Controversy King

“George Bush doesn't care about black people ... They're saying black families are looting and white families are just looking for food...they're giving the (Army) permission to shoot us” – Kanye West

The Lil’ Crazy Genius

Kanye West has transformed himself from hip-hops most creative producer to one of rap and hip-hops biggest superstars. In a short span of four years Kanye West has lived his professional success and personal trauma in front of the world and of course the tabloids. His often unpredictable and sometime silly public outbursts especially at award shows have created a somewhat juvenile persona. Yet he is easily the most successful hip-hop artist in the last 5 years outselling everyone.  The success of Kanye West lies in his experience as a producer for superstar recording artists like Jay- Z, Beyonce, and Janet Jackson.

In the saturated world of hip-hop music West brought in his unique sampling styles and intricate production to shake up the genre. He has surely been a catalyst to revive hip-hop’s somewhat fading fortunes. Westmania has ensured phenomenal sales of nearly 30 million albums worldwide. Kanye West meteoric rise as a solo artist has given him world wide popularity and success. Kanye West enjoys great critical acclaim and has won an astonishing 14 Grammy awards as a solo artist. He cites various influences such as 70s soul music and stadium rock bands such as U2, Rolling Stones and the hard rock Led Zeppelin. West has also become the fashion icon for the current MTV generation.

The Man from Georgia

Kanye West was born in Atlanta, Georgia but after the divorce of his parents he moved to Chicago with his mother. West dropped of out of college to start working on his career as music. Gaining access to people at Rock-A-Fella Records he was able to get Jay-Z to listen to his mixes and sample production demos. By 2001, Kanye West was producing Jay-Z’s most ambitious project titled “The Blueprint”. West rose to fame as a genius producer after the release of this album. His unique sampling style can easily be heard on the album.

The Rise Begins

In 2002, he was nearly killed in a car accident. The incident left a huge impact on West confronted his fears with writing songs. The incident has been well documented on the song, “Through the Wire”. After convincing Jay-Z, Rock-A-Fella Records agreed to give him a record contract. West started recording the album while working on albums for other artists. After much delay and hype, West released his first album in 2004 titled “The College Dropout”. The album is the blueprint and the perfect testament to his style. The skits on the album take sarcasm to a new level.

The album is a massive hit and sells 3 million copies in the US. Buoyed by the massive success of his first album, West moved into the studios to record his follow-up. Kanye West still continues to produce songs for other artists during the year. The somewhat constant drive for celebrity status sees West make several high profile TV shows. The album is released in Aug of 2005, debuting straight at No.1. “Late Registration” is hailed by the critics as year’s best record.

Songs like “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” gives hints of his depreciating his own achievement. It is the US Hot 100 chart topped “Gold Digger” featuring Jamie Foxx doing the Ray Charles classic “I Gotta a Woman” as the background to backbeat drums creatively produced by West. Jay-Z inevitably appears on the album. The album continues his success selling a whopping 10 million worldwide.

West Graduates

West ends 2005 calling the then President Bush a racist in front of a global live audience. In 2007 he releases his third album “Graduation” which debuts at No.1 on the US charts. The album gets mixed reviews due to its often silly songwriting. Production-wise this is stands up as one of his best work. Using influences outside of the genre, he samples Daft Punk’s house music into the No.1 song “Stronger”. His creates a stir with his angst filled comments at the MTV Europe Music Awards for not winning any award despite 5 nominations.

He kicks off his headlining “Glow in the Dark Tour” in 2008. He releases his third No.1 album “808s and Heartbreak” which debuts again at No. selling nearly 4 million worldwide. The album receives a lot of negative reviews for its production style of using Auto-Tunes instead of natural rapping. The Auto-tune distorts Kanye’s natural voice into an electric feel. The album is not a major seller as compared to his previous albums but has sonically created a different album. The single “Heartless” peaks at No.2 on the US charts

Kanye West is a unique talent which has given hip-hop and rap music a big boost. But it is his strange, quirky and sometimes downright shocking behavior like the 2009 Video Music Awards which threatens to shift the focus away from his music.

• Kanye West has designed his own shoe line for Nike and also Louis Vuitton

• Kanye West along with MTV has worked for US soldiers returning from tour of duty in Iraq struggling through debt and posttraumatic stress disorder

• Kanye West was center of a joke on the iconic animation series South Park

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