Kanye West - Artist of the Decade

MoyVilla9

Here's a blog I came across. I have to say I agree with the writer.

http://teacherofhiphop.blogspot.com/2009/12/kanye-west-artist-of-decade.html

Yes, his ego is annoying and his fashion style is extremely questionable but what matters most in the music industry? The Music obviously, and Kanye has proven himself by dropping four extremely strong and at all time original albums.

speedboatchase

MoyVilla9 wrote: »

Here's a blog I came across. I have to say I agree with the writer.

http://teacherofhiphop.blogspot.com/2009/12/kanye-west-artist-of-decade.html

Yes, his ego is annoying and his fashion style is extremely questionable but what matters most in the music industry? The Music obviously, and Kanye has proven himself by dropping four extremely strong and at all time original albums.

Definitely. Hard to love but still a genius

ghostface ste

MoyVilla9 wrote: »

Here's a blog I came across. I have to say I agree with the writer.

http://teacherofhiphop.blogspot.com/2009/12/kanye-west-artist-of-decade.html

Yes, his ego is annoying and his fashion style is extremely questionable but what matters most in the music industry? The Music obviously, and Kanye has proven himself by dropping four extremely strong and at all time original albums.

I was actually going to go with the big LOL on this but decided to read the article. Decent enough read apart from the 'no homo' comments and then some rant about wearing skinny jeans was a sign of 'homos' in hip hop or some other ****.

He argues Kanye is the best rapper of the decade - not in a million years (or 10 as the case may be). I would be more inclined to agree on what he says in relation to his production and the influence that has had. He also make a point that Kanye brought back single producer albums to hip hop??? I'm pretty sure thats rubbish. Some of the article makes some valid points but i can't come to the conclusion the writer does. Ranted a bit there...

horsebox09

Good read, he probably is overall the best hip hop artist of the decade, I still think that Madlib was the producer of the last decade though, hip hop or otherwise :cool:

Looking forward to Kanye's new album, he dropped some nice verses last year

BLITZ_Molloy

Best producer of the decade? I think I could give him that one.

But he's one of the worst popular rappers of the decade. Can't sit through an entire album of his irritating nasal delivery. Can we really nominate him as hip hop artist of the decade when his first, arguably best, album was probably largely ghostwritten?

Boom_Bap

i've only started to read this and noticed inaccuracies.

The year was 2000 and Roc-A-Fella Records was reaching its peak. Jay-Z was riding out the success of “Vol. 3” and readying “The Dynasty” when the Roc’s beast Beanie Sigel released his first album, “The Truth”. Setting off the album was a title track that saw the Broad Street Bully putting to rest any questions of his ability to career himself in the game. The beat was raw, grimy, and sounded like it was straight out of the streets of Philly. The man behind the boards was Kanye West, a young producer who had done little more than a few Harlem World tracks.....

What about back in 96 when he first got his production credits on Grav's Down To Earth album, and album he also rapped on? Oh yeah, and if you havnet heard that album, go get it as it's dope, not for Kanye, but for Grav, brilliant MC and story teller who mysteriously disappeared after that album.

Or else what about his work with J Dupri, Foxy Brown and Goodie Mob a few years later?

I appreciate that it's an artist of the decade write up, but if the writer is going to mention his start, he should go back to the start.


Also the whole thing about 1 producer albums is nonsense, this has never stopped.

Decent enough read apart from the 'no homo' comments

This is just a new wave of PC in the USA at the moment and has caught on as slang, i wouldnt read much into it.

But, the writer does have valid points for putting Kanye forth as artist of the decade. Who else has done what he has done or could compare.

But my problem is that this is just another write up that looks at the hip hop spotlight and doesnt care to dig any deeper.

HalloweenJack

I loved his first three but 808s was atrocious, only about three or four good songs on it.

As a producer, he's gifted and he's done some really great stuff, not just on his own stuff but, like that blogger said, This Way by Dilated Peoples and Guess Who's Back by Scarface. He also did some pretty good stuff for Cam'Ron on Come Home With Me and for Jay-Z on the Black Album.

As a rapper, he's always had a child-like side to him, which never really went away. Also, I'm of the opinion that if skits are ****, they shouldn't be on an album. Kanye's guilty of that.

Also, 808s is atrocious. I can't forgive him for it and it definitely tarnishes any claim that he's the complete hip-hop artist of the decade. He'd be up there for producer of the decade (though, I'd go for the Neptunes).

Underground

HalloweenJack wrote: »

but 808s was atrocious,

was gonna say that myself,shocking album.even saying that there was three or four good songs on it is being a bit generous in my opinion.his previous three were excellent though.

FearDark

Yo MoyVilla9, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time.

Boom_Bap

Underground wrote: »

HalloweenJack wrote: »

but 808s was atrocious,

was gonna say that myself,shocking album.even saying that there was three or four good songs on it is being a bit generous in my opinion.his previous three were excellent though.

808's is brilliant, hated it at first, then hated it some more, then realised the genius of it.

all the stars

I loved it when he said his track ' Stronger' was one of the best tracks he ever did.

ummmmm, wasn't that daft punk? Wasn't that in fact a very successful tracks for them long before he heard it?
Sorry, there are others more deserving. Not as commercial, but more deserving.

ghostface ste

Boom_Bap wrote: »

i've only started to read this and noticed inaccuracies.

What about back in 96 when he first got his production credits on Grav's Down To Earth album, and album he also rapped on? Oh yeah, and if you havnet heard that album, go get it as it's dope, not for Kanye, but for Grav, brilliant MC and story teller who mysteriously disappeared after that album.

This is just a new wave of PC in the USA at the moment and has caught on as slang, i wouldnt read much into it.

Ah yeah i no what the 'no homo' thing is it just pisses me of a lot. Didn't hear of the Grav album, will have to check that out. Interesting to see how kanye's production has developed since then.

Also, maybe i am going mad but i seem to remember reading the sleeves of albums (those were the days...) and kanye was always refered to as 'Kayne' because no-one could get his name right... maybe i am going mad:o

Makaveli

all the stars wrote: »

I loved it when he said his track ' Stronger' was one of the best tracks he ever did.

ummmmm, wasn't that daft punk? Wasn't that in fact a very successful tracks for them long before he heard it?
Sorry, there are others more deserving. Not as commercial, but more deserving.

It's not like it's actually Daft Punk's song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3AKrwna2C8

speedboatchase

Makaveli wrote: »

It's not like it's actually Daft Punk's song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3AKrwna2C8

Woah, great find

K-Ren

There would have been no 808s and Heartbreak without Andre 3000. I think he freed a lot of minds as to what hip-hop artists could do.

floggg

I tried to read this with an open mind, but after reading through the article, i'm sticking to my original reaction which was no way, no how. Don't get me wrong, i like Kanye, and college dropout was a classic. But the best, no way!

I think the author really overstates Kanye's impact on on many aspects of hip-hop from the start.

First of all, going back to the turn of the decade, Kanye's impact on restarting the soul trend is not accurate. If any man deserves credit its Jay-z with the blueprint. It was Jay who picked two relatively obscure producers in Just Blaze and Kanye to craft the Blueprint. Any plaudits Kanye had at that time should be shared with Just Blaze, who was producing on a par with Kanye at that time. Indeed, if i recall, Just had more work on the Dynasty album which was also relatively soulfull.

As for production, Kanye is not the best of the last few years. Neptunes and Timbaland have had just as much impact, started as much trends and crafted more hits.

As for bringing back the one producer one album trend, thats horseradish. It was 9th Wonder who started that trend with his albums with Murs and Buckshot. Moreover, while Kanye did produce the bulk of Be, Dilla also did at least one beat on there.

With being original, not so. True, he was the first of these polo wearing mainstream hipster rappers, which is certainly a trend he can claim to have started. But he has previously admitted to being influenced by Phonte's raps, he admits to biting drums from other producers (pete rock, dre), and as for this auto tune thing, he blatantly stole that from T-Pain. Heck, even lil wayne was doing it before him.

His raps are often rather good, but never that phenomenal, but has confident and passionate delivery makes them seem that bit better. And i don't think he has been killing anybody on tracks, certainly not anybody better than Jeezy and co. I've never really heard of him been mentioned as the being at the top of the spitters leauges.

The one thing he has on everybody is being, if not the best, the most successful producer rapper of all time (although dre has probably sold more with just two albums, but at least Kanye writes his own raps). But thats more of a case of being a (very good) jack of all trades, master of none!

horsebox09

floggg wrote: »

I tried to read this with an open mind, but after reading through the article, i'm sticking to my original reaction which was no way, no how. Don't get me wrong, i like Kanye, and college dropout was a classic. But the best, no way!

I think the author really overstates Kanye's impact on on many aspects of hip-hop from the start.

First of all, going back to the turn of the decade, Kanye's impact on restarting the soul trend is not accurate. If any man deserves credit its Jay-z with the blueprint. It was Jay who picked two relatively obscure producers in Just Blaze and Kanye to craft the Blueprint. Any plaudits Kanye had at that time should be shared with Just Blaze, who was producing on a par with Kanye at that time. Indeed, if i recall, Just had more work on the Dynasty album which was also relatively soulfull.

As for production, Kanye is not the best of the last few years. Neptunes and Timbaland have had just as much impact, started as much trends and crafted more hits.

As for bringing back the one producer one album trend, thats horseradish. It was 9th Wonder who started that trend with his albums with Murs and Buckshot. Moreover, while Kanye did produce the bulk of Be, Dilla also did at least one beat on there.

With being original, not so. True, he was the first of these polo wearing mainstream hipster rappers, which is certainly a trend he can claim to have started. But he has previously admitted to being influenced by Phonte's raps, he admits to biting drums from other producers (pete rock, dre), and as for this auto tune thing, he blatantly stole that from T-Pain. Heck, even lil wayne was doing it before him.

His raps are often rather good, but never that phenomenal, but has confident and passionate delivery makes them seem that bit better. And i don't think he has been killing anybody on tracks, certainly not anybody better than Jeezy and co. I've never really heard of him been mentioned as the being at the top of the spitters leauges.

The one thing he has on everybody is being, if not the best, the most successful producer rapper of all time (although dre has probably sold more with just two albums, but at least Kanye writes his own raps). But thats more of a case of being a (very good) jack of all trades, master of none!

I agree with alot of the points you make, but when you think of it, what hip hop artist would you say has been better than Kanye over the last decade?

I mean he hasn't just produced classics, but he's also wrote classic albums aswell.

Timbaland doesn't come close to comparing to Kanye imo, ''hola hovito'' is probably his best beat and it one of the worst on the Blueprint! Timbo had a big impact on Rn'B but not hip hop.

Jay Z doesn't deserve credit for Kanye's impact on hip hop, the beats Kanye made for Blueprint where originally made for Ghostface, but because Jay is head of Def Jam ( the label Ghostface was signed to ) he choose those beats for his own album. The point i'm making is with or without Jay Z, Kanye's beats would have been heard, but imo the Blueprint without Kanye would not have got anywhere near the praise it did.

It's not only Kanye's impact on hip hop that I think he deserves praise for, its his overall impact on music.
He's universally acclaimed and any ''best of'' list of albums from the last decade that I've read all have at least 2 Kanye albums on them.

''His raps are often rather good, but never that phenomenal'' how many other producers can you say that about? RZA is the only one that comes to my mind. He outclassed Jay on ''Never Let You Down'' in my opinion.

Of course Kanye is original, easily the most original artist in mainstream hip hop, he's changed his style on every album!
His chipmunk style he started off with was influenced by RZA, but West brought it to a totally different level. Then he switched it up on his sophmore album, making some of the most cinematic beats of the genre.
Ive never heard beats like the ones on Graduation before 'Ye released that album, and 808s is an electro-pop album that I don't think any hip hop artist would have had the balls to make.
4 different albums, 4 different styles, thats originality.

He may have been influenced by others, but who hasn't?? He certainly didn't bite them.

Its all well and good saying that Kanye is nowhere near being the best hip hop artist of the '00s, but as I said, can you seriously name anyone better?? A genius producer who wrote some of the most acclaimed albums of the last 10 years in hip hop, unbelievable achievment.

floggg

horsebox09 wrote: »

I agree with alot of the points you make, but when you think of it, what hip hop artist would you say has been better than Kanye over the last decade?

I mean he hasn't just produced classics, but he's also wrote classic albums aswell.

Timbaland doesn't come close to comparing to Kanye imo, ''hola hovito'' is probably his best beat and it one of the worst on the Blueprint! Timbo had a big impact on Rn'B but not hip hop.

Jay Z doesn't deserve credit for Kanye's impact on hip hop, the beats Kanye made for Blueprint where originally made for Ghostface, but because Jay is head of Def Jam ( the label Ghostface was signed to ) he choose those beats for his own album. The point i'm making is with or without Jay Z, Kanye's beats would have been heard, but imo the Blueprint without Kanye would not have got anywhere near the praise it did.

It's not only Kanye's impact on hip hop that I think he deserves praise for, its his overall impact on music.
He's universally acclaimed and any ''best of'' list of albums from the last decade that I've read all have at least 2 Kanye albums on them.

''His raps are often rather good, but never that phenomenal'' how many other producers can you say that about? RZA is the only one that comes to my mind. He outclassed Jay on ''Never Let You Down'' in my opinion.

Of course Kanye is original, easily the most original artist in mainstream hip hop, he's changed his style on every album!
His chipmunk style he started off with was influenced by RZA, but West brought it to a totally different level. Then he switched it up on his sophmore album, making some of the most cinematic beats of the genre.
Ive never heard beats like the ones on Graduation before 'Ye released that album, and 808s is an electro-pop album that I don't think any hip hop artist would have had the balls to make.
4 different albums, 4 different styles, thats originality.

He may have been influenced by others, but who hasn't?? He certainly didn't bite them.

Its all well and good saying that Kanye is nowhere near being the best hip hop artist of the '00s, but as I said, can you seriously name anyone better?? A genius producer who wrote some of the most acclaimed albums of the last 10 years in hip hop, unbelievable achievment.

Again, i'm not saying he's not a good artist, (i've liked most of what he's done) i just don't think he deserves the title of Hip-hop artist of the decade.

Number of comments to make on your post. First off, in terms of timbo's contribution, i will admit that in the last few years his output has been mainly pop, but in the first half of the decade, Timbaland, along with the neptunes, ruled the hip-hop charts. If commercial impact is what Kanye is being measured by, then Timbo is well up there too. But by no means am i saying he should be hip-hop artist of the decade either (not least of all because he can't rap for ****)!

As for the blueprint, i think you're seriously overstating Kanye's impact. For a start, he only had 4 tracks on there (although three of them were great). I think that ultimately Jay-z has to take credit for the direction of that album and the soul sound. he wanted to make a record based on the songs his parents listened to growing up and all the producers involved worked within that general framework he laid down. He worked with a number of producers, so it can't be a coincidence that they all came with a common sound.

Secondly, if you listen to last call on collee drop out, Kanye says himself that he was to nervous to comment on anything or critque in any way when working on the blueprint/dynasty. jay and dame picked the beats they wanted and did their thing. jay commented recently how different working on BP3 was because now Kanye had an opinion, whereas the first go round he was just happy to be in the same room as Jay-z!

And it was the blueprint, not kanye that started the soul trend. Kanye had a couple of tracks out before that but it didn't start any revolutions (he did if i ruled the world didn't he?). people didn't necessarily want the kanye sound, they wanted the blueprint sound (as confirmed again by kanye again on last call - "give me a beat that sound like jay-z"). that blueprint sound opened doors for kanye, and he exploited that brilliantly.

As for Kanye making those beats for ghost, again not sure. Going back to last call once more, he said he made Heart of the City for DMX, not ghost. But even if he did make the rest for ghost, Jay didn't "steal them". At that time (2001), jay hadn't yet become president carter (and wouldn't do so until after retiring two albums later) and ghost hadn't gone to def jam (he only did so for the pretty toney lp, circa 2004/2005).

Also, as for the soul sound being all Kanye, thats also false. as i said, just blaze was just as important as kanye at that time, and 9th wonder was also putting out some stellar soul work (which IMO was superior to kanye) at that time which although not as mainstream ultimately had a big influence (most trends start underground and then blow up)! I think just blaze actually shaded it in production work in the early part of the decade and had more diversity (react, breathe, u don't know, oh boy, the champ, touch the sky, public service announcement etc).

As for his recent work, while his raps have improved, i'm not sure if he has done any significant production work since finding forever with common. i loved college drop out, but i think each albums has gotten progressively worse, and at that, the production work on graduation was heavily shared with other workers. i always thought that any producer going for outside help is kind of admitting defeat. graduation was good, but not outstanding, and i haven't really listened to it since its initial release. even the "genius" of sampling daft punk was done better before hand by swizz beats on the touch it beat.

And as for 808s and heartbreak, i don;t get way that is being brought up as an argument for him being HIP-HOP artist of the decade. its a pure pop, auto-tune piece of garbage. even if it sounds catchy, i can;t respect it for using auto-tune. if he wanted to go the singing route, i'd respect him for trying something different,but the autotune is a cop out. in the words of phonte (on 808s):

“I honestly thought it was an act of cowardice,” continued Phonte. “I think if you’re gonna make the creative leap to sing, then really sing. Let your voice come out, and let people hear all the eccentricities and all the little idiosyncrasies in your voice. That’s what makes you uniquely you…Imagine if Aretha Franklin used Auto-Tune on ‘Respect.’”

At best, even if you like it, it can't be called hip-hop, so it can't be used to support his candidacy for hip-hop artist of the decade.

As for who is the hip-hop artist of the decade, can you really look past Jay-z? His influence on Hip-hop is unparalleled in the modern age, his longevity, his consistency. who else could make being 40 and rapping acceptable? he's had more number one albums that anybody else in rap (or mainstream music for that matter). he started the careers of the likes of kanye, just blaze, beanie, and arguably the likes of jeezy, rihanna etc at def jam. nobody else has been at the top for so long. he's the only rapper to ever manage to reach the (undeserved) pedestals on which biggie and 2pac sit. his achievement in becoming president of def jam is unmatched in any genre. he revived the soul sound. he was in the biggest battle of the decase (maybe the biggest battle ever), and in my book one it (notwithstanding the hot97 poll which pitted a freestyle against an album track). he's one of the best lyricsts, has maybe the best flow, incredible versatility. the only thing that can be said against him is that he doesn't produce. so what? rakim didn't. krs doesn't. its not essential.

heck, if production is a preequisite, then there is only a handful of artists on contention which would be silly. its best hip-hop, not most versatile.

Anyway, even if it was, i'd argue eminem would shade him anyway - very good producer, far superior rapper, far more successful, more impact.

horsebox09

floggg wrote: »

Again, i'm not saying he's not a good artist, (i've liked most of what he's done) i just don't think he deserves the title of Hip-hop artist of the decade.

Number of comments to make on your post. First off, in terms of timbo's contribution, i will admit that in the last few years his output has been mainly pop, but in the first half of the decade, Timbaland, along with the neptunes, ruled the hip-hop charts. If commercial impact is what Kanye is being measured by, then Timbo is well up there too. But by no means am i saying he should be hip-hop artist of the decade either (not least of all because he can't rap for ****)!

As for the blueprint, i think you're seriously overstating Kanye's impact. For a start, he only had 4 tracks on there (although three of them were great). I think that ultimately Jay-z has to take credit for the direction of that album and the soul sound. he wanted to make a record based on the songs his parents listened to growing up and all the producers involved worked within that general framework he laid down. He worked with a number of producers, so it can't be a coincidence that they all came with a common sound.

Secondly, if you listen to last call on collee drop out, Kanye says himself that he was to nervous to comment on anything or critque in any way when working on the blueprint/dynasty. jay and dame picked the beats they wanted and did their thing. jay commented recently how different working on BP3 was because now Kanye had an opinion, whereas the first go round he was just happy to be in the same room as Jay-z!

And it was the blueprint, not kanye that started the soul trend. Kanye had a couple of tracks out before that but it didn't start any revolutions (he did if i ruled the world didn't he?). people didn't necessarily want the kanye sound, they wanted the blueprint sound (as confirmed again by kanye again on last call - "give me a beat that sound like jay-z"). that blueprint sound opened doors for kanye, and he exploited that brilliantly.

As for Kanye making those beats for ghost, again not sure. Going back to last call once more, he said he made Heart of the City for DMX, not ghost. But even if he did make the rest for ghost, Jay didn't "steal them". At that time (2001), jay hadn't yet become president carter (and wouldn't do so until after retiring two albums later) and ghost hadn't gone to def jam (he only did so for the pretty toney lp, circa 2004/2005).

Also, as for the soul sound being all Kanye, thats also false. as i said, just blaze was just as important as kanye at that time, and 9th wonder was also putting out some stellar soul work (which IMO was superior to kanye) at that time which although not as mainstream ultimately had a big influence (most trends start underground and then blow up)! I think just blaze actually shaded it in production work in the early part of the decade and had more diversity (react, breathe, u don't know, oh boy, the champ, touch the sky, public service announcement etc).

As for his recent work, while his raps have improved, i'm not sure if he has done any significant production work since finding forever with common. i loved college drop out, but i think each albums has gotten progressively worse, and at that, the production work on graduation was heavily shared with other workers. i always thought that any producer going for outside help is kind of admitting defeat. graduation was good, but not outstanding, and i haven't really listened to it since its initial release. even the "genius" of sampling daft punk was done better before hand by swizz beats on the touch it beat.

And as for 808s and heartbreak, i don;t get way that is being brought up as an argument for him being HIP-HOP artist of the decade. its a pure pop, auto-tune piece of garbage. even if it sounds catchy, i can;t respect it for using auto-tune. if he wanted to go the singing route, i'd respect him for trying something different,but the autotune is a cop out. in the words of phonte (on 808s):

“I honestly thought it was an act of cowardice,” continued Phonte. “I think if you’re gonna make the creative leap to sing, then really sing. Let your voice come out, and let people hear all the eccentricities and all the little idiosyncrasies in your voice. That’s what makes you uniquely you…Imagine if Aretha Franklin used Auto-Tune on ‘Respect.’”

At best, even if you like it, it can't be called hip-hop, so it can't be used to support his candidacy for hip-hop artist of the decade.

As for who is the hip-hop artist of the decade, can you really look past Jay-z? His influence on Hip-hop is unparalleled in the modern age, his longevity, his consistency. who else could make being 40 and rapping acceptable? he's had more number one albums that anybody else in rap (or mainstream music for that matter). he started the careers of the likes of kanye, just blaze, beanie, and arguably the likes of jeezy, rihanna etc at def jam. nobody else has been at the top for so long. he's the only rapper to ever manage to reach the (undeserved) pedestals on which biggie and 2pac sit. his achievement in becoming president of def jam is unmatched in any genre. he revived the soul sound. he was in the biggest battle of the decase (maybe the biggest battle ever), and in my book one it (notwithstanding the hot97 poll which pitted a freestyle against an album track). he's one of the best lyricsts, has maybe the best flow, incredible versatility. the only thing that can be said against him is that he doesn't produce. so what? rakim didn't. krs doesn't. its not essential.

heck, if production is a preequisite, then there is only a handful of artists on contention which would be silly. its best hip-hop, not most versatile.

Anyway, even if it was, i'd argue eminem would shade him anyway - very good producer, far superior rapper, far more successful, more impact.

Again, another good from post from yourself, but outside of the odd Jay Z track what else has Timbo produced ( excuse the ignorance, but Im not too up to scrach on his output ) 'Ye produced Izzo, Heart of The City, Never Change, Girlsx3 remix, Momma Loves Me and Takeover, thats almost half the of the Blueprint!

Yes Kanye was definetly out to impress Jay when he was coming up, he's a hero to 'Ye, but again without Jigga, Wests beats would have been heard, but I seriously do not think the Blueprint would have been acclaimed as it was without Ye on their, 6 beats is high output on an album that had 5/6 producers.

The Blueprint did ignite the soul trend back into hip hop, but it was Kanyes intuition, not Jays that saw that happen. Jay picked readily made Kanye beats for that album, hell Kanye didn't know they'd be going to Jay! No Jay didn't steal those beats, they where made for other artists that where signed to his label, Hov knew they were special so he took them for himself. The Trackmasters produced ''If I Ruked The World, but Kanye did have beats on an album in the late 90's.

In regards to 9th wonder, thr first full album he produced was what, The Listening, in '03, they wern't soul beats their laid back backpack/jazz beats, which imo where perfected better by Dilla, and of course Pete Rock

Just Blaze was/is a good produced but if your calling U dont Know, Breathe and Touch the Sky soul music well then I dont know what to say, their pure hip hop beats, straight loops with a typical drum pattern.

Yes I can look past Jay as artist of the decade, why? Because his albums in this decade have mostly been acclaimed because of the production, Kingdom Come, Blueprint 3, and Blueprint 2, for the most part are trash from an emceeing point of view, but production wise there tight which is why they sold. If your looking for another rapper in his 40's that is releasing good music , look no further than Masta Ace. Jigga released no album in his 40's, but his latest album is arguably his worst ( the Akicia Keys hook was the hightlight of the Blueprintx3 ).

Yes Jay has brought hip hop to unsought heights, and I have infinite respect for him for doing that, but imo at least, it was his prodution that carried him on his albums for the most part this decade. Back in the day he was skilled, but nowadays what is he doing different for the other garbage on the radio? Em had the 2 best verses on a Jigga allbum this decade ( you could say ever ), and they were 2 recycled verses, Jay even admitted on the Black Album to dumbing down his music to sell records.

You see Phonte can say that 808s was an act of cowardice, but I say it was an artist making an album that he wanted to make, not giving a f*ck about what the backlash would be. I know 808s wasn't a hiphop album, but that adds furhter to my point, it was a hiphop artist excelling in another genre, thats what creativity means-going outside your comfort zone..... he used autotune because he cant sing, but he felt that he needed to do it because it was the only way he could release the emotions that he was going through at the time. and if you listen to that album in a similar frame of mind to how it was made, loss of a parent and his girl, you should be able to appreciate it

I now its an article about best hip hp artist, but Kanye has been acclaimed for both his production and writing skills, who else has? Nobody. and again I dont agree that Kanye is the best producer of the decade ( Madlib ) or the best rapper ( Decean the Villain, Em ) but overall its hard to argue against it.

magma69

In wouldn't have Kanye West in my top twenty of the decade to be honest. His beats are mediocre and his rapping is less than average imo. I don't know if I could pick one artist of the decade but here are a two I would include:

J Dilla - Arguably one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. A heavyweight in the sub-genre of smooth, jazz influenced beats. This decade he gave us classics like Common's "Like Water For Chocolate", JayLib's "Champions Sound" and his own top quality album "Donuts". All this amongst laying down beats for almost every rapper worth knowing. His contribution to hip hop has been immense.

MF Doom - As good at rapping as he is producing. His talent is astounding. His style of rapping is completely unique and a joy to listen to (and subsequently try to figure out!) Whether as King Geedorah, Victor Vaughn, Danger Doom, Madvillain, Doom or Metal Fingers, MF Dooms music has always been of a decent quality with some masterpieces thrown in for good measure. Notable albums include: The Mouse and The Mask, Madvillainy, Operation Doomsday and MMM Food.

floggg

On the blueprint, Kanye did Takeover, Never Change, Heart of the City, and Izzo. Bink did Mama loves Me and Just did Girls Girls Girls (and i'm not gonna count that hidden track about girls girls girls, there's a reason its not on the tracklisting).

While Kanye may have made tracks with others in mind, he couldn't even get into the same room as them at the time, never mind give them beats. He managed to get a shot with the roc because he was signed to a management deal with a roc a fella A&R named "Hip-Hop", same way Just Blaze was.

As for Jay having bad albums this decade - the blueprint and the black album are two of the best hip-hop albums ever, and american gangster is pretty great too. kingdom come has some great songs on there, lyrically and production wise, but then obviously some others didn't really hit. Blueprint 2 has some gems, but i will otherwise agree is pretty poor. As for Blueprint 3, once i heard the direction it was taking and the people he was working with i was fairly disappointed myself and vowed to avoid it. But i eventually gave it a listen a few weeks ago, and i have to see it is a pretty good album (although i will give Kanye most of the credit for that one - that is clearly Kanye as the dominant influence).

Em might have had the better verse on renegade but it was only by a whisper. don't think it was best verse on blueprint though, jay rips takeover! and best verse on a jay-z album ever? c'mon, have you heard reasonable doubt or the black album? a passionate delivery does not the best verse make!

Finally, **** 808s and heartbreaks. Seriously. We all know he can produce rnb, so if the beats were that good, give them to brandy or somebody. but this bull**** of auto-tuning when you can't sing? i won't lie, i haven't listened to the whole album and never will. you talk about him being emotion, but real singers channel their emotions through the vulnerabilities and imperfections in their voice, not some robotic inflection.

plenty of rappers have done emotional verses through rap. emotion comes through in the passion, the sincerity and intensity in the voice, not by pushing a certain button combination. if he had came and dropped an album where he actually sung, i would have respected it even if i didn't like it. Phonte dropped a new foreign exchange album recently where he sang the whole thing. didn't buy it, and haven't ever heard it, but i respect him for pushing his boundaries and trying something new. don't think its my cup of tea, but it doesn't diminish my opinion of him, it probably heightens my respect.

Kanye dropped a gimmick album that jumped all over t-pains nutsack, trying for mass appeal with teeny boppers and to keep up with what the "kids" are into these days. there is no artisitic integrity in that. now he's even getting soulja boy to work on his new album.

horsebox09

Sorry about that post above man, I was drunk last night, and for the most part I don't know what kind of sh!t I was spewing in that post!

I do agree with Jay being artist of the decade, for the reasons you stated, ie. the longevity ( almost released an album every year in the 00's ) but I do think that Blueprint 1, the Black Album and American Gangster are the only albums he released in the last 10 years that are solid front to back ( those albums aren’t half bad though :pac: ) which is why I can agree with this article picking Kanye instead, he's being consistent in what he does from 01-09.

'Ye said himself that he felt the only way he could release his emotion when he dropped 808s was through singing, he can't sing so he used autotune, their his own words, you can call it jumping on T-Pain's nutsack, but it was an album that he made for himself, not his fans

Just out of interest, where would you rate Kanye in terms of the being best hiphop artist of the last decade?

Makaveli

Just so you know changing the colour of the text in your post can cause clashes with the different themes. You posted in black so it's invisible to all of us using the Cloud theme.

floggg

horsebox09 wrote: »

Sorry about that post above man, I was drunk last night, and for the most part I don't know what kind of sh!t I was spewing in that post!

I do agree with Jay being artist of the decade, for the reasons you stated, ie. the longevity ( almost released an album every year in the 00's ) but I do think that Blueprint 1, the Black Album and American Gangster are the only albums he released in the last 10 years that are solid front to back ( those albums aren’t half bad though :pac: ) which is why I can agree with this article picking Kanye instead, he's being consistent in what he does from 01-09.

Ye said himself that he felt the only way he could release his emotion when he dropped 808s was through singing, he can't sing so he used autotune, their his own words, you can call it jumping on T-Pain's nutsack, but it was an album that he made for himself, not his fans
Just out of interest, where would you rate Kanye in terms of the being best hiphop artist of the last decade?

Don't know to be honest. Not something i have given too much thought to before, but don't think he'd be one of the first to spring to mind in my book to be honest.

I'd def have Nas up there ahead of him anyway - ever he's put out some quality stuff and i love how he's tackling different concept/subjects with each album these days, rather than just putting out music.

I think there are plenty of people out there who have put out better work over the last decade, who maybe just haven't been as visible or controversial as Kanye, and thus don't get the recognition, or maybe haven't produced (or produced commercial hits) so haven't been as prolific, but i would still put their body of work ahead of his.