Deeta- Week 13- LAST KANYE BLOG POST:(
LAST KANYE BLOG POST:(
New quarter, new topic! When faced with the topic of “memory,” I am instantly flooded with ideas and possibilities to interpret this new topic. But as per tradition, I have to find some far-fetched way to tie this blog topic into my recurring theme for the first post of each quarter: Kanye.
Thankfully, I don't have to stretch too far to do this. The concept of memory is in some way the foundation of Kanye's entire discography. Most artists tend to create incohesive albums that often follow individual storylines with no connection, such as Taylor Swift (sorry please don't get mad at me Faith this isn't necessarily a bad thing). A select few artists on the other hand have some connection or path running through their albums, and this applies to Kanye with the connecting factory being his life itself. Kanye's fundamental basis for creating art is the different aspects, moments, and changes he has experienced in his life. This can be viewed through the chronological course of his discography, in a way taking us down the "memory lane" that is Kanye's life.
His debut studio album, The College Dropout, marks the beginning of his legendary music career. Kanye leaves college to pursue his dreams of being a rapper, deviating from the societal norms of achieving "success." This album outlines a pivotal point in his life and serves as hope and a lesson to others to follow their dreams.
Late Registration was Kanye's chance to prove himself as the figurehead of music he would soon become. With this album, he proved his ability to not only make good music but to change the game entirely, setting the precedent for his legacy in the American music industry.
Graduation was a testament to his obvious and exorbitant success. He had made it in an industry thought to be impossible and achieved his goals laid out in The College Dropout. He now had fame, money, and freedom.
His next album, 808s and Heartbreak was a beautiful album that stemmed from his own heartbreak. His mother Donda West, whom he was very close to, passed away on November 10, 2007. A couple months later, his engagement with his long-time girlfriend Alexis Fischer was broken off. Kanye concocts his grief into the revolutionary 808s, which dropped November 24, 2008.
Following that Kanye was "exiled" and outcast, following his controversial stunt at the 2009 VMAs. He spent this year reflecting and creating, dropping the incredibly self-aware My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. This album was the summation of his experiences from the past few years of fame and what sacrifices came with it. He explored ideas of celebrity worship, consumer culture, and race to create what is widely considered his best album to date.
He then explores his role as a leader in the black community through Yeezus. This album is his most prominent exploration of race and what it means to him.
In 2018, Kanye drops ye. This is one of his most introspective albums. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder, this album is a beautiful representation of what it meant to be on the spectrum and how Kanye navigated through this new phase of his life.
Kanye explores his identity and his relationship to god in his more recent albums: The Life of Pablo, Jesus is King, and Donda. Having gone through the things he did throughout his career, he sets his ego asides and searches for meaning through religion. This set of albums, in particular, emphasizes Kanye's drastic growth from where he started as an egocentric young Chi rapper.
Together, these albums paint a vivid painting of his life and his work has immortalized his memories, preserved within pop culture for years to come. I'M SORRY THIS EXCEEDS THE WORD LIMIT MS B BUT I COULDN'T WRITE LESS BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE DISRESPECTFUL, AS THE GENIUS OF KANYE'S MUSIC DESERVES THOROUGH ANALYSIS.
Hi Deeta,
ReplyDeleteRhetorical analysis has taken all the energy out of me; that being said, I would be more than willing to do a thorough project on Kanye’s discography and lyrical structure. While I cannot claim the title of Kanye devotee like you can, I must admit that his music certainly has historical merit, while at the same time marking periods in my life where I liked one album more than the others. It’s crazy how one’s legacy can be traced through mere album names and cover arts; I think Kanye might be one of the only artists that this applies to.
Also, this is probably one of the longest blog posts I have ever seen, and I've seen some pretty long blog posts. You are truly a Kanye enjoyer of the highest order.
Sincerely,
Sean Wang
I've never really listened to any of Kanye's music before so I cannot speak to its impact or significance. But one thing that I do see from your reflection on him is the journey that's compacted into his music. Recently, I've been listening to songs that I used to listen to and though the songs aren't objectively good, the association and the emotional reflection that I get put through is always super exciting. So in a sense, we store our own memory in the music that is the memory of someone else. This is also the reason why I love this quarter's topics: it is an opportunity to explore our nostalgia and share it with a group of people forced to give us feedback. And I really look forward to seeing and reading more blogs on these topics.
ReplyDeleteHi Deeta,
ReplyDeleteI haven't personally listened to much of Kanye's music aside from "the Donda chant," but I have always been skeptical when my friends claim him to be a genius. I ask myself, "How could someone memed more than all others mainstream rappers combined be considered one of the greatest thinkers of the 21st century?"
Your blog post gave me the answer. Kanye adds deep emotional and historical meaning to his masterpieces, and many of these touches come from his memories. Deeta, you've inspired me to binge Kanye music for the rest of the day.
Sincerely,
Krish
Hi Deeta,
ReplyDeleteI would never consider myself a hardcore Kanye fan, only because I do tend to listen to a lot of his music, but it's usually the basic songs that I've only heard the chorus to but pulls me into hearing and playing the whole song on repeat for that week. I agree with Krish's response to your post--I never really understood the non-stop hype for Kanye even after all the memes that have been posted about him and certain actions he takes. I'm really glad I read your blog post because it puts everything into perspective for me, and I hope other people who feel this way about Kanye will hear words similar to the ones you wrote.
Also, after publishing this blog post I opened up Spotify and noticed that you're listening to "ye" as shown on the activity status, and I thought that was pretty cool!
DeleteHi Deeta,
ReplyDeleteI don't really listen to Kanye (or Drake), so I can not really say much. But your blog sounds like the critique section of POAS. Did you do Kanye as your POAS? This sounds like a really good critique section for it (unlike my critique sadly).
When it comes to what you wrote about, it is very interesting how each album is about a part of his life. I may actually decide to take a listen to some (even though I probably will not do it anyways).
Sincerely,
Vivan Waghela
Hey Deeta, I'm personally very picky when it comes to music, especially rap, and unfortunately, Kanye is not one of my favorites (please don't hate me). I do appreciate when artists have a sort of flow to what they produce. I think it gives their audience a better idea of who they are, and what's important to them. For me, this makes an artist a lot more relatable, and I begin to like them for more than their music. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Deeta,
ReplyDeletePersonally, I have not heard any music by Kanye before (except for one song, Power, from one of Sean's blogs). This makes me an unreliable judge of his music, especially since I am not much of a fan of rap. That said, I love it when music has a story in it, either in the lyrics or behind it, and the stories behind Kanye's albums which you describe definitely sound interesting. Kanye is really popular, and I think he is the one name that I associate with rap more than any other. It seems like the stories, memories, and emotions behind his songs add value and weight to them, making them popular, at least from what your blog has said.
Sincerely,
Raymond Yu
Hi Deeta,
ReplyDeleteWhile I am not even close to anywhere near as well versed as you in Kanye lore, I must admit his artistic album themes are incredible. All of his albums really do have a distinct sound, and each of them fit the theme of the album quite nicely as well. Two of my favorite Kanye songs, "Touch The Sky" and "We Major," both come from the same album "Late Registration." All of the songs on this album have such an impactful vibe, it really seems to match the album cover of the bear bursting through the door swinging with snazzy horns and snares. Thematically, I think the concept of "Through The Wire" is the coolest song; I was infinitely surprised and impressed when I learned that he recorded the entire song with his jaw wired shut.
Yi-Kuan C.
Hi Deeta,
ReplyDeleteAs a person who doesn't really listen to Kanye, I find it interesting about the variety of topics he includes in his various albums. From what I learned in your blog post. I don't listen to very much music, but a lot of pop is generally about self love, romantic love, heartbreak of all kinds and such. It's interesting that Kanye pulls from all his experiences in life to write his music. It seems that all of his music combined could create a timeline of his life based on the most important things that have happened to him. I might try listening to some of his music sometime because my friends constantly talk about him but all I know is that there is some drama that caused him to change his Instagram feed.