Independent Research

Kanye Omari West better known as Yeezy in the music industry was born in Atlanta, Georgia, where he lived with his parents until he was three years old, &his parents divorced, leaving him& his mother to move to Chicago, Illinois. West attended art classes at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, and also enrolled at Chicago State University, but dropped out to focus on his music career.

Kayne West has come through many trails and tribulations from an all most fatal car crash that left him with a wired jaw to losing his momager. Yet he has still become an American musician, film director and fashion designer. However, productions saw him broadening his musical palette and expressing influences encompassing '70s R&B, baroque pop, trip hop, arena rock, folk, alternative, electronica, and classical music.

His first career productions where on Chicago rapper Grav's 1996 debut album Down to Earth. West produced 8 tracks on the album. While the album did not attract much attention, West would soon be producing for higher profile artists. In 1998–1999 he produced for well-known artists such as Jermaine Dupri, Foxy Brown, Goodie Mob, and the group Harlem World to name a few.

West got his big break in the year 2000, when he began to produce for artists on Roc-a-Fella Records. He produced the well-received Jay-Z song "This Can't Be Life" off of the album The Dynasty: Roc La Familia. West would later state that to create the beat for "This Can't Be Life", he sped up the drum beat from Dr. Dre's song "Xxplosive". After meeting great commercial success and critical acclaim for his productions on The Blueprint, West became a sought after producer in the industry. In the years 2002–2003 he would produce for artists such as Nas, Scarface, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, T.I., Ludacris, DMX, and Monica. He also continued producing for Roc-a-Fella Records artists and contribued four tracks to Jay-Z's follow up album to The Blueprint.

After great successes as a producer, West now looked to pursue a career as a rapper and solo artist, but struggled to get a record deal. Chris Anokute, at the time A&R for Def Jam, said that when West regularly dropped by the office to pick up his checks he would play demos of solo material for him in his cubicle and expressed sorrow to the fact that no one was taking him seriously as a rapper. Jay-Z admitted that Roc-A-Fella was reluctant at first to support West as a rapper, claiming that he only saw him as a producer first and foremost. Multiple record companies felt he was not as marketable as the other rappers who portrayed the "street image".

Beginning his career as a rapper, Kanye West recorded the third verse on the song "The Bounce" off of Jay-Z's The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse, an album he produced for, from the same label he later was signed to as a rapper.

West production style in the beginning often used pitched-up vocal samples, usually from soul songs, with his own drums and instruments. West has said that Wu-Tang Clan producer RZA influenced him in his style. While his use of sampling has lessened over time, West's production continues to feature distinctive and intricate string arrangements. These characteristic come from him listening to the English trip hop group Portishead, whose 1998 live album Roseland NYC Live, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra inspired him to incorporate string sections into his hip hop production. While he wasn’t able to afford live instruments for the debuet of his first album, he has since been able to hire his own eleven piece string orchestra. For a time, West stood as the sole current pop star to tour with a string section.

West is an outspoken and controversial celebrity, West frequently spoke out against homophobia in hip hop music, posed as Jesus Christ for the cover of Rolling Stone, and accused former President George W. Bush of not "caring about black people." His well groomed and flamboyant fashion sense also attracts media attention and sets West apart from other rappers. Editor Jason Birchmeier from Allmusic has written of his impact, "As his career progressed throughout the early 21st century, West shattered certain stereotypes about rappers, becoming a superstar on his own terms without adapting his appearance, his rhetoric, or his music to fit any one musical mold."

Although it was polarizing for listeners and critics, West's 2008 album 808s & Heartbreak was commercial successful and impacted hip hop stylistically, laying the groundwork for a new wave of hip hop artists who generally have nothing to do with the typical rap show-offs for intimate subject matter and deep thought, including B.o.B, Kid Cudi, Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, and Drake. Both Drake and Casey Veggies admit to being influenced directly by West.

West is not only a major influence in the music industry but is making a difference through his foundation he opened in 2003 in his hometown of Chicago, his partnership with Strong American School where they focus on helping Latino and African American children stay in school and continue education through grade school, high school, and college. He also attends fundraisers and preforms at benefit concerts.

In August 2008, West revealed plans to open ten Fatburger restaurants in the Chicago area; the first opened in September 2008 in Orland Park. The second followed in January 2009, while a third location is yet to be revealed, His company KW Foods LLC, bought the rights to the chain in Chicago. Additionally, West planned to launch his fashion career, and applied for internships with major European fashion houses. He was due to release his own clothing line called Past Tell in 2009. He also collaborated with Nike to release his own shoe line, Air Yeezys. On January 22, 2009, during Paris Fashion Week, West introduced his first shoe line designed for Louis Vuitton, the line was released in summer 2009. On October 1, 2011, Kanye West premiered his women's fashion label, DW Kanye West at Paris Fashion Week. Along with all his accomplishments he has also directed on Keeping Up On the Kardashians, videos and more.

Kayne West: Podcast 2

What's Going On Podcast

Marvin Gaye: What's Going On

1. Previous years before What's going On, Gaye felt increasingly frustrated by the lack of freedom as a artists given to him from pop-oriented Motown hit machine and it's all powerful founder Berry Gordy ( who was his brother-in-law).

2. Gaye related to the war, property and drugs because that was his reality especially the war because his younger brother Frankie was deployed over seas in the war. And when he came home and according to his brother actually seen the change and the affect it had on him he really wanted to write the song but at the same time didn't want to be negative because of the way he was brought up. Crazy how he wrote the song about those things and it has come full circle because those are the same issues of today.

3. He had obstacles from the producers to his own brother-in-law who all thought the song wasn't good enough to release. And because Gaye was tired of not being respected as an artist on top of being stubborn he told them that he wouldn't record anything until they released What's Going On. Furthermore while he waited it out he became broke and was losing everything around him including his marriage. But he stuck to his ground and in his down time went out for the Detroit Lions until they released his song.

4. Marvin Gaye did the complete opposite of what Motown normally put out. He in my opinion woke & took the music industry to an other level. They where use to the dance and love theme type of songs and Gaye came with this mellow, laid back informative music which actually had meaning in his words to go with his great music. That related to what everyone was seeing but was to afraid to speak upon.

5. I have nothing but respect for Marvin Gaye as an artist and a man because he not only stood up for his artist freedom but he also didn't seem to be affected by the money. He did it for the love of the craft and also changed the industry with his strong lyrics but at the same time mellow music in the background. Pure genius in my eyes. As a listener this is still one of my favorites and something that I grow up on and can relate to. Not only can I enjoy the music instrumentally by itself but can related to the words and can understand the world he painted with his words in the song.

Velvet Underground & Nico

1. When asked to describe Velvet Underground& Nico's music & image I would have to say that it is unique and different. The image of the group was new, stood out, and was before their time.

2. Lou Reed and John Cale where the primary writers for Velvet Underground. Cale was from wales and was a student of Goldsmiths College where he studied music. He came to NewYork in 1963 with John Cage where he interacted with numerous composers. He played the viola in the group and brought that low humming sound to the groups music and was the co-founder of the band. Reed was born in Brooklyn but grew up in Long Island and is know as the King of New York. When he was younger he received electric therapy intended to cure him of his bisexuality which later he put into a song on Kill your Sons. Reed went to Syracuse University in 1960 where he studied creative writing, film directing, and journalism.  

3. Andy Warhol was the groups main supporter and promoter because he supplied them with the space to practice and paid for most things and used his resources to get them gigs. But far as producing he did not have any hand in that.

4. I really can't characterize their music because i couldn't get into it and it was so different from what was played in that era like the Beach Boys and the Beatles. But what puzzles me is how their music is so relevant now. All I can think of is because people are more open minded now and weren't than.

5. From the industry point of view for me to be able to listen or relate to it I at least have to be able to get into from some stand point and I just couldn't. I personally received a headache after listening than anything else. And from a listener point of view I wouldn't be a listener.

Beatles: Revolver

1. Before the Revolver the Beatles only concern was whether or not a song could be reproduced live.  Revolver marked the beginning of The Beatles really experimenting in the recording studio.

2. Some of the non-musical influences on Revolver would have been the drug culture which was a major social change, the war, racial equality and women's rights. This is the time where I feel the group began to know themselves, lived and learned, and this was reflected in their music. 

3. Reversed guitar parts, experimenting with the speakers and the reverb of the studio.

4. Artificial double tracking & Leslie speaker re-routing was two innovations found on the Revolver album. The artificial double tracking was done for the harmony & because all the members provided their vocals it was easy to create when they preformed live. The Leslie speaker re-routing gave the spinning around effect to the music. 

5. Revolver is a timeless album that is still considered a great album til this day. Artist are still influenced by the music the Beatles released on Revolver. So from a listeners point of view it takes time to get use to if this isn't what your use to listening to. But once you get into it, it'll grow on you.  

The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds

1. I was asked to describe The Beach Boys music and image before Pet Sounds. I believed that The Beach Boys were more so the sound of the 60s because of their exclusive and pop sound that reached the top 40 charts more than twenty times! Their success however was overshadowed by the Beatles during the British invasion, and of course to even the score they had recorded Pet Sounds. But, before Pet Sounds, they were one of the most popular rock bands of their time that created songs through Brian Wilson's cutting edge creativity, and because of this the public really got hooked on their music. 

2. Their success largely came from Brian, for he was the founder, essential writer, arranger, and producer of the band that forwarded their music into the 60s.

3. I believe that Brian was influenced by the impacted that the Beatles had in the United States, so it pushed him to compose and write something even more alarming, Pet Sounds. Something that would place them back in the top charts and something that could compete with the Beatles.

4. Pet sounds to me explained how the where thinking and their views on the world. I also think that the arrangement of music was beyond their time with the different tricks Brian used to record their music. 

5. Pet sounds as someone listening takes time because honestly I had to listen to it like six or seven times to find some appreciation for it. But once you do it is in my opinion an album of stories of the lives, relationships, experiences and different from the regular pop music that everyone was use to. Now from a professional stand point the actual experience would have been mind-blowing and had to have been life changing.