Kanye West
This article first appeared in Youthwork magazine, Winter 2007.
You'd expect a guy who'd survived being shot nine times to have little problem seeing off the likes of a mid west fashion victim but in the battle between 50 cent and Kanye, Kanye, I believe the term is, kicked ass. OK so this wasn't real fisticuffs, even though Rolling Stones magazine cover photo shoot depicted the two as Boxing opponents, this was about album sales.
Back in September Kanye's third album, Graduation, sold 957,000 in its first month on release, Fitty's a mere 691,000. Slightly problematic for 50 cent as he vowed that he'd give up rapping if Kanye outsold him. Don't hold your breath though, that was just Fifty's PR team speaking. Spats like this are often wheeled out before album launches in order to spike sales.
But it doesn't hide the fact that Kanye is a force to be reckoned with. Although rap seems to be losing its appeal, total sales fell 21% between 2005 and 2006 in America, Kanye's star is still in the ascendant.
It's a rise that's continued unchecked since debut The College Dropout hit the charts in 2004 and it's follow up Late Registration came hot on its heels in 2005. Both albums have sold between them well over six million and Kanye was hailed as the saviour of rap, an intelligent voice who avoided the usual fodder of rap lyrics; violence, gangs, misogyny and instead focused on religious themes with anthems like Jesus Walks and also forayed into the world of politics- publicly critiquing George Bush for his failures over Hurricane Katrina and rapping about the conflict diamond trade in Diamonds from Sierra Leone.
He also appears to be an avid evangelist for self belief. He's the epitome of that particularly American trait that states that 'unless you value your self no one else will' and 'losing is for losers'. Some call him downright arrogant. In a recent interview with Radio 1 DJ Westwood he was asked about the fact that people think he's a wee bit bigheaded.
Kanye: 'They say, 'He's got a God complex, because he said if they wrote The Bible again he would be in it'? Yeah, I would be in it? I feel like I'm one of the more important people in pop culture? The Bible has 20, 30, 40, 50 characters in it. You don't think I would be one of the character's of today's modern Bible??"
Well that's something for Hodder and Stoughton to think of next time they do a reprint, it's about time lamentations had a bit more bling. As Kanye would say though it's not arrogant to state you are the best if you are the best, it's just candour.
So he's not shy then. A self confessed but utterly unapologetic porn addict he has also been known to fly off the handle when things don't go his way. His backstage tantrum over not winning for any of his five nominations at this years MTV awards soon made it to youtube.
There's no doubt that Kanye is a prodigious talent. As a producer he's collaborated with and produced hit singles for acts as diverse as Mariah Carey and Fall out boy. Before he rose to fame as a hip hop star in his own right he produced hits for John Legend, Alicia Keys and most importantly fellow rapper Jay-Z. Jay-Z, the most respected rapper in the states today, recruited Kanye to produce for his record label Roc-a-Fella.
Kanye had to fight to be heard though. He only convinced Roc-a-Fella execs that he could make it as a rapper when, during recovery time from a car crash, he recorded the single Through the wire. The song refers to the fact that, due to a fracture, Kanye had his jaw wired shut whilst he made his debut rap.
Some say that this struggle to be acknowledged is what drives Kanye's ego - the feeling that he's not yet won the approval of Jay-z. The title of his albums hint at someone who's struggling to come to terms with what real success means. College Dropout refers to the fact that he cut short a course at an academy of arts. He was there at the insistence of his mother, a college lecturer who unfortunately died recently, who wanted him to at least pursue academics before trying a music career.
So with Graduation does Kanye think he's finally made it as a bona fide artist? Who could think otherwise? Stars such as Lily Allen and Chris Martin are queuing up round the block to partner with him and he's had the kind of crossover appeal that most rap stars would give their 9mms for. Whether or not Kanye thinks he's succesful or not remains hard to say, he's still an enigma who critiques consumerism in one song but alludes to his extreme shopping habits in others; who is dedicated to his fiance but also to his trips to porn outlets; who regularly name drops Jesus and believes God saved him from his car crash for a higher purpose but then never seems quite sure or not whether he or the almighty is at the centre of the universe. If that's the case then perhaps it's true that some people do graduate without really having learned a thing.
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