Kanye West won't be up for another grammy this year, and that's probably a good thing for the rapper. The same MC who made even President Obama shake his head the wrong way after the VMA's last year.
West being a controversial figure is nothing new to anyone who followed the events of Hurricane Katrina. On September 2nd, 2005, West made the statement of "George Bush hates black people" on a nationally televised relief concert on NBC.
In 2007, West was passed over to host the VMA's for Brittney Spears. In retaliation to MTV selecting Spears, West claimed "maybe my skin's not right" and said later he would never come back to MTV.
The critics emerged again in 2008 when West released his auto-tuned album, "808's and Heartbreak". West divided his fan base with the release of "808's" and lost many supporters, as well as gaining some.
There's a simple way of looking at Kanye: You either love him. . .or you hate him.
For a long time, I was one of those haters. That was until I started doing my research on who exactly Kanye West was.
West was born in Atlanta, a fact not well known by many. He was raised in the suburbs of Chicago by his single mother and would spend each summer with his father. His father became an award-winning photographer and a counselor for his church. West graduated high school and then went on to Chicago State University. His stay at CSU was short however, as he decided to drop out after completing only one year of his education. What's intriguing about West is that he didn't drop out because he was doing poorly.
"I dropped out of school because I wasn't learning fast enough.... I learned from real life better," he said in a 2004 interview.
West moved to New York to be closer to the artists he was trying to reach with his beats and it proved to be successful. Jay-Z discovered West and one double platinum album later ("The Blueprint" in 2001), West was well on his to becoming a top producer.
But here's the part of story that made me change my opinion about Kanye.
After West produced another album for Hova ("The Blueprint 2: Gift and Curse" in 2002), West could've sat back and enjoyed his success as a producer. He had a solid career, plenty of connections, and was living the dream of many producers. But that didn't satisfy Kanye, he wanted to be something more. He made a demo tape of him rapping and waited for the phone to ring.
And he waited. . .and waited. . .and waited, and not one label called.
Until finally, in 2002, Roc-A-Fella Records gave Kanye a chance. He proved his worth quickly and was an instant success after he released "The College Dropout" in early 2004.
Kanye has always had a knack for rapping about issues, (just listen to "Flashing Lights" about Katrina) but why should we criticize the man? So what if he's a little too cocky or self-absorbed, at least he has the guts to say what he wants to.
In a country that always is proud about its right of free speech, we write Kanye off as a loon or idiot because we don't agree with some of the stuff he says. We try and knock down his accomplishments because he never had to struggle like Biggie or Tupac to reach an incredible level of fame.
Yet, I find Kanye's story more interesting than most for that reason alone. West could've lived a normal life as a producer and lived well off. He didn't have to try and become and MC. He didn't have to be obligated to say something that the President approved of after the Katrina disaster. But if he did, would we know Kanye at all?
I don't think so, the man may be controversial but he has something that a lot of MCs lack, which is drive. A lot of rappers and other artists release a great album, maybe two, and then ride that wave of fame for the rest of their careers. They lose their motivation which caused them to be successful. MCs are also afraid of controversy today. There are exceptions (Nas and Lupe Fiasco), but most avoid any type of bad sound bite or tough interview. If you need more proof, just listen to the interview Jay-Z did when he was questioned about Lil Wayne being a better lyricist.
Even with "808's", Kanye was bold and tried something new. I give Mr. West some credit for that. Kanye wants to the best there ever was, so why should we criticize him for it?
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