Kanye West

 

Kanye Omari West is a six-time Grammy Award-winning American record producer and rapper. He has released his debut album The College Dropout, his second album Late Registration, and is working on a third album coming out in 2007 called Graduation. Both The College Dropout and Late Registration have received numerous awards. Kanye West also runs his own record label, GOOD Music. 

     Kanye West was born in Atlanta, Georgia, where he lived with both of his parents. At the age of three his parents divorced, and he and his mother moved to Chicago, Illinois. Kanye's mother, Dr. Donda West, worked as the Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University before retiring to serve as Kanye's manager. Unlike most rappers he came from an upper middle class background.  After attending The American Academy of Art, a Chicago art school, West attended Columbia College Chicago, but eventually dropped out in order to begin working on his music career. While attending school, West produced for local artists. He later gained fame by producing hit singles for major hip-hop/R&B artists, including Common, Jadakiss, The Game, Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, Foxy Brown, Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel, Cam'Ron, Janet Jackson, Hugh "MC Son" Ryan, Brandy, Eminem, Talib Kweli, Keyshia Cole, Dilated Peoples, Ludacris, Lupe Fiasco, and John Legend. He also "ghost-produced" for his once mentor Deric Angelettie according to his song "Last Call" and the credits of Nas' "Poppa Was a Playa".  West's style of production often utilizes pitched-up vocal samples, usually from soul songs, with his own drums and instruments. The first major label song he produced featuring vocal samples was "This Can't Be Life", a track from Jay-Z's "Dynasty: Roc La Familia". Kanye admitted that Wu-Tang Clan producer RZA influenced him in his style, and has said on numerous occasions that Wu-Tang rappers Ghostface and Ol' Dirty Bastard were some of his all time favorites. He has also admitted that he sped up the drum beat of Dr. Dre's "Xxplosive" to use as a replacement for his original drums on "This Can't Be Life".   In 2007, it was announced that West would be starring in a series directed by Larry Charles. He has been working on the pilot episode for the past two years with Larry Charles and Rick Rubin. He also had this to say on January 14, 2007: “I wouldn’t do something as cliché as a reality show. At least give me the credit for being more creative than that. It’s a situational half-hour comedy. It’s fictional, and loosely based on my life."   West recently collaborated with Japanese hip hop group Teriyaki Boyz to produce the single "I Still Love H.E.R.", a reference to Common's 1994 single "I Used to Love H.E.R.." It is rumored that West's introductory lines preceding his verse are a thinly-veiled jab at producer/rapper Danny!, who was mercilessly compared to West in the beginning of his career.  See Kanye West LIVE!  Purchase your Kanye West tickets today!