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Kanye West

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Kanye West is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and producer from Chicago. He started as a producer behind the scenes before stepping up to the microphone himself. His debut album The College Dropout was released in 2004 and was an immediate big success. It was followed by Late Registration (2005) and Graduation (2007), both of which entered the American album chart at number one.

Music and breakthrough

In 2008 he took a different path. On 808s & Heartbreak he hardly rapped at all: he sang, in a voice distorted by Auto-Tune, about loss and a failed relationship. He built the beats around the Roland TR-808, the drum machine from the 1980s that already had a long history in hip hop. The album was cool, bare and sombre, and many younger artists later adopted that atmosphere. West then made My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), Watch the Throne (2011) with Jay-Z, Yeezus (2013) and The Life of Pablo (2016). That last album was the first to top the Billboard 200 mainly thanks to streaming. Later releases included Ye (2018), Jesus Is King (2019) and Donda (2021).

Influence

West is one of the producers who have changed the sound of hip hop the most in the twenty-first century. He combined samples, synthesizers and sung melodies, and showed that a rapper could also sound vulnerable and doubtful. 808s & Heartbreak is regarded as a turning point: after that record, singing with Auto-Tune became completely normal in hip hop.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Love Lockdown and notice the bare construction: a heavy, dry drum part and a few piano chords, with the Auto-Tuned vocal above them. Hear how the drums come in much louder and fuller later in the song.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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See also

Categories: Artists