Kanye West Controversy: Voice, Production, And Style

Passion Analysis Essay

When you hear the name Kanye West, you think of controversy, politics, and questionable comments online, more often than not you don't think of his influence on hip-hop for a while. Influence in music is an interesting subject. One artist is changing how music is made, but it's more than that. influence can take many forms in music. We can see the influence of voice, production, and style. For example, Drake was heavily influenced by Lil Wayne before he was big, and his production changed completely and he built his brand off of it. I first got into Hip-hop in 2018 when Kanye released Ye and Kids See Ghosts, since then I've become a massive fan of many artists and subgenres and listen to music every day. Since 2020 I've

Scott would later use this same sound and energy in his works such as the critically acclaimed albums, Rodeo, Astroworld, and Utopia. Another artist involved with Yeezus, but also not using its influence as much is Kendrick Lamar, who opened for Kanye during his Yeezus tour. Kendrick may not make music in the same subgenre as West or Scott, but he is very productive in his own right. For example, he’s performed at the Superbowl Halftime show and is the only non-jazz or classical winner of the esteemed Pulitzer Prize for his legendary album DAMN. During this time Kanye reconnected with his hometown of Chicago and helped underground rapper, Chief Keef become a hit-maker which eventually inspired much of modern-day gangster rap such as King Von, Lil Durk, Polo G, and Tee Grizley. In 2016, Kanye released his 8th studio album, titled The Life of Pablo, with “Pablo” referring to Kanye’s nickname Saint Pablo. This album was trending towards a mix of Gospel and Hip-hop which we will see again later. We know the gospel influence in tracks such as “Father Stretch My Hands” and “Ultralight Beam”. Ultralight Beam also features up-and-coming Chicago-based artist, Chance the Rapper. This would be the first of many hits in

It was prevalent during the first episode of Kanye’s documentary “Jeen-Yuhs”. Over time, he lost that connection to his faith and fell into the dark and twisted world of Hollywood. In 2019, still struggling with BP, he attempted to reconnect with his roots and started work on an album titled “Yandhi” which is an amalgamation of Ye (Kanye’s New legal name) and Ghandi. Over time more information came out about the album and eventually, a release date was announced as September 29, but as the date rolled around nothing came out and Ye responded with a tweet saying, “Can’t finish the album, be in the studio.” For a while there were no updates on the whereabouts of the album or Ye for that matter until one day when he renounced his new album under a new title, Jesus is King. Jesus is King would come out soon after and would receive mixed reviews. Like Ye’s prior album The Life of Pablo, the album was a gospel/rap album but this time leaning more towards Gospel. With tracks such as God is, Closed on Sunday, and Selah. During the Pandemic, Ye teased a new album titled after his mother, and with that, the idea of Donda came into existence. The lead-up to the album was somewhat memorable with listening parties