New Jersey White Boy's Rap of the Week: Kanye West, a Retrospective (Part 2)

If you missed last week's post (given the numbers, chances are you did), you should totally read it. It's pretty good.

Oh, and if you're curious to hear any of the songs, you can totally just click the song's title (the part in quotes). It'll open up a new window/tab, depending on how useful you are when it comes to computers, so you can keep reading completely uninterrupted.

REACH FOR THE STARS, SO IF YOU FALL YOU LAND ON A CLOUD

Whenever you make a follow up album that was huge success, the pressure is always on. There’s been a million 1 hit or 1 album wonders out there who couldn’t recreate the success that their first album had. They either try to make a similar album in the hopes of recapturing the magic, or they move in a completely different direction that alienates their fanbase, but also doesn’t draw in new listeners because of the image their first album had.

However, Kanye evolved his sound. Before, his beats were light and airy. Yes, they had the emotional punch and some fantastic soul samples that played well under the lyrics. But they were just too wispy for a rap album, and, for the most part, they were forgettable. Late Registration, on the other hand, had much more substantial beats. They still had mostly the same parts, but they had weight to them. Maybe it was the fact that he kept the samples at their standard pitch and speed (or only slightly altered), or added a few more layers to the beats, giving them more depth and less open space. More substantial bass lines were added, and claps, snares, and bass kicks were all mixed together to create an original beat that kept you guessing at what was coming next.

He mostly changed, not only to avoid that sophomore slump, but because every other producer was getting in on that sweet, sweet sped-up soul sample money. And because of his relatively simple production style at the time, where he would take a soul song, some Miri Ben-Ari strings, maybe an easy piano chord, and throw a beat behind it, it wasn’t very hard to recreate his “signature style”. So, taking inspiration from Portishead, he added more complex arrangements, including a string quartet and more varied and interesting piano and organ chords. He also focused a lot more on the bass on the songs. Not to say that he was inspired by dubstep, but on every song he either had omni-present bass that would occasionally switch notes, or he would have a lot of kicks that would hammer away at your ears, drilling the song into your head.

Whatever he did, it did wonders for his new album’s sound, especially given the fact that it ended up winning a Grammy for Best Rap Album in 2005, and was filled with hits.

“Drive Slow” is a good example of the constant bass. It creates this pleasant buzz that you just want to relax to. It reminds me of a bunch of guys driving through the hood, slowly bobbing their heads and smoking a dooby while looking for chicks to holla at. GLC’s verse really makes it though. His smooth, laid back delivery and deep voice solidify the track and anchor it to the exact tone and mood Kanye was going for.

As for those constant kicks, “Gold Digger” is a fantastic example. It’s the perfect pop-rap song. Not only does it have Jamie Foxx’s sultry voice backing up Kanye’s evocative storytelling, but the beat just drills it into your head and stays there for days. With its subtle organ notes and twisted, fun horn sample honking in the background, the beat is infectious. And then there are the lyrics; the stories of a football player stuck paying child support (for kids that weren’t even his, no less), Kanye’s own troubles with a woman who only likes his wealth, and the unfortunate dropping of non-gold diggers when their man finally strikes it big. Not only is it a fun song, but it’s a great story of morality and what money does to people. Not only does he disparage the money-grubbing wenches, but he also points out how men perpetuate the system by forgetting about the girls who stuck with them when they were broke.

Around this time, he also started his own label, G.O.O.D. (Getting Out Our Dreams) Music after the success of The College Dropout. His first order of business was to sign and release John Legend’s Get Lifted, which went double platinum and launched the modern day Marvin Gaye into the limelight. He also signed his good friend (no pun intended) and fellow Chicago rapper Common, and helped give him some mainstream success and platform to be legitimized as the kind of rapper hip-hop needs. He would later sign another one of my favorite rappers/singers, Kid Cudi, and new up-and-comers Big Sean and Pusha T, both of which have their strengths. Particularly Pusha, who, for all of his coke-dealing braggadocio, is one of the more intelligent and lyrical rappers around. G.O.O.D. Music is doing exactly what Kanye West has been doing since 2004; taking talented artists with a positive message, and giving them an outlet and stage to spread their music, and set an example of what their respective genres should be.

Of course, we all know Kanye, and how much that success went to his head. We all remember one of the funniest and earliest moments when we started to questions West’s sanity. “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” is now etched in the halls of every comedy, parody, news, and hip-hop website as one of the moments that you have to laugh at in order to avoid being uncomfortable. For the younger readers of this site, go away; this is a rather adult article about an artist who says things you shouldn’t hear. As for those who don’t remember the incident, Kanye West, alongside Mike Myers, were helping a telethon that was trying to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. After a long ramble about racism in the media and the government okaying the shooting of black people, the famous line was uttered. It’s something disastrously beautiful to watch, which you can right here.

But during the recording of Late Registration, he was still somewhat grounded. “We Major” is the perfect song to show that idea off. It has this dreamlike piano that floats around like a fairy transporting you into a flashback or alternate reality. It’s not something you really pick up on until a few listens in. Then there’s the triumphant trumpets blasting in the background that just lift you up and make you feel like you can overcome anything. Then the wobbly synth laying down the foundation for everything to build off of. Lyrically, it’s great. There’s the bridge that makes you so happy to listen to; it pumps you up to be excited for the day. It’s a song about triumph and success, and making sure you don’t rest on your laurels and keep working hard.

He also didn’t lose touch with his “realness”. He still rapped from the heart, bringing in person stories about his family, and how much he loves them. “Roses” talks about the story of his grandmother’s hospital stay, and the emotions and feelings that he and his family goes through. He talks about everything, from the hospital staff that only seemed to care about his fame, to thinking that only  the wealthy are allowed to get the best treatments, to the joy when his grandmother comes out of surgery okay. It’s a true, heartfelt song about fear and family. And it’s all backed up by a fantastic beat, featuring Bill Wither’s “Rosie” as the hook, and a depressing piano section. But the mood changes at the end, when Kanye finds out that his grandma is alright. It suddenly becomes a happy song, filled with joyous choir singing and a slightly happier, although still slightly sad synth. It’s an all around great song filled with real emotion, and a beat to match it.

And of course, his now famous “Hey Mama”. He sang a remixed version during the Grammies in 2008, making it a touching tribute to her unfortunate and untimely passing. He added a beautifully sad intro: “Last night I saw you in my dreams/Now I can’t wait to go to sleep”, along with the outro: “This life is all a dream/So my real life starts when I go to sleep”. He also changed the last line from “I wrote this song just so you know/No matter where you go, my love is true” to just “No matter when you go”. It honestly makes me tear up a bit, just knowing how much he loved his mother, and how much he must have missed her, and how much this song must mean to him. He actually cried while trying to perform the song on tour, a week after her death (I’d also watch the couple of the videos embedded in that article; they’re really good, and more fully explore the Kanye’s history and his love for his mom). You can see a crappy recording of the emotional and affecting live Grammy performance here.

Although the original lacks the pure emotionality and timing of the Grammy version, it’s still one of the stand out tracks on the album, which, given how much Donda meant to Kanye, is how it should be. He actually made the song long before 2005; he had the first rough versions done in 2000. However, it wasn’t completely ready until Late Registration. Why that is, I have no idea; I can only speculate that he was trying to make the song perfect, which, in my opinion, he did. Much like “Family Business” from College Dropout, it has this family reunion feeling to it. This is mainly due to the claps in the beat, along with the sweet, loving “la la la”s in the background. (He stole those “la la la”s from Donal Leace’s “Today Won’t Come Again”). It even sounds like he used pots and pans to make the melody of the beat, further increasing the feeling like he recorded it in his kitchen while performing it to his mother. Even Kanye’s “aaaaahhhhh-ow!” has so much love in it. And let’s not forget how much love is in the lyrics. They’re not sappy or clichéd; they are all original expresses of love towards a clearly nurturing and loving figure in Kanye’s life. They couldn’t even be about a girlfriend or God. It’s very targeted at his mother, although it could be extrapolated to your own mom. It’s one of the clearest and biggest expressions of love towards one’s mother that I’ve ever heard.

Personally, I’m just glad he was able to write it before her death. There are so many times when we put off saying “I love you” because there’s always tomorrow, because tomorrow is more convenient, but sometimes we don’t always have tomorrow. Sometimes, it’s best to say “I love you” today, so that person knows you love them, whether or not tomorrow comes. So don’t be afraid to say “I love you” today, no matter how much you think is in the way.

Also, a little known fact – his cousin is gay, and Kanye has since been a supporter of gay rights. He’s draw comparisons between the civil rights movements of the 1960’s and the gay rights movement of the modern age. He also wants to reconcile the homophobia that seems to exist in the rap community; hip-hop, at this point, has been able to include just about everyone in some capacity, from Latinos to Asians to Blacks to Whites to Women. However, homosexuality is distinctly absent, and many rap songs seem to have a slightly hateful undertone towards gays. Kanye, along with myself, believes that it shouldn’t be like that; hip-hop shouldn’t discriminate against any particular kind of person. Rap is a genre built upon overcoming and expressing the horrors of discrimination; it shouldn’t be used to discriminate. Still think he’s a complete douche bag/asshole/asshat/bitchtit McGee?

This time period seems to define Kanye as both an artist and a figure. He made his gaffes, but he also made some amazing music. And he isn’t afraid to change and evolve his sound, and try new things, which usually works out for him. And, unsurprisingly, the industry is follows. Late Registration’s style is still be emulated to this day by many artists, which, for rap to remain that stagnant for that long is an impressive statement to the impact that Kanye West had.

Check out Part 3 for my analysis of the first climax of Kanye’s career.