Unless you’ve been underneath a rock, yourself, along with the rest of us have been exposed to Kanye West’s music and antics. The Grammy-winning rap artist has been in the news lately for his recent tweets and announcement about his 53-million-dollar debt.
This generation is very familiar with Kanye West, but is he truly the greatest artist of all time?
Before you make a decision, let’s analyze Mr. West and his works. To date, he has won 92 awards and 21 of those awards are Grammys. All of his albums are platinum (excluding “The Life of Pablo”) and he continues to sell out arenas globally.
In total, West has sold 21 million albums, has 106 singles and 89 music videos. These accomplishments required more than hard work. Kanye started off as a producer making massive hits for Jay-Z such as, “Izzo (H.O.V.A),” “Takeover,” and “Heart of the City.” West has also worked with various artists such as Beyoncé, Alicia Keys and Ludacris.
Kanye produces his own records and a majority have gone number one on the Billboard charts. Some popular records include “Through the Wire,” “Jesus Walks,” “Gold Digger,” “Stronger,” “N****s in Paris,” and the list continues. Despite his creativity and contributions to both hip-hop and the music industry, he has stirred up controversy in the media.
West’s antics have made him a target for remarks such as “narcissistic,” “crazy,” “immature,” and a “jack***.” Some say Kanye did this to himself, as his antics are well documented in the media.
In 2005, on a live airing for a Red Cross fundraising event West told the nation, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” This unexpected comment shocked the network and the guests on the live broadcast. West’s comments were supported by many and he was very unapologetic about it.
A year later at the MTV European Music Awards, he lost “Best Video” and interrupted the artist that won on stage stating, “If I don’t win, the award show loses credibility.” Kanye later apologized to the artists that won.
This was not the last of West’s award show interruptions. In 2009, he took the mic from Taylor Swift and told the world, “I’m sorry, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time.” The media and the public immediately reacted making him public enemy number one as he stole the moment from “America’s sweetheart.”
Even Kanye’s interviews have become just as famous as him. During the promotion of his album “Yeezus” he came to the Sway in the Morning show and argued with the radio host shouting, “You ain’t got the answers, man; you ain’t got the answers” and “How, Sway?”
Through all of this, Kanye still impacts the youth and speaks from his heart. He is not afraid to go outside of the norm and speak about racial injustices, political issues and the rights of artists. All in all, the decision is up to the people to decide if his artistry overpowers his personal actions.