Despit the fact the man is a bit mad, I think Kanye West is one of the most talented musicians of all time. He has produced since the late 90s, is a great hip hop artist, and stirs away from the norms. In 2010, instead of the normal rap, he created a 30min ballad. Now in 2019 when drugs and money dominate rap, his album with choirs and church music is dominated. he is not someone who likes to follow the norm that is forced upon the rap world, giving him an unique taste different from other rappers
All of his albums are produced by himself, and various artists he worked with have productions by him. Pusha T, Drake, Rihanna,Tyga, John Legend, and Jay Z. He has earned the respect from the likes of the best MC’s for his production, hence he can make great music for others to enjoy and rap over whatever he creates to it too
Kanye also crated the way for modern rap and brought auto tune into the industry. You can argue if it was helpful, but it was revolutionary and it caused a wave of new rappers like Lil Uzi, Travis Scott, and Juice WRLD to use and take advantage of it. He brought light to a new type of music and he took real courage doing it at his time period. While these sad rappers are criticized, Kanye is different due to the soul he brang and his unique style that formed over tons of young rapper. His sad lyrics go deeper into his struggles versus other 2D artist that state the lyric on the spot
His albums have also meaning/themes to them. He doesn’t like confrontation to societal norms, and one of his deepest songs “Good Morning,” talks about he wants to differ from the norm. Graduation is his deepest album diving into the roots of where he is from and his life. TCD and LR are examples of his creativity and his uniqueness to the game as a come up kid from chicago. 808s and MBDTF deal with the struggle of love and what he was going through with the death of his mother and the breakup of his girlfriend. It deviates from the norm of hip hop culture and he shifted attitudes. He started a genre of heartbreak with deep emotions in his vocals. YEEZUS and PABLO are example of modern society getting to him and the negative impact they had on him. Ye and JIK is recognizing his problem with himself and trying to find a solution for it. Even JIK had good songs, follow god and closed on Sunday are all good tunes. He tried to shed light on his life and his sickness, where he hopes god is the answer. Ye is one of his best albums. Melodic talking about serious topics with a mellow vibe and a mix of rap and lyrical rap
So is Ye the best musician of the 21st century. He had the production and musical value checked off, and he had the lyricism part checked off as well. With a shifting demographic of people respect rap music, he could be extremely influencial
