KANYE WEST

“You got the power to let power go?”

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"A"

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Considering there are only three bands/artists rated A on this forum, my opinion is probably quite questionable, but trying to be objective, and based on the rating rules imposed by my father, Corvan, I assure you that you'll leave this introduction with a completely different opinion about the controversial figure we'll be discussing today. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the most influential figure of the 21st century, Kanye Omari West, or as he currently calls himself, Ye.

 

Born on June 8, 1977, in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in a middle-class environment, his mother, Donda West, was an English professor at Clark University in Atlanta, while his father, Ray West, was one of the first Black journalists to work for the renowned newspaper, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, during a time of transition regarding racial segregation within American culture, which, although abolished by law, remained persistent in the minds of many Americans. He was also a member of the Black Panthers, a revolutionary group with Marxist ideologies that sought to combat racism and police brutality. This fact will be relevant later, as Kanye has mentioned in interviews how his father never remained silent in the face of injustice, expressing his beliefs by speaking out.

 

When Kanye turned three, his parents divorced. Although he maintained a positive relationship with his father, Donda had custody and became the most important figure in young Kanye's life. According to his mother, Kanye began showing artistic talent from a young age, writing short poems, but developing a deep interest in painting. After the divorce, Kanye and his mother moved to Chicago, although at age ten they moved to China for a year after his mother got a job at Nanjing University. He spent most of his youth in Chicago. However, the neighborhood where they lived was not something Kanye was used to. Finding himself in a completely different environment from the comfort of his middle-class life, he was now in a low-income, predominantly Black neighborhood. During this time, Kanye encountered his first rap influences, having spent his entire life listening to "Soul" with his mother. Motivated, Kanye sought to break into rap at a very young age. Through his mother's connections (who supported all his crazy ideas), he got one of his songs heard by a well-known producer. Although it wasn't very good, the producer saw potential in it, offering advice and inspiring Kanye to take music more seriously.

 

In 1996, he gained admission to the American Academy of Art in Chicago, but feeling that painting didn't fully express his thoughts, he left the Academy to enroll at Chicago State University (where his mother taught) to study English, believing it would benefit his artistic career. However, Kanye never managed to adapt to university life, finally at the age of 20, he dropped out of his studies to dedicate himself fully to music, although disappointing his mother, since she always wanted Kanye to graduate so that he could have a better life.

The College Dropout. The beginning of his career and his rise to fame, but still with his feet on the ground.

 

After dropping out of college, Kanye climbed the ladder in the world of music production, appearing in the production credits of numerous rappers of the time, gaining renown, and eventually catching the attention of Jay-Z. Yes, that Jay-Z. It's important to understand the cultural and socioeconomic context in which Kanye found himself. During the 80s and 90s, the rap industry focused primarily on what we already know: crime, sex, drugs, parties, the stereotype of the wealthy Black man who could make you disappear with a phone call. With major figures like 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, and of course, Jay-Z. Giant figures who, even if they aren't fans of the genre, know a song or two, and who perpetuate the aforementioned stereotype.

 

The industry was flooded with this type of music; it had been for over 10 years. However, Kanye didn't identify with that lifestyle; in fact, it disgusted him. For this reason, although he tried to break into the music industry multiple times as a producer, Roc A Fella Records wouldn't allow it. Since he was a middle-class kid trying to break away from the established norms, they couldn't risk failure. Against all odds, and because of his reputation as an excellent producer and hitmaker for other artists, Jay-Z contacted him, looking to give his music a fresh sound in an industry that was slowly growing tired of traditional rap. Even though the album these two geniuses created wasn't released until September 11, 2001, it received positive reviews from the media, with its samples in "Soul" breaking the mold of what had been heard for years. That's right, Kanye combined the "Soul" records of the '60s and '70s that he listened to with his mother with rap, selling over 427,000 copies in its first week, even amidst the aftermath of the bombings, proving that using old songs as beats and breaking with the stereotype of traditional rap could also be commercially successful.

 

Even after this, the record label and Jay-Z himself didn't see Kanye as anything more than a producer for successful artists (despite the fact that he saved Jay-Z's career), incapable of being a rapper who could sell records. On October 23, 2002, frustrated and exhausted from work, Kanye fell asleep at the wheel, resulting in a serious crash that broke his jaw in three places. Kanye underwent emergency surgery, reconstructing his jaw with a metal plate and wires to hold it together. This was the event that spurred Kanye to leave everything behind for his dream, and even with his jaw held together by wires and struggling to speak, he recorded the song “Through the Wire,” which recounted his accident and his quest to risk everything to do what he loves. Featuring a sample of Chaka Khan’s “Through the Fire” and real photographs of the accident and surgery, “Through the Wire” resonated with the right audience, prompting Roc Fella to give the hopeful Kanye a chance.

On February 10, 2004, the album "The College Dropout" debuted, and we'll dedicate a separate section to reviewing each song. In short, the album deals with themes of family, materialism, racism, and, of course, college and its inconsistencies, and, as a novelty, religion. I didn't mention it before, but Kanye comes from a Christian family that regularly attended church on Sundays, which greatly influenced his character.

 

At the time, it was extremely rare to see mainstream religious songs, much less in a genre like rap, which, although linked to religion by American culture, proclaims everything but Christian values. "Jesus Walks" reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the entire album peaked at #2 on the US Billboard 200, selling 441,000 copies in its first week of release. His FIRST album was already a commercial success, but not only that, it finally shut Roc, Fella, and Jay-Z up, and established a new tradition in the music industry: sampling old songs. Kanye started a trend that even reached Mexican rap and hip hop, but we'll talk about that in another review. From this album, I want to highlight the short skits that last just over a minute, but I find them incredibly interesting and they add a lot to the satire that emanates from this album, and they make especially sense in these times when having a university degree no longer guarantees you a job.

 

You keep it going man, you keep those books rolling

You pick up those books you're going to read

And don't remember, and you roll man

You get that associate's degree, okay

Then you get your bachelor's, then you get your master's

Then you get your master's masters

Then you get your doctorate

You go man, and then when everybody says quit

You show them those degrees man

When everybody says, "hey, you're not working

"You're not making any money"

You say, "look at my degrees and you look at my life

Yeah, I'm 52, so what?"

Hate all you want

But I'm smart, I'm so smart, and I'm in school

These guys are out here, huh

Making money all these ways, and I'm spending mine to be smart

Do you know why?

Because when I die, buddy

You know what's gonna keep me warm?

That's right, those degrees

 

 

He also talks about nepotism, the false The American Dream illusion we're sold about graduating and landing a miserable job where we're just another number and our happiness is determined by our productivity.

 

I don't want to go into too much detail about each album because each one will have its own section, but if you don't like the genre, I recommend at least listening to the three skits; they summarize the album pretty well.

For this album, Kanye won two Grammys, one for Best Song with "Jesus Walks" and another for Best Rap Album, although he was nominated for 10 other awards. In 2005, thanks to the media attention he received from the album, he was invited to participate in the Live Aid benefit concert for the African American population, where he took advantage of having a microphone to make comments such as, "HIV was a government creation to attack the African American population" comparing it to how the government distributed crack cocaine to dismantle insurgent movements like the Black Panthers, of which his father was a member. This was the first of many situations where the media had to think for more than two seconds before giving Kanye West the floor, because, as you can see, he never held back. That same year, following the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Kanye was invited to a Telethon benefit program, and once again, he used the opportunity to assert that "George Bush doesn't care about Black people" criticizing the American government's handling of poverty and discrimination.

 

On August 30th, "Late Registration," the sequel to "The College Dropout," was released, and once again, it was a success, garnering 8 nominations and 3 awards: Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song ("Diamonds from Sierra Leone"), and Best Rap Solo Performance ("Gold Digger"). Another detail: he wore the same bear suit he used for "The College Dropout" cover, which became his signature.

 

On September 11, 2007, he released what is, in my opinion, one of his best albums, "Graduation," thus completing the trilogy about college. I won't go into too much detail, but this marks the peak of his career and, simultaneously, the decline of his personal life. Songs like "Flashing Lights" demonstrate this; it's one of the most famous of his career and, paradoxically, a critique of the consumerist lifestyle, harassment, pressure, and arrogance that came with fame. The song's percussion consists of the sounds of cameras, pressing the button, flashes, and paparazzi. Up until now, Kanye had tried to use his media impact to say what he considered true, but from this point on, I would say, fame catches up with him. That feeling of power and superiority suffocates him, even if he was against that lifestyle at the beginning. That's one of the rules of power: it corrupts, no matter how mentally strong you are.

 

 

With "Graduation," Kanye won his third consecutive Grammy for Best Rap Album of the Year, but more importantly, it marked the end of the rivalry between Kanye and 50 Cent, who had declared that if "Graduation" outsold "Curtis" (both released on the same day), he would finally retire. Kanye won by a wide margin, ending the already waning reign of gangster rap and ushering in something more pop and commercial. He also decided to stop including "filler" tracks (like the Skits I loved so much) to give the album a different vibe, showcasing a bit of musical maturity. Kanye brought back the symbolic bear from his previous two albums, now making it an icon, and the cover art was designed and illustrated by renowned contemporary Japanese artist Takashi Murakami—a work of art and possibly one of the few things I'd get tattooed.

From what I've told you, you might think his father was his biggest influence when it came to speaking his mind to the world, but that would be misrepresenting the facts. His mother was the most present in his life, and it was she who gave him the confidence to speak his mind. In a recording where she speaks with Kanye, we see her say, verbatim, “The most important thing is to dedicate yourself to something you truly enjoy. I was thinking about something I wanted to tell you, Kanye, that I think is important. With all this, you know you're very confident in yourself, and that makes you seem somewhat arrogant, even though you're humble. But it's important to remember that the giant looks in the mirror and sees nothing”. Downcast, Donda proceeds to tell him that, despite this, he is “Perfect,” and apparently, these last words are what stuck with him most from that conversation. Kanye was deeply dependent on his mother, who supported his music career, even though she disagreed with his dropping out of college. In turn, Kanye was all Donda had, resulting in a mutual dependence that, coupled with media attention and fame, eventually exploded. On November 10, 2007, at the age of 58, Donda West died from complications following plastic surgery. After her son achieved fame and success, she feared she no longer looked good enough, pressured by the media. Despite being rejected by multiple doctors due to her heart condition, she decided to undergo liposuction and breast augmentation, but her body couldn't withstand the procedures.

 

This marked the beginning of Kanye's mental decline. On November 24, 2008, "808s & Heartbreak," her fourth album, was released. With it, she once again broke with her established style, abandoning the upbeat sounds and catchy samples of Graduation to give rap a more emotional, somber, sad, and slower feel, with excessive use of autotune to convey how broken she felt. This album served as a distraction, a way to avoid carrying the guilt that, if it weren't for him paying for her surgeries and pushing her into that life of fame, she would still be alive. Due to her various problems, Kanye ended her long-term relationship, falling into a deep depression, anxiety, and paranoia, which would become relevant later. Furthermore, this album spurred a movement of artists who used rap and hip hop with colder themes, as well as the use of autotune to give the songs a different meaning.

 

For two years, Kanye seriously dedicated himself to fashion, but it seems to me that, aside from creating massive debts for him afterward, it didn't have much impact. Well, a little, yes; at the time he sold hundreds of thousands of his garments, but his music career backs him up. I don't find his clothing attractive, especially considering everything involved, from production costs to market prices. Kanye is extremely creative, but he insisted too much on the fashion industry when he was a musical genius.

 

On September 13th, another altercation occurred. During the MTV Video Music Awards, he starred in an extremely unpleasant and unnecessary moment. While Taylor Swift was receiving an award for Best Female Video, Kanye took the microphone and, verbatim, said: “Hey, Taylor, I'm so happy for you! I'll let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time!” He belittled the award of a 19-year-old Taylor and created a rivalry that only he believed in. I'm a Kanye fan, but here we can see erratic and senseless behavior. We'll analyze it further as other incidents occur in his personal life. Because of this event, the media condemns him, the public hates him, and Lady Gaga cancels a previously planned tour with him.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. His rise to become the greatest rapper in history and his mental decline.

After all the controversy surrounding it, Kanye moved to Hawaii, cutting himself off from the rest of the world. He improvised a studio and decided to create the greatest work of art the world had ever seen, firmly believing that even if everyone hated him, they wouldn't be able to help but love him for his music. Working 12-hour days without stopping, and bringing in old acquaintances like Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Frank Ocean, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, and dozens of others involved in the production, Kanye's most maximalist work was born, the peak of his career, his most revolutionary album: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

 

I can't say it's my favorite; personally, I prefer "Graduation," "Yeezus," or "The College Dropout." But I can affirm that this album is, from start to finish, perfect. According to the Latin American website “Rockprogresivo.com,” under the title “The Album of the Decade,” we're not exaggerating. Their introduction states: “Ten years as a musical benchmark, double platinum sales, dominating the Billboard charts for 119 weeks, featuring collaborations with nearly 30 artists, and dominating Spotify with 1.7 billion streams are just some of the records that underscore the importance of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in the entertainment industry.” Even Elton John weighed in, praising Kanye's work, and even Paul McCartney said he was genuinely envious of this album. Forgive me if I get a little carried away; it's hard to describe how well-produced this album is. For the fifth consecutive time, Kanye wins Best Rap Album of the Year.

 

On August 8, 2011, Kanye released his sixth album with his "older brother," Jay-Z. I won't lie, it's not my favorite. In fact, of all his Kanye albums before he became Ye, I think it's the one I like the least. But it popularized collaborative albums between stars, and although there were creative differences, it solidified the musical alliance and friendship that Kanye and Jay-Z shared. From its gold mosaic cover and extravagant title to the maximalist production that followed "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," this album seems like a direct plunge into fame and power. If Kanye already felt like the most important person in the world after "Late Registration," with this album and the success of the previous one, there was no doubt: fame went to his head. However, "No Church in the Wild" (the opening track of the album) strikes me as one of the best songs of his entire career. Then there's "Niggas in Paris," which became one of his most famous songs. Interestingly, during the massive tour for this album, he performed it 11 times consecutively in Paris, and the crowd never tired of singing along. At another concert, also in Paris, he performed it 12 times in a row. It might not be my favorite, but it certainly made an impact.

 

In 2012, he began his relationship with Kim Kardashian. To be honest, I had a different perspective on her because of the media, but after what happened over the next 10 years, I can say that Kim was a victim who put up with Kanye for far too long, and that, contrary to what many believe, there was genuine love between them. His relationship with Kim brought them a great deal of media exposure, affecting Kanye's mental health and the pressure that comes with being famous. That same year, Kim revealed to him that she was pregnant, although revelations years later suggest that Kanye was unfaithful to her initially, and that when Kim called him to tell him the pregnancy news, he thought she was telling him he had contracted HIV, causing him to have a nervous breakdown. On June 15, 2013, their first daughter, North West, was born. There were complications because Kim was diagnosed with placenta accreta, which could cause severe bleeding. Despite everything, North West was born healthy, and thankfully, the couple had considered abortion.

Three days later, on June 18, 2013, “Yeezus” was released. Ladies and gentlemen, I can say with near certainty that it's my favorite album, an album where Kanye struggles to decide whether to settle down with his newly formed family or continue down the path of excess to which he'd become addicted. It's an imposing, rebellious album, abandoning the maximalist style of his previous records. The first thing we hear is basically noise, which then transforms into sounds reminiscent of torture from 1984, but with a rhythm. With his characteristic style of soul samples, he breaks with what he had previously established as normal, and once again, he finds himself embroiled in controversy. I haven't mentioned it before, but this isn't the first time Kanye has made references to himself as a kind of god, bordering on blasphemy. Since “Late Registration,” he had already appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine wearing a crown of thorns. Later, in interviews, he said he was misunderstood and canceled by society for speaking truth to power, like Jesus Christ. So, after several years of Kanye comparing himself to Jesus, he releases an album called “Yeezus.” Wait, the third song is called “I Am A God,” very good indeed, but extremely blasphemous. I'm not going to defend it; I don't think it's a metaphor for ego and fame, I think it's THE representation of ego and fame. Aside from the blasphemies, it addresses themes that I find very relevant, such as racism, the new slavery of consumerism, and a beautiful song about what we were talking about earlier, “Bound 2,” one of my favorite songs, where he doesn't know whether to settle down with Kim or continue his life of luxury, fleeting romances, alcohol, and parties. If in “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” with the song “POWER,” Kanye wondered if he had the power to let go of power, I think that, although he asks himself the question again in this song, the answer was no.

 

 

On May 24, 2014, in one of the most lavish weddings and most expensive celebrations of the time, Kim and Kanye married. On December 5, 2015, Saint West was born; however, Kim experienced complications again, and she was advised against having another child, as her life would be at risk. With these events, Kanye remained increasingly exposed to the media, displaying frequent mental breakdowns and nervous breakdowns in public, still in a limbo between his celebrity life and his family life. Being married and having two children didn't seem to guarantee stability.

 

On February 14, 2016, "The Life of Pablo," his eighth album, was released, one that reflects an attempt to reconnect with God, as Kanye felt increasingly distant from Him. The album is chaotic, a back-and-forth between feeling close to God and living in luxury. He no longer feels like a god; he feels human, but a lost human. Mixing gospel, soul, trap, and rap, and featuring collaborations with renowned artists like Kendrick Lamar and Otis Jackson Jr., it wasn't his best album. Polarized by critics but generally well-received, it revealed Kanye increasingly decadent, and, as the key word, bipolar. The album's impact grew with the announcement of a promotional tour, but this is where the problems began again. Kanye once again referenced Taylor Swift with a song recounting how "I made that bitch famous," as well as a music video featuring a wax sculpture of several celebrities sleeping naked, including Taylor and Kanye. Taylor claimed she hadn't consented to any of this, but leaks showed that she had, and for the first time, Kanye emerged victorious in the media. Second, Kanye underwent liposuction for the tour, as he had gained weight. Doctors prescribed opioids to alleviate the pain, but they soon proved counterproductive. While Kanye was performing one of the tour concerts, he received a call that Kim had been robbed at gunpoint, with valuables worth 200 million pesos stolen. He left in the middle of the show to visit his wife, and they ended up avoiding the media as much as possible, hiding valuables. Kanye, physically and mentally exhausted, drugged and addicted to opioids, paranoid about his surroundings and the industry, collapsed.

During one of his concerts, where he arrived an hour and a half late, he performed only three songs. As is his wont, he took the microphone and told the world what he considered to be the truth. He claimed that radio lies to the public, that Facebook lies, Google lies, and in a paranoid outburst, he called Jay-Z, begging him not to have him killed, claiming he knew Jay-Z had hitmen after him, and pleading with him to talk things out face to face. Then he called Mark Zuckerberg again, telling him he had lied to them, that he himself was drowning in debt, and that Zuckerberg hadn't called him. Kanye continued to ramble, spouting nonsense, and was eventually diagnosed with a psychotic episode and bipolar I disorder. He was sedated and hospitalized.

 

I wish I could say things were getting better, but they weren't. He hangs out with Trump, tweets nonsensical things, and in an interview claims that, although his visit with Trump was due to opioids and other mental drugs, he has quit them and feels freer than ever, implying that he stopped taking his bipolar medication. He has a live psychotic episode, claiming that the history of Black slavery is manipulated by the media and that "400 years of slavery sounds like an election." It's worth noting that he didn't publicly disclose his bipolar diagnosis at the time, so everyone thought he was just being silly.

 

On January 15, 2018, Chicago West is born via surrogacy. Despite this, Kanye is in a very bad place mentally, so he isolates himself far from civilization to work on his next album, Ye.

 

The album cover features a photo taken with his cell phone and the phrase "I hate being bipolar, it's awesome." Without a doubt, this is his most personal album, with only seven songs, two of which are among my favorites (Ghost Town and Violent Crimes). It's a slow, melancholic, blue, and rather simple album, yet deeply moving. At the same time, he helped produce albums for other artists and created a collaborative album with Kid Cudi that I personally quite like. "Kids See Ghosts" wasn't a hit, but in my opinion, it's very high quality, and the artist Takashi Murakami, who had done the cover art for "Graduation," returned with a beautiful surrealist painting for this album.

 

Kanye once again tries to return to God, but this time without doubt; he accepts and embraces Him as his only salvation from his bipolar episodes. On May 19th, his fourth child, Psalm West, was born, and on October 25th, he released his twelfth album, "Jesus Is King." It's not a bad album; in fact, "God Is" is incredibly famous and a very good song. Kanye moves away from controversial lyrics and synthesizers to use a totally religious vibe, using gospel, choirs and organs in his productions.

Ye.

Ladies and gentlemen, I regret to inform you that from this point forward, Kanye no longer exists, and “JESUS ​​IS KING” was the last we ever had of him. Ye tries to run for president, has public bipolar episodes, constantly humiliates himself, and reveals things about his relationship with Kim that we shouldn't know. Kim finally files for divorce, and his clothing line collapses after he disparages the “Black Lives Matter” movement by wearing a shirt that says “White Lives Matter.” He also distances himself from artists like Jay-Z, who was like a big brother to him since the beginning of his career, and increasingly withdraws from the industry.

 

In 2021, he releases his thirteenth album, “Donda,” dedicated to his mother and a cry for help to the world, as he feels utterly lost. He abandons his family, loses custody of his four children, and moves into a stadium room. The album isn't his best; it's not good at all, and it begins a decline of terrible albums that only demonstrate Ye's mental instability. From here on out, I'll stop focusing on each one individually, because they're not worth it. In 2024, he released Vultures 1, and that same year, Vultures 2. Last year, in 2025, he released DONDA 2, and a few days ago, BULLY. I haven't had time to listen to the latter all the way through; it has a few good tracks that had been leaked beforehand, but Kanye is dead.

 

Have you seen Moonknight? How the protagonist has sleep problems, and when he's in his superhero form, he's asleep, and when he returns to normal, he wakes up as if from a dream, without knowing what his Egyptian god form did? That's kind of like Kanye and Ye. Ye constantly tweets inappropriate things, with episodes of neo-Nazi bipolarity, anti-Semitic comments that, even though we're anti-Israel here, we're not anti-Jewish, mind you. Then Kanye appears to apologize, but it's simply not the same anymore. Fame and his personal problems consumed him a long time ago, until this was reflected in his mental health. Kim and her family tried their best, but you can never force someone to take their medication, and Kanye would rather be dead than do it, until he finally passed away. A few months ago, he gave a concert here in Mexico; apparently, everything went well and there were no incidents. Perhaps Ye stabilizes sometimes, but that creative Kanye with so much love to give is gone, and sometimes I wonder if he died alongside Donda. Rest in peace, Kanye.

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By Risp

May/08/2026
 

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