Monday marked the 10-year anniversary of Kanye West’s first major-label album, “The College Dropout.”
Over the past decade, fans have seen Kanye grow as a producer, lyricist and businessman, resulting in the creation of his music label, G.O.O.D. Music.
Kanye is the only artist whose entire discography has achieved platinum status by the Recording Industry Association of America. His six solo albums and one collaboration album with Jay Z have all reached critical acclaim and are cornerstones of music history.
He has worked closely with the best artists of this generation, such as Beyoncé, Chris Brown and Drake.
Kanye is known for releasing content that is different, yet well-received by the music community. Early songs like “Through the Wire” and “All Falls Down” are examples of Kanye telling stories based on his life. The experimental “808s & Heartbreak” includes hits like the five-time platinum song “Love Lockdown” that showed listeners a softer side of Kanye using autotune heavily.
His most recent effort, “Yeezus,” initially received mixed reviews from many blogs, magazines and fans. The reviews didn’t stop the success of the album as it rose to the No. 1 position in multiple countries.
There’s no doubt Kanye is one of the most talented artists of this generation. Even those who don’t like him as a person have to commend Kanye on his musical success.
In the recent years, Kanye has become a public figure because of the negative publicity surrounding him. Late last year, West went on a Twitter tirade against Jimmy Kimmel for a sketch Kimmel ran spoofing Kanye’s BBC Radio 1 interview.
Many have kept track of the craziness that involves Kanye since his 2009 MTV Video Music Awards incident with Taylor Swift. The instance sparked the “let you finish” memes that circulate around the Internet.
His relationship with Kim Kardashian has only added fuel to the fire. Kanye has now begun feuding with Vogue over Kardashian not being on the magazine’s cover.
Attempting to venture into fashion himself, Kanye began talks with multiple designers to create his clothing line. He feuded with fashion brand Louis Vuitton for “not recognizing his genius.”
There are multiple suspected reasons why Kanye acts the way he does. These reasons range from him not coping well with the death of his mother to being simply over arrogant because of his success.
People are focusing more on the next Kanye outburst than the actual music he releases. The world loves negative publicity but refuses to remember Kanye is a human being who has normal emotions. He lives within the public eye in each business venture he pursues. Still, he manages to cater to the fans who have helped him achieve such popularity.
Kanye went to Twitter Monday to thank the listeners of his music for his career, saying that every day he is “trying to give something back” to the fans.
People grow up and people change, but Kanye said he is “the same kid from Chicago, still dreaming out loud, still banging on the door.”
Kanye surely has an over-the-top personality. However, this is not a free pass to judge him from a distance.
No one knows for sure what is in the mind of Kanye, but we know he makes music people like. There’s something else that is definite: whether he is loved or hated, Kanye is always talked about in some way. Clearly, he’s done something right over the last decade.