Everybody was making fun of him-not hating on him because he's an extraordinary producer but more of making fun of his style.
“And that's a big part of the story: everybody was hating on him. “They didn’t think this would be something that is pushed to the forefront and he would be as big as he is or how big as he made himself,” he explained. Still, it was the second “Through The Wire” dropped that he knew there was something special about Kanye’s trajectory. However, he recalls Ye as simply being a producer with dope beats that everyone wanted a piece of. Jones was in the Roc-A-Fella buildings when Cam’ron signed to the label in 2002 – the same year as Kanye.
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“I don’t know why people didn’t anticipate his style and how to gauge it,” Jim Jones tells HotNewHipHop. To anyone who doubted Kanye West, his vision, and his drive, he spat it back in their faces.
Neon aesthetics and stadium-sized electrified production became the centerpiece to Kanye’s thesis statement on Graduation – an album that singlehandedly marked the death of gangsta rap’s commercial peak after outselling 50 Cent’s Curtis. Graduation became the triumphant finale in Kanye’s three-peat in the post-secondary themed series.
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Collaborations alongside fellow Roc members like Cam’ron and Hov, and other formidable MCs outside of the camp – Lupe Fiasco, The Game, Paul Wall – brought Ye beyond the confines of the East Coast or the Midwest musically.įor every label executive that turned down signing Kanye, The College Dropout and Late Registration proved that commercial success wasn’t limited to formulaic records with pop hooks. However, the newfound fame offered a deeper sense of self-awareness, like on “Diamonds From Sierra Leone,” where he looked beyond the symbolism that diamonds have to analyze the harms of capitalism. He elevated his storytelling with broader perspectives then what he touched on The College Dropout. Lyrically, he continued to prove that he could stand amongst the greats and hold his own. Drawing from orchestral instruments amplified his production, adding eloquence to the gritty boom-bap style that he mastered. He made rap more palatable to a wider audience without compromising the foundation of his craft. The production was redefined, expanding on what he had established on his debut album, both sonically and lyrically. Whatever was left of his humility was minimized further with increasing acclaim – strengthening his own self-assurance as a pivotal figure. His pop sensibilities shined by drawing influences from eclectic artists outside of hip-hop.
The College Dropout was an introduction, while Late Registration painted a more comprehensive portrait of both Kanye’s artistry and personality. His ambitious, creative leaps to break new grounds sonically by incorporating different instruments and genres were paralleled by his own vision of utopia, or at least, a social improvement. This, perhaps, is the key to Kanye West’s artistry. Ye’s perspective of the world, blended with self-awareness, made Kanye a relatable figure – one that spoke to a common struggle with keen observations on the effects that media and consumerism had on self-esteem. However, Kanye’s proximity to the streets, along with his mother’s educational background and his father’s occupation as a Christian marriage counselor, gave him a bird’s eye view of societal woes. A middle-class background meant that Kanye didn’t particularly fit in with hip-hop’s giants at the time, many of which had used music as a financial escape from the socio-economic issues that continue to plague Black and Brown communities. Largely following the blueprint of The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill– which Kanye samples on “All Falls Down – Yeezy’s brand of conscious rap was both humorous and heartfelt. Kanye’s intention with The College Dropout was to bridge the gaps in culture and class. “I’mma be one of the people that helps bridge the gap with hip-hop.” "I feel like my album, the perspective that I’mma speak from, I feel like I’mma bridge the gap,” Ye told MTV’s You Heard It First concerning his debut album in a 2002 interview.