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Kanye West: The Crowned King of Hip Hop
It's no wonder that Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella records didn't skip a beat to release the Kanye West record, and Jay-Z even guest starred on some on the tracks, as well as did Mos Def, Ludacris, and Talib Kweli. All this world-class effort paid off, of course, with "The College Dropout" going triple platinum (and probably still selling hot). What else would we expect from Kanye West? Well, don't forget, it's pretty amazing considering this was his first record.
Some of the top Kanye West songs off the record include "Through the Wire," which supposedly Kanye West got inspiration for from being in a terrible car accident that nearly killed him. Another song, "Jesus Walks," is perhaps one of the top performers off the album and a Kanye West classic.
Not Late to His Own Success
The next Kanye West album came right on the heels of "The College Dropout." In a mere year later, in 2005, the still fabulous and ultra-famous star released "Late Registration." It only built on the acclaim and success he earned the year earlier. In the first week alone, "Late Registration" sold 860,000 copies supposedly. Later that year, Kanye West would earn himself eight Grammy nominations for the album. Again, he had a triple platinum success on his hands.
Again, if you listen to Kanye West on this record, he isn't alone. He brought in some of the top talent in the business to guest star on his record, including again Jay-Z and Common, as well as Jamie Foxx, Cam, The Game, and Brandy. Talk about friends, right?
You still can't get away from such Kanye West songs as "Gold Digger" and "My Way Home," which are both mainstays on pop and hip hop radio. Around this time, Kanye West also got into heavy producing, doing work with Common and The Game and a couple of their singles. And he even set up his own line of clothing, called Pastelle Clothing. All of this he followed up with the third Kanye West record, "Graduation."
Touch the Controversy
For all of the success that Kanye West has had in his short but hot career, he has had his fair share of controversy as well (as any good rapper should of course). Which controversies are we talking about here? Any and all of them. How about the one involving Mike Meyers (aka Austin Powers) during a benefit concert for Katrina victims? That's when Kanye West got on stage and without warning said, "George Bush doesn't care about black people." Wow, talk about a firestorm!
Or how about the sad incident involving his mother when she died during a cosmetic surgery operation on Nov. 10, 2007. That was less a controversy as a tragedy of course. But somehow the story wrapped Kanye West in with Oprah Winfrey and Larry King,
Other controversies include when famed stuntman Evel Knievel sued Kanye West for using his likeness in the video for "Touch the Sky," when Kanye West portrays a stuntman about to jump over a gorge despite the hot protestations of Pamela Anderson. Or how he stormed the stage during the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards when said "Touch the Sky" didn't win?
Like Kanye West lyrics and songs, though, and I guess you have to put up with all this as well!
