He brought you Diamonds and Jesus Walks, and they were Amazing. Someone told him she was a Gold Digger and he didn't Runaway. He might be a College Dropout, but with all the Flashing Lights he still managed to Touch the Sky. We Can't Him Nothing, He goes H.A.M., Two Words, Kanye West.

Classifying myself as a huge fan would be an understatement. I think that Kanye West is leading not by example, because he is the example. He’s almost single-handedly put Chicago on the map (no disrespect to Common or Lupe). His cockiness and confidence go hand in hand, and I think that he most definitely has what it takes to back it up. He goes by Kanye to the- for a reason, partly because he doesn’t need to say his last name anymore: but more importantly noted is the fact that he’s world renown. He’s recognized not only for his fashion taste, media blunders and political rants, but for his production and musicality skills. Kanye West understands hip-hop because it made him who he is today, he knows the game and isn’t afraid to change it. He has attained his success by being fearless and by going against traditional styles and behavior in hip-hop.

He started off as a beat maker out of Chicago, and once Jay-Z (who he calls his Big Brother) picked him up, I don’t think anyone really predicted just how far he would come. He helped produce beats for “H to the Izzo” which was an instant success, and he got started on his solo career (Billboard). Kanye West founded his own label in 2004 called GOOD Music, which stands for Getting Out Our Dreams. His label includes Common, John Legend, Mos Def, Kid Cudi, Big Sean and that’s just to name a few. Kanye has always been driven to achieve greatness, he knows what he wants to accomplish and sets his mind to it: “[what are your goals?] "To go gold or platinum," he says, "to have songs that are respected across the board, to have some sort of influence on the culture and to change the sound of music and inspire up-and-coming artists to go against the grain." (Rolling Stone).

Kanye West’s first studio album College Dropout, in my opinion, was all about setting the tone and the history of his “struggle” as an artist. On the very last track, Last Call, it’s pretty much a ten minute song of Kanye just telling his listeners the hardships of what it’s like to sell yourself to certain labels. He talks about how he was evicted and how his mother and him moved to a studio apartment, where he started making beats in the basement. I think that the “struggle” is definitely something that artists of all genres, but more importantly Rap, try to capitalize on. Old school groups like Public Enemy and Run DMC definitely had to battle important social issues during their time as well, but they made sure their audience knew about their angst: it was in their music. Kanye is no different, he too was inspired by groups like Run DMC and NWA, and he definitely wanted to show tribute to the “struggle” in his early albums. College Dropout is filled with skits that play on the fact that he didn’t graduate from college. I can remember hearing lines like “Because all the regular homeless people have newspaper, and look what I have….I'm going to get super smart, so I too can die without money. But I'll be the smartest dead guy. Who has that?!” (azlyrics). There are plenty of skits that play on the key stereotypes of college such as fraternities, drugs in college, and working an entry-level position. It became clear that Kanye wasn’t just stringing random radio hits together and calling it some unrelated title and then slapping his name on it. He was building a story not just about his life as an artist but his life as an actual person: something that wasn’t being done enough in his eyes.

Ye went on to release Late Registration, and Graduation, both of which were continuations of his college themed albums, 808s & Heartbreak, My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy, and Watch The Throne with Jay-Z on Roc-A-Fella Records.

With his success from College Dropout Kanye West knew that he had found a dedicated audience, I remember going to concerts and hearing him live when College Dropout first released: he had so much passion. He not only came on stage to perform with other artists if he was featured in their songs, something not many artists are willing to do, but he stayed after the concert to sign autographs. It was clear then, that Kanye was a different class of artist. His hit Jesus Walks, which talks about his relationship with God not a number one, but the message behind it was one that stuck with most. Hip-hop and rap isn’t just about money, cars and hoes, and showing off everything that you have: “They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus. That means guns, sex, lies, video tapes. But if I talk about God my record won't get played Huh?...Next time I’m in the club, everybody screaming out” (azlyrics).

All of his albums have gone platinum which speaks for themselves, he is one of the most influential people according to Forbes magazine, he is in the top five artists with the most digital downloads of all time, and he even has the guts to perform with a leather kilt on. Kanye’s stage presence is irrefutable and unremarkable. I’ve had the pleasure to see him in concert, both solo and collaborative, over the years and he never disappoints. Kanye understands how important touring is as an artist, and doesn’t stop at 100%. He understands that touring is one of the most important factors in an artist’s career, because it allows for a physical connection with your fan base. During the Glow in the Dark Tour, West was on stage for over an hour. He rarely took breaks, and the set-up was unlike anything I had ever seen before, not to mention the instant fad of shutter shades.

The stage mirrored his Graduation album theme, and the whole performance seemed to link together. He was storytelling through a new medium, performance.

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure to attend the Watch The Throne tour, and I left blown away, per usual. The concert had Kanye written all over it, as he was on stage most of the time, and he even made it a point to say “we’re here to give you your money’s worth”.

note: the leather kilt.

Kanye’s latest solo studio album, MBTDF (My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy) features a “film” that was released before the album, and again tells a story not only through song but through performance. Pitchfork reviewed the album, and touched upon West’s “man-myth dichotomy”:

"On Twisted Fantasy, Kanye is crazy enough to truly believe he's the greatest out there. And, about a decade into his career, the hardworking perfectionist has gained the talent on the mic and in the control room to make a startlingly strong case for just that… With his music and persona both marked by a flawed honesty, Kanye's man-myth dichotomy is at once modern and truly classic. "I can't be everybody's hero and villain, savior and sinner, Christian and anti Christ!" he wrote earlier this month. That may be true, but he's more willing than anyone else to try.”(Pitchfork).

Another look at the work of Kanye West wouldn’t be possible without stopping to recognize the success of his collaborative projects. He has worked hard to step out of the hip-hop scene and work with artists from different genres. Some of the artists/groups he’s worked with include: 30 Seconds to Mars, Kid Cudi, La Roux, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Beyonce, and Bon Iver. Kanye understand how important it is to diversify his musical outputs just like that of a stock portfolio. The measurement of these decisions was shown in the 2010 MTV Video Music Award nominations. Kanye had seven nods, which included his successful collaborative hits such as : “E.T.” featuring Katy Perry for best collaboration of the year and “All of the Lights” with Kid Cudi and Rihanna for best hip-hop video as well as best collaboration (Rolling Stone). His realization to the success of a popular collaboration is unsurpassed. It’s clear that Kanye has a big ego, but does he have a right to be cocky? Yes. Kanye understands that being successful isn’t just about producing hit records, it’s about entertaining and reaching a wider audience as a whole.,Your music is about creaing a lasting impact that makes people think. As I mentioned before, Mr. West has definitely gotten into trouble because of his mouth. From his stunt on national television, regarding a certain president and a certain national disaster, to interr—

Kanye has taken Twitter by storm, and even used that social media platform to send a message. The man has millions of followers, yet follows no one. He used his personal blog to showcase upcoming works by Child Rebel Soldier [a trio of Kanye, Lupe and Pharrell Williams] and artists under GOOD Music. He even released a fashion line, DW, earlier this year.

The idea behind his line was it should exude excess while being limited, two aspects that often go hand in hand. He’s crowned himself the “Louis Vuitton Don” and has even interned for him (Rolling Stone). Kanye definitely tries to set himself apart from his fellow hip-hop/rap mates, whether it’s through his lyrics or his sneakers.