Happy 44th birthday Kanye West!
There’s no doubt Kanye is one of the best producers and rappers in hip-hop. He’s truly dedicated to his craft!
In celebration of his birthday, check out Kanye West songs that changed the culture!
Kanye’s 2004 debut solo single, “Through The Wire,” was a groundbreaking record. Although Kanye was making a name for himself as that “go-to” producer, he was transitioning into a rapper. He proved he was made for the cutthroat music industry when he was still determined to record “Through The Wire” with his jaw wired shut due to a near-fatal car crash. The song is a sample of Chaka Khan‘s “Through The Fire.”
Kanye’s 2004 debut album, The College Dropout, is a CLASSIC! It’s composed of 21 songs, and Kanye single-handedly produced each of the songs. HS points out this shifted “hip-hop towards a more organic sound.” The College Dropout went 3x platinum and received ten Grammy nominations.
Take a listen:
On Kanye’s 2005 “Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix)” it made many rappers reevaluate their jewelry game. In the song, Kanye rapped about the illegal diamond trade in Africa, where sometimes children end up getting killed collecting “blood” diamonds. Notable lyrics from Ye,
“Over here it’s a drug trade we die from drugs/Over there they die from what we buy from drugs.”