Kanye West

Quite frankly these days I don't blame anyone who refuses to listen to him due to his antics and public persona, but I still firmly hold the belief that this guy is a savant with an immense musical gift (that comes at the great expense of almost all other traits). He is a Bowie-like figure in his genre, a real chameleonic artist where no two records truly sound alike, and almost all of them (at least before his brain truly seems to have broken in the past few years) are supreme works of art. And besides, while it may be a toxic belief, some of the most compelling artists were not very great human beings (Prince, Chuck Berry, John Lennon, Morrissey, etc.).

I contend that his first 7 solo albums are right up there in terms of classic runs with the likes of Neil Young, the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Radiohead, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane.

To witness his drastic mental decline in the past few years is one of the greatest tragedy cases in music history alongside Presley and Winehouse.

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He is not the greatest emcee, but he may be the greatest musical figure of this century

A genius for sure. His personality and public persona have tarnished his image, but Kanye West in an excellent artist and one of the best artists of the 21st Century. Kanye alongside Kendrick Lamar and Eminem helped get me into hip hop, and he's proven to be heavily influential on modern hip hop, particularly the current trap era. He's a pretty good rapper, but he's a truly fantastic songwriter and conceptualiser. And he's released some classic albums that will stand the test of time.

Even if you don't like hip hop, I'd recommend listening to his work. He's a very interesting artist. He samples from a wide variety of influences such as funk, soul, jazz, rock, metal, punk, indie, etc. Makes for a unique listening experience in terms of rap music.

one of the few hip hoppers I can tolerate.....

Love or hate him, he's a musical genius and Hip Hop would never have been the same without him.

From Larcx13 06/22/2020 16:50 | #254164

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Absolutely one of the greatest musicians of the 21st Century, explored every range of emotions from religion to heartbreak to social injustice. His production is one of the best in the Hip Hop community and the fact that is paired with an exceptional rapper and charismatic personality makes for the BEST musician in his genre if not of modern times.

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From LoganGrube 11/08/2018 20:45 | #224148

Underappreciated because of his often horrible personality. MBDTF is definitely my pick for the best album in the history of the genre, and the College Dropout might be my choice for second best. He is to hip hop what David Bowie was to rock, due to his experimentalism and innovation.