Muses.Music.

Okay so let’s make this somewhat quick and to the point, this is by all accounts a BEAR market. For those of us not Economists, that means that the market is slow, not a lot of action, etc. Well, don’t look now but seems someone must have told Kanye West differently. It seems he doesn’t even know how to pronounce, let alone spell recession. Wait, let’s not talk numbers just yet though, after all we are music lovers not CPAs right? Let’s talk facts!

I’ve concluded that no one is more famous in music than Kanye West, this past decade. Miley Cyrus said she doesn’t listen to Jay-Z (who only worked part-time for the decade) and never heard one of his songs, but oddly enough she knows Cristal costs $1500 without a tip and can probably sing “Umbrella” in Japanese. That’s influence ladies and gents! So let’s talk influence; Kanye is influential VERY influential, in fact he influenced the aforementioned Jay-Z. ‘Big deal’ some of you say, ‘fans follow fashion and that doesn’t prove anything artistically’. But need I remind you that Kanye changed the nature of music with his influence I say, not just the fashion trends worldwide. Sonically, directly or indirectly, the world has felt the Bashful Bear’s presence. Need I remind you that before Kanye; music was light and airy and now due largely to his work inspiring other artists in many genres; music is more soulful and melody driven? You must have forgot that pretty much every English speaking person with a pulse knew the “Gold Digger” chorus? Now I know that that alone doesn’t qualify someone for the crown but when that is just another notch on your belt, you know you are a big deal.

He didn’t do it by himself either, but to me that lends even more credibility to the title of “Artist of the Decade”. The sound he reintroduced through his soul samples have changed the dynamics of popular music. Lady Gaga knows, Beyonce knows, Rhianna Knows, Taylor Swift found out . He also brought a lot of other critically acclaimed and commercially legit stars along with him:  Lupe Fiasco, John Legend, to name a couple. Pop music threw out the ultra happy high pitched tempo rhythms for a more soulful and thoughtful vibe, thanks to Mr. West, now almost 10 years since his first hit song (Jay-Z’s “H-to-the Izzo”), he is still slightly ahead of the curve and bringing us the “fresh”.

We all love the underdog story and Kanye is the underdog’s underdog. Therefore I argue: you sir or madam may not know it but you are more of a fan than you know. He wasn’t supposed to be heard like many of the other popular musicians with hard luck back-stories, which we see on VH1, but his story was a bit more desperate than the average…

*Video Break*

(cont’d)…initially introduced as a producer, he found himself pigeon-holed in the rap industry, but rose to fame and music success. As one of the hottest and most innovative artist in the business behind the scenes. Before long to get a hit you just need to have Kanye West in the background, and watch the money pour in. Sure, he could have cashed in and kicked back with his feet up. He could have done what so many before him did, get paid become powerful start a company and laugh all the way to the bank. But he strived for more, so he stepped front and center. Don’t let the results fool you there are many #1 producer mangled corpses strewn along the road of making the transition from behind the scenes to front stage! But, the few who survived are all legends. Dr Dre, Wu-Tang’s RZA, and Pete Rock are the few that have a number one album under their belt that they vocally performed on and produced. However Kanye West is the only one with a number one album he produced as WITHOUT performing on ( “Blueprint” Along with Just Blaze in 2001) and one which he did perform on and Produce or Co-Produce.

OK So Let’s Talk Numbers:

5 albums and 38 songs which made it to the charts as of week 10/2003. The songs spend a total of 3199 weeks on the charts, and the albums a total of 806 weeks. Through The Wire was the first song to hit the charts on week 48/2003

(Source: http://acharts.us/performer/kanye_west)

However, numbers aren’t everything in my opinion. A lot less talented artists *cough* can boast of much better sales, true. But that has less to do with what they are putting out in stores and who is putting it out for them on a whole. Which is why my case started with his impact rather than his chart performance. Let the record show: Kanye West is one of the few artists in pop music in this digital age that seemingly can craft a masterpiece from start to finish (or at least has the best shot of doing so). This fact alone speaks volumes as to why he is going to be remembered as the biggest icon of the decade. Also, I will concede my bias due to the fact that I am a strong supporter after he slighted unpopular president Bush during a telethon for Katrina victims, which I always see as fake and press ops for celebrities anyways.

And just in case you are wondering I would never end this with a cheesy line or song title from the artist’s catalog like “Kanye West Says to Critics: Can’t Tell Me Nothin” to support my thesis. Never.

Live Well,
Muses