The Popularity Of The College Dropout

State of Mind,” released in 1994, details the violent and perilous environment of the city of New York. Although it was recorded more than ten years after the release of Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message,” the records essentially highlight the same topic. This reveals to his audience that the social injustices and situations of those living in disadvantaged neighborhoods in New York have not changed since. Nas’s record was featured in his popular album Illmatic, which “brilliantly blurred the lines between fiction and documentary, creating a heightened sense of realism and visceral eloquence” (Dyson and Daulatzai 2). Nas is able to construct a record that displays an accurate depiction of life in a ghetto neighborhood. He even says in his song, “I think of crime when I’m in a New York state of mind.” Thus, he is associating New York City with crime, revealing a social injustice. “Through the Illmatic album, Nas performs the most critical function of the public intellectual: linking a rigorous engagement with the life of the mind to an equally rigorous engagement with the public and its problems” (Dyson and Daulatzai 98). Through songs such as “N.Y. State of Mind,” Nas is attempting to communicate to his audience the struggles of certain racial groups, chiefly African Americans, living in the impoverished areas of New York City. The two records are making the point that these cities in New York need to be transformed from a place of fear and violence to

Kanye West produced the popular song “All Falls Down” in 2004. He is well known for creating many wonderful tunes but this one stands out above the rest. While his other songs contain bass-heavy instrumentals and contain lyrics about money and women, this one is strays away from the previous structures. “All Falls Down” catches the attention of youth, with its mellow melody, to send a strong message concerning the overemphasis on money and education and how it can be harmful through the lyrics. The issues contained in the message are highly focused on the idea that money and education will not always be there

In what Sincerity Looks Like, an opinion piece, author David Brooks of The New York Times tears apart Chance the Rappers New Untitled Song released on The Late show with Stephen Colbert in order to highlight chances intended “displays of vulnerability, trust and humility.”Brooks in an candid tone, uses Literal detail and Inductive reasoning in order to analizes chance’s song to a modernized and socal yet disconnected audience of city dwellers Further he notes the similarities between Chance and Swift’s recent releases addressing the recurring themes of the “perils of stardom” and “coping with celebrity.”He uses these themes to speak to a disconnected audience hoping to achieve instant success stressing that it is not as great as they think.

He speaks with such emphasis when delivering these raps, leaving no doubt as to the purpose or meaning of his lyrics. Throughout both verses, Mos Def pulls no punches while speaking about pertinent issues in modern urban society. Things such as drug use, police behavior, and government spending are critiqued with an almost confrontational vocal tone, as if his experiences and opinions have formed and anger about the current direction our society is headed in. Mos Def’s rapping about socioeconomic problems are very controversial, because some people have not been exposed to the things that he raps about and thus may not understand (Perry). However, he raps them so confidently and with such stress that no one can deny how strongly he feels about the subject matter. Similar to the beat of “Mathematics”, Mos Def’s lyrics also bring about a sense of conflict. His flow is certainly not structured perfectly- as the pace speeds up and his words become more serious and pronounced as the song progresses. This was done intentionally to give the piece its harsh tone and send a clear challenge to its listeners- to stop sending society in the wrong

Using tone, DJ KRS communicates that hip-hop artists often create music just to make money, but those who write and stay true to their experiences and real lives will earn respect in their communities and in the music industry. In one section, he writes, “The way some rap is kind of wack/and it lacks creativity and intelligence/ but they don’t care cause the company is sellin’ it” (Parker). Here, DJ KRS takes on

Thinking back to the early part of Cole's career, Jay-Z shined a bright light on him and gave him high praises. Is it weird to say that it wasn't until this album where I understood exactly why? Two messages you get from this album are symbols of materialism and self-indulgence. Currently, hip-hop is probably seeing it's biggest financial success ever, but the quality and song-writing may be the price the genre has paid for that success.

In 2004, College Dropout was the album that brought the combative soul producer from Chicago into the hip hop conversation. It sold 2.6 million copies and won a Grammy for Best Rap Album. On Ye’s classic, he addressed his personal struggles of insecurity, conforming to social norms, spirituality, materialism, consumerism, family and personal relationships, near-death experiences, and his rags to riches story. “All Falls Down” was one of Kanye’s early masterpieces, a time when his vulgarity, goofiness, soul, and intelligence came together to create a mesmerizing four minute story. Originally debuted at the Def Jam Poetry Slam as a spoken word, you could hear the sincerity, soul, and

And a bottle full of lean and a model on a scheme, yup These days of frustration keep y'all on tucking rotation”. In those lines Kendrick Lamar was talking about riots in the hood, gun violence, also selling drugs in those few line Kendrick Lamar talked about many of the struggles in the hood. Nothing negative was said by the media it was just positive things being said.

In the year 2002 Kanye Omari West, previously known for his contributions to the hip hop genre as a producer, creating instrumentals for such acts as JayZ, Mos Def, Talib Kweli and more, released his first studio single just a few weeks after a nearly fatal car crash. His jaw had to be wired shut for that period of time and despite that Kanye still recorded the whole track with a fractured jaw. I think this incident gives us an insight into what and of an artist Mr West truly is. One that is passionate about his craft, one that is not afraid to push creative boundaries, and it shows throughout all his projects. When it comes to cover art, themes, production and lyrics on his albums Kanye gave his audience and critics the best piece that he could make. So in this essay i would like to deconstruct Kanye West's work and discuss the innovations that he's brought to the rap genre throughout his career as an artist.

Whether it’s is fiercely ordering “damn croissants” in a French restaurant to satisfy his godly hunger or casually conversing with Jesus and responding with “Shit I’m chilling, trying to stack these millions,” Kanye West endeavors to challenge corrupt corporate power and openly address racism in his sixth solo album Yeezus. Similar to his five previous albums, Kanye’s production on Yeezus is nothing less than progressive and eclectic. The ideation of Yeezus is deeply introspective, unconventionally creative, and darkly filled with subversive messages. Regardless of people’s opinion about Yeezus, whether loving or hating it, every aspect from beat production to lyricism has a consequential purpose. With careful and impartial attention to detail

In light of his previous antics, many theorized that Kanye’s career would be remembered more for his troubled persona than his characteristic talents – in many ways, that fear became a reality. Arguably, the reason my parents know Kanye West exists is not due to his creative output — I’m positive my dad could not name a single song from “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” — but because he’s a controversial figure and married to Kim Kardashian. The image that instantly comes to mind when West’s name enters the conversation is not of the soul-sampling producer, but the rambunctious tabloid icon. In the eyes of some fans, these ramblings — coupled with Kanye’s endorsement of President Trump — deprive the musician of any credibility and call his entire discography into question.

In this story I meet my hero Kanye West, I also learn an invaluable lesson about reading and literacy. But more importantly I met Kanye West. The year was 2011, I was 15 and I absolutely hated reading. Summer after summer I would begrudgingly read my schools assigned summer reading books or figure out a way I could not read the books and still complete my assignments. The summer before my sophomore year of high school was looking no different. With two weeks left before school started I hadn’t even logged onto my schools website to check which books I was supposed to read. What I was far more excited about was saving money to see Kanye West and Jay-z when they came to Atlanta next Thursday for the first show of their Watch The Throne tour. I can still vividly remember saving my allowance when I was 11 so I could go and buy Kanye’s third studio album ‘Graduation’. It was the first album I had ever bought and to this day it is one of my prized possession. So as you can probably imagine I was pretty excited to see Yeezus walk.

In both the mainstream press (i.e., The New York Times) and publications targeting a predominately black readership (i.e., Ebony and Jet), she finds rap lauded for the salutary lessons that it imparts to black youth regarding the realities of urban living; likewise, rap artists are applauded for their importance as role models and mentors to inner-city black youth. Thus, while rap has been framed negatively, as a contributor to an array of social problems, crime and delinquency in particular, it has also been celebrated and championed as an authentic expression of cultural resistance by underdogs against racial exploitation and disadvantage. How these differing representations of rap might resonate with audience members was not part of Binder’s research mandate.2 Furthermore, while she does acknowledge that journalistic perceptions of the racial composition of the rap audience are not necessarily accurate – that more white suburban youth, even in the 1980s and 1990s, might have been consuming the music than black inner-city youth – this acknowledgment does not alter her enterprise or her argument. At this point in time, when the listening audience for rap music has both expanded and become increasingly diverse, our research concerns how young black, white and Asian rap fans in Toronto, Canada relate to a musical form still viewed primarily in terms

Lou Reed’s album review of Kanye West’s “Yeesus" album was the most fascination piece of writing that I’ve read this semester. He does an excellent job of conveying Kanye’s attempts to communicate his power of influence to his audience. Through Lou’s blunt expressions and sarcastic remarks he tells the reader that he does not take Kanye West serious. He does a great job of explaining Kanye’s contradictory lyrical makeup. He highlights Kanye’s creative genius and ability to mix elements of two opposing worlds to passively generate thoughts in his fans about his self confidence in music.

Kendrick’s song expresses the continued struggle faced by African Americans in modern society. The first couple lines of his song truly display how he feels about the mistreatment of African Americans: