Is Kanye Overrated

Kanye Omari West, also known as Ye, is a famous American musician hailing from Chicago. He’s known for being an iconic staple in the hip-hop and rap music industry. Ye, however, is not without controversy. Although he can be viewed differently because of his ideologies, this is not what I am focussed on. Instead, I want to talk about his musical career, to see whether his musical fame is warranted or overrated

Being a young aspiring artist living in poverty, Ye wanted to take his family out of the hood, so he started producing beats for local rappers. He did this throughout the 90s. He became a ghostwriter and producer working for smaller artists until one day he worked with Jay-Z. He did much work on Jay-Z’s 2001 album “The Blue Print.” Ye is commonly credited with the revival of Jay-Z’s career and the success of the album. 

Ye was also known for being a great lyricist. Before rapping, Ye was a regular at local poetry shows. Some of his hit songs like “Gold Digger” and “All Falls Downs” were originally written as poems for these shows. 

Ye was inspired to write his music by his environment. His father was a former Black Panther and abandoned Ye and his mother when he was three years old. Ye would go on to write about problems in his community like the struggle for money, drug problems with the youth and the violent cycle of crime that was very common in Chicago at the time. 

Ye’s first three albums are a part of his “Education” trilogy. These albums are “College Drop Out,” released in 2004, “Late Registration,” released in 2005 and “Graduation,” released in 2007. These albums hold some of his most iconic songs and, in my opinion, his best work. Ye’s lyricism peaked on these three records. 

A good example is “Diamonds From Sierra Leone,” which talks about the slave labor that went into the mining of stones for jewelry. In the song, Ye criticizes the lust for chains and diamonds that a lot of people look for in rap culture. 

Ye had some insane works of talent on his first few albums. The song “Through The Wire” is a prime example of this. Before recording this song in 2002, Ye had been in a car crash and he had to have his jaw wired shut for six weeks. This did not stop him, though. Even through “The Wire” he still performed and recorded the song for his debut album, “College Dropout.”

 His early music also feels very poetic in structure and rhyme scheme. Songs like “Family Business” and “Heard ‘em Say” really depict the struggles of growing up in poverty and the battle to escape and make it big in music. A lot of Kanye’s earlier music was more poetic than his more recent stuff. Ye’s passion in his early records is really commendable. 

Sadly, this burning passion would eventually dwindle. I feel like the more he got into the Hollywood millionaire lifestyle, the more the quality of his music dropped. I am not saying that all his newer music is bad, but it just feels like the majority of his newer songs are lifeless and lack soul. Instead of speaking about real events he has experienced in life through the use of witty lyricism, he raps about drugs, sex, and his insane political beliefs. 

I think that the worst case of this is his  two most recent albums, “Vultures 1” and “Vultures 2.” This duo project is the most soulless piece he has ever made. The majority of the project feels rushed and unfinished and the few hits he does have are very surface level and are really only seen as party music. The poetic feel-good nature of his old music has devolved into vulgar songs about nothing.

It is intriguing to see all the different views that people have on Kanye. In my opinion, Ye has made objectively good music. His production, flow, and lyricism were very impressive, but I see why people dislike his new music. It is sad to see people defend his new music because it really is just subpar.  I think that Kanye is not overrated with the majority of his music. After listening to his discography, almost every album has at least two or three amazing tracks that deserve all the glory that they get.