Unraveling the Madness of Kanye West | REDUX (Extended Documentary)

ladies and gentlemen here he is the man you came to see kanye west [Music] since the day you see my souls [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i'm a child [Music] in today's musical landscape there are a few artists more polarizing than kanye west unlike most entertainers it's kanye's unparalleled boldness that simultaneously propels him to new heights while fracturing his portrayal in the media leaving little room for nuance and public perception you either love the man or hate him whether it's throwing his support behind donald trump or stealing the might from taylor swift at the amas kanye has never been hesitant to submerge himself into the forbidding monsoons of controversy leading many to question if he's really the innovative genius he so adamantly claims to be join me as we take a deep dive into the madness behind kanye west i plan i i i plan to celebrate i plan to celebrate and scream and pop champagne every chance i get cause i'm at the families baby [Applause] kanye omari west began writing poetry at just five years old moving to chicago only two years prior kanye had been raised by his mother dr donda west after filing for divorce against former black panther and evangelical counselor ray west brought up in a middle class environment kanye was quick to develop a passion for the arts particularly music writing his first ever rap song green eggs and ham by the time he was 13. now most parents would probably just write this off as childish nonsense but donda actually rented out an entire studio for her son to record his song signifying just how supportive she's always been in fact it was through donda's sheer encouragement that allowed kanye to explore his musical talents with producer no id acting as his own personal mentor walking him through the process of sampling and producing unique beats that would later become his signature eventually dropping out of college to produce songs for rappers like mace raequan and eminem getting his big break in 2000 with jay-z's critically acclaimed blueprint released on [ __ ] and hip hop my manager who definitely saved my life uh was like yo play that one beat for for whole then it came on [Music] he was listening to like oh it's crazy right here then they got to the chorus and the chorus is like ain't no love in the heart of the city he's like oh oh oh he's doing his face like that then he's like i'll play next beat play next beat i play another beat yo he took his hat down he's like i was like yo maybe you like them one of the joys for me in the music business is watching a new artist develop into their own i mean i should just bring me joy like to see artists come from nothing and then you know they know he has a name that's kanye west that's kanye where he signed an autograph he's just delivering it and the passion he got for his music i don't think he's gonna stop [Music] right now i'm chopping up the samples because the asr the reason why i use this even though it came out like in 1991 you could chop it up into 61 without wasting no memory without wasting my memory because it's the same sample yeah now this is hard it's difficult because i'm trying to link up [Music] but despite his success of working under jay-z his true passion was yet to be recognized rapping kanye was not the traditional early 2000s artist everyone was used to [Music] so naturally his rapping skills were often overlooked with hip-hop giants like 50 cent method man and noth spearheading the game kanye struggled to attain any recognition due to his soulful reputation having not come from a background of drug dealing and violence he didn't exactly fit the image these record labels were looking for getting his mixtape rejected time and time again before finally being accepted into the rockefeller family in 2002 and even then they really only wanted him for his beats i can't say we were eager to sign him people had him in a box of just being a producer i didn't pay attention to him rapping you know i didn't think that he was built to be a rapper if he was built to be a producer we just wanted some high beats at the time be honest with you he knew that kanye was the best producer and the bottom line was he wanted gonna let all them good beats get away from rockefeller though it wasn't until the night of october 23rd 2002 when kanye west life changed forever [Music] [Applause] the steering wheel hit him like in the jaw wow crack all this man and his jaw was broken in three places it would hit him in the nose he would have been dead after a late night in the booth kanye was heading back to his california hotel when he fell asleep at the wheel causing a near-fatal head-on collision barely conscious and coughing up blood kanye was taken to the same hospital where biggie smalls died having his jaw wired to his face as a part of intense reconstructive surgery they even had to break his jaw again and wire it shut twice because they did it wrong the first time he was in such poor condition that some didn't even think he would so much as speak again let alone rap he had several surgeries his face was like way way out here when i walked into that hospital room i wouldn't have even known my own son had he not said the doctors they wired his mouth shut i was like well that's it as far as rapping he was barely talking i was just thinking to myself damn i hope i hope he can still rap the same you know and deliver his lyrics the same way he used to if he would have been able to rap again i think he would have rather been dead but just two weeks after the accident that almost cost him his life kanye returned to the studio still determined to do what everyone else said he couldn't only this time he was recording his debut single through a wired jaw kanye made it clear from day one that he wasn't about to adhere to those who doubted him in fact he's always made this chief goal to go against the grain and push boundaries in new directions which in many ways is epitomized in through the wire recording a track with his mouth wired shut proved how innovative this guy was using the human voice as an instrument through the wire was a massive turning point in his career not only musically but personally kanye later spoke on the track stating this accident is god saying i'm about to hand you the world because i had a lot of good records slow jams used walks already in the pipeline so he's like i'm about to hand you the world just know at any given time i can take it away from you so always keep me first highlighting the humble beginnings of kanye's career of course this sentiment would later be flipped on its head it still illustrated his own personal feelings towards fame at the time while showcasing his musical novelty to those who didn't see him as anything more than a producer the track's initial success was enough to convince rockefeller to let kanye create his first album in the next year a turning point in the music industry that would rewrite the chorus of hip-hop now with this in mind kanye was careful not to misuse the opportunity he had been given he didn't want to be panned as another backpack rapper intending to bridge the gap between varying demographics instead his ambition mixed with pure confidence in his own skills is what drove him to the top by demanding a new level of respect among influential members of the hip-hop community which was exemplified on february 10 2004 i want you to look at this camera i have not done any drugs i've been drinking a little bit but if even if i wasn't drinking i would tell you same thing what do it take to be number one you ain't impressed as a champion found the presence of greatness family understand what i'm saying it's 960. the people came out the people have chosen people came out brought their album they loved how i can't walk down the street yeah we look down i say man i know it's great isn't it i love it too i love it too the college dropout was a massive hour-long creative project involving a myriad of well-respected artists and collaborators writing off the recent success of his elite single the album ended up selling over 440 000 copies its first week evening out at number two on billboard's top 200 an earth shattering response that would solidify kanye's place in the rap game providing an alternative to the popular gangster rap that occupied the genre kanye not only proved his talents as a rapper but broadened the overall demographic of hip-hop fans i look at every demographic like i want to get the girls the little kids the older people the uh just from the streets backpackers the authenticity of kanye's personality combined with his soulful blend of hip-hop offered a brand new sense of variety you needed to do something bold to make yourself stand out and i think we can both agree kanye has never had a problem with that jesus walks was by far one of the most memorable tracks on the entire album and still remains one of kanye's biggest hits to this day which was particularly notable because it was a hip-hop song about jesus i was there kind of early on in the process in like 2002 one of the songs he was working on was jesus walks [Music] it didn't sound soft at all because you know a lot of times you might think if a rapper is going to do a gospel record it ain't going to be that hard to the hustlers killers murderers drug dealers even the strippers he wasn't really trying to like convert you to christianity it was just saying i struggle and i'm asking for help and i was just like wow this is a special record it's pretty clear now that kanye has never strayed away from making his spiritual side known no matter how much controversy it may stir obviously i can't speak on his sincerity towards religion it isn't anyone's place to say besides his but you have to admit that his willingness to incorporate such a hot button and otherwise personal issue into his music was beyond bold or at least it was in the early 2000s for a rapper to make an entire track talking about their relationship with jesus on their debut album nonetheless was practically unheard of when i heard that song and i heard the story after the fact that he used to go to people with this song and couldn't get signed when that song came out and did so well all those ars at record companies must have been sitting thinking how the [ __ ] did we miss this how could you listen to jesus walks and not sign this kid he recognized his boundaries and pushed through them regardless of what anyone advised him to do and he made a killing in the process [Applause] so so everyone screaming back there are you used to getting this kind of reaction yet [Music] well ever since the album came out my life has changed a lot so i definitely wasn't used to getting it back when i was in college so you had to kind of imagine what it would be like but can anything really prepare you for what it's like to have your face on a cover of a magazine and and to have people react like that oh nothing could prepare you i guess if someone has sat down and mentored me or something before i came out but no one really sat me down so that's the reason why i went to a lot of interviews and i accidentally said how i really feel about stuff and i didn't know you weren't supposed to do that i actually spoke from the heart and then a lot of people say he seems kind of cocky he seems kind of arrogant because i'll be mad because so many people dissed me and then like i sold all these records so i was just like a sore winner so you know i just apologize to everybody for you know keeping it so real the college dropout would eventually go triple platinum and score kanye a total of 10 grammy nominations the grammy goes to the college dropout kanye west finally kanye had the recognition he had always strived for but the question was could he top it anytime an artist comes out of the gate with a banger of a first product whether it be an album a movie a book a crippling paranoia begins to set in after the initial success wears off leaving the artist with the fear of not living up to their previous work and being written off as just a one-hit wonder hopelessly chasing the success of their first product begging the question was it all just a fluke late registration would determine this for kanye with the breach of three levees protecting new orleans the landscape of the city has changed dramatically tragically and perhaps irreversibly there's now over 25 feet of water where there was once city streets and thriving neighborhoods i hate the way they betray us and the media we see a black family it says they're looting see a white family it says they're looking for food but in even many ways more profoundly devastating is the lasting damage to the survivor's will to rebuild george bush doesn't care about black people hurricane katrina was one of the largest storms to ravage florida and louisiana during the mid-2000s devastating countless lives and racking up over 100 billion dollars in damages in an effort to raise money for the cause a handful of celebrities put on the concert for hurricane relief which was broadcast live to over 8 million people on september 5th 2005 which is where kanye west accused the president of being a [ __ ] racist about a week after the storm hit nbc aired a telethon yes asking for help for the victims of katrina we had celebrities coming in to ask for money and i remember it vividly because i hosted it and at one part of the evening i introduced kanye west were you watching no remember what he said yes i do call me a racist kanye's little off script moment ended up garnering mass media attention and although his popularity was already pretty vibrant at the time this single moment encapsulated one of kanye's most defining traits which is just his unwavering boldness it's one thing to say you know i don't appreciate the way he's handled his business it's another thing to say this man is a racist i resent it it's not true and it's one of the most disgusting moments of my presidency keep in mind this was during a major crisis so at the time it was pretty unusual to see someone of his status going directly against the president with such gallantry it's not that he didn't care in fact it was the exact opposite this was a man who saw an injustice happening specifically within communities he cared a lot about there were definitely consequences but he wasn't thinking about those he was thinking about the people who were being screwed over by the powers of the using his platform as he saw fits kanye has always wanted his voice heard and what better way to do that than by challenging the leader of the free world during a life charity event i would say to can we be quiet for a second um kanye's social awareness gained him a lot of respect at that time which was convenient because late registration happened to drop not even a week prior now what y'all finna hear is an update on what we've been on as of late congratulations this is your late registration many regard late registration as the perfect sequel to the college dropout being filled to the brim with more soulful captivating tracks that took the rap game by storm all of kanye's previous discography worked because it stood out for most everything else that was being released back then in terms of how uniquely innovative it was kanye realized this and strived to create the ideal sophomore album that would contain even more tracks destined to become instant classics kanye was determined to become a trendsetter he wanted the entire hip-hop industry to follow in his footsteps and he'll be damned if he didn't accomplish just that and this is the soundtrack this is the type of music that you make when you round that crack music music music late registration had all the great qualities of the college dropout and more the features the sampling kanye signature chipmunk soul production all went in to produce the ultimate album that was sure to keep kanye's name in the spotlight only this time the messaging was more boisterous than ever with diamonds from sierra leone comparing kanye's recent obsession with jewels and riches to the tribulations of those mining the gym in west africa he's connecting his newfound celebrity status to the horrific reality of sierra leone's illegal diamond trade it's the type of social commentary that people admired him for oh i mean it i mean it man that's [ __ ] great yeah everything was so powerful man i know you you got shivers right at the start just with the sample before before the drums came in all the just the subject matter of sierra leone and how powerful that whole thing is and and and the blood diamonds and then just the way just lyrically everything it was good and jay-z came in and just [ __ ] boom then you had songs like crack music that aims to shed light on america's harrowing cocaine epidemic kanye underlines the detrimental effects of the war on drugs while comparing substance addiction to that of hip-hop this song parallels the addition of crack in america to the addition of hip-hop in america he's making these cds seem like crap like put that cd on your tongue yeah that's pure you know people used to taste that's crazy but merrill lynch is the investment bank but merrell lynched that's fire as always his main focus was to speak from the heart it's not that he wants people to like him per se it's that he wants to be heard and evidently he's fine with pissing people off in the process mr president your thoughts on kanye west running for president one day huh your thoughts on kanye west running for president of course one of the more standout tracks on late registration had to have been hey mama [Music] as mentioned earlier dondo was one of the driving forces that allowed kanye to break into music in the first place so he was sure that his overwhelming gratitude did not go unnoticed by dedicating an entire track to his own mother it's already a bit unorthodox to devote a song to one person directly most musicians don't name the individual they're referring to in their songs but kanye actually went out of his way to aggrandize the one who's always been there for him through thick and thin well it's a song i wrote for my mother back in 2000 it's one of my favorite songs and i saved it for the opportunity to be on the open show and perform it for what's up singing the world premiere of hey mama kanye west i one of the beautiful things about the track is that he was able to show what she truly meant to him while he still had the opportunity he demonstrated his admiration up until the final days of her life and to me that's love i wanna scream so loud for you cause i'm so proud of you and uh let me tell you what i'm about to do mama kanye west absolutely has a stigma to his name but despite all of the many controversies surrounding his persona i think there really is a more human element to be found the deeper you go like a box of chocolates my mama told me go to school get your doctorate something to fall back on you could profit with but still supported me when i did the opposite over the next couple years kanye would go on tour opening for u2 and the rolling stones providing him with an up-close and personal look into the life of actual rock stars it was at this point in time that he began planning his third studio album only this time kanye had a new goal in mind stadiums college dropout in late registration made kanye a celebrity but it was graduation that elevated kanye west to rockstar status by altering both the instrumental and lyrical elements of his music kanye proved his significance once again to the music industry with an album that would both withstand the test of time and modify the future of hip-hop in a grander scheme replacing the live brass band of his last two albums with synthesizers creating a deeper more electric sound compared to the more orchestral feel he was previously known for opening the door for fresh new sounds tones and of course samples according to producer a track he and kanye were on a tour bus in 2006 when a peculiar song came over the radio touch it by busta rhymes not recognizing the sound kanye turned to a track and asked who the [ __ ] is that turns out it was daft punk a couple months later we got stronger what do you think about the the pattern of the 808s i see when i add that it just don't and i don't clash it you know what i'm saying that's why i'm showing the open hole when it came in so it's cool like that i think we can agree that kanye west is anything but generic his music has never had any trouble standing out and there are a myriad of reasons for that with one of the most notable being his iconic sampling now don't get me wrong samples have always been a popular tool in hip-hop dating all the way back to the early 1980s but more so than any other rapper kanye has become synonymous with his ability to build off existing songs to create bigger more elaborate tracks this is not an embrace of derivativeness but rather an indicator of genius creative ingenuity the argument has been made before that originality is dead everything that we have today is a remix in one way or another remixes are just when you copy transform and combine the pieces that make up one piece of media to create a brand new one which is what kanye has been doing effectively ever since his debut single through the wire was crafted from the bones of chaka khan's through the fire in the same way that elton john someone saves my life tonight is used in the opening track good morning there's nothing wrong with reusing old or already existing ideas so long as you're able to convert them into something new along the way which is what kanye does consistently on graduation to put it bluntly stealing is at the heart of all creativity everything is derived from something to imagine a product that is not the combination of pre-existing bodies of work is almost impossible you have a mother and you have a father but the sum of you is greater than their parts you are a remix or a mash-up of your mother and your father and all of your ancestors you are a mash-up of what you let into your life so to effectively use the sources around you to further an entire genre of music is what i would call [ __ ] genius it's the same thing the sample speaks to people in a different kind of way that rap can't even reach that sample is so much bigger than me and that's saying a lot that's true the hip-hop we always talk about you know you biting you biting my style you bite everything that i did a lot but hip-hop itself is based off a bite it's based on taking segments of people's music and then taking something that someone said on the street and taking this pattern right here and then taking this like i'll do something like loop up something that someone took mad years to learn how to play instruments and all that stuff but one of the fundamentals of hip-hop is biting but in typical kanye fashion he just couldn't resist another storm of controversy in the wake of a new album released in the months leading up to graduation kanye was involved in a sales battle between 50 cent who was gearing up to release his own album curtis on the same date as yay's 50 cent has been quoted as saying that if your album should outsell his he will never make another album ever again have you heard him i really like 50. i don't want him to retire once my album sells the most i just want him being the number one rapper in the game 50 cent was definitely a force to be reckoned with traditional gangster rap went head-to-head against the pop auto-tune feel of kanye's newest project proving itself to be a pivotal moment in rap history when graduation outsold curtis by about 300 000 copies its first week it was determined right then and there that the bold electronic sound exhibited by kanye on graduation was here to stay and would have lasting impacts on the industry moving forward with three massive cultural phenomena under his belts kanye was crowned the new king of hip-hop seemingly performing at the top of his game that is until two weeks later when everything in kanye's life suddenly came crashing down cosmetic surgery has become so popular and seemingly routine people sometimes forget these are serious operations with potentially life-threatening side effects about 200 people die of plastic surgery complications every year in the u.s and it appears that kanye west's mother donda may have been one of them towards the beginning of november donda west underwent a myriad of cosmetic surgeries that all seemed to go as planned at first despite her doctor's pleas she walked out of the clinic only a few hours after the procedure donda opted to return home rather than receiving post-operative care at a separate facility however in the day proceedings she experienced a sore throat in tightening in her chest before collapsing later that day donda west passed away on the evening of november 10 2007 to say that kanye was devastated would be an understatement his outrage was understandably directed at numerous parties not only the doctor who performed the procedure but even himself later naming her life as the biggest sacrifice for his fame ever since that day kanye adamantly blames his own success on the death of his mother but no matter where the liability lies one thing was certain that the tragic death of donda west changed kanye forever [Music] [Music] the loss of a loved one is among the most gutting experiences an individual can possibly endure especially when it happens so suddenly your entire understanding of the world is flipped upside down as you try so desperately to make sense of the unexpected hell suddenly forced upon you i can only imagine how absolutely shattered kanye must have felt after losing the one person who knew him better than anyone in the world to make matters worse kanye's relationship with his then fiance alexis pfeiffer crumbled to the ground shortly after donda's passing at a time in which he thought he had it all kanye had his entire world swept out from under him but that pain would hardly stop him from producing one of the most transformative rap albums of all time [Music] feeling more despondent than ever kanye found refuge in honolulu hawaii where he began to shift all focus onto his next project scrapping the initial title good ass job and replacing it with a more appropriate one that better reflected the distress he was being subjected to screaming here with a song from his brand new album 808s and heartbreak is the one and only kanye west the themes of loss heartache and alienated fame would all be woven into the album's disquieting track list conveyed through the means of the acclaimed roland 808 drum machine branching out from the familiar sound of his previous records by embracing a newly developed tool widely known as autotune only problem was this was 2008 autotune was kind of a new thing people weren't sure how to respond to such a technology why buy kanye's album you can basically hear it for free just put a tin can to your ear and lean against the pac-man machine because you know that was gonna stop him but does it hurt when the critics say they don't like it does that hurt you or do you stand above it i have to stand above it you know i would hope that all i can do is just do what i feel is right and believe it and make the best music i can and hope that it overcomes every time because that's my responsibility no i just do what i'm feeling at the time and if i'm tired of something then i'm tired of it i don't want to use it and if i'm that tired of something then i do want to use it and i just i just base it off of that like some people don't like auto-tune but i do so i use it you know why because my name is on the album to bring his vision to life kanye not only welcomed the influence of new instruments and sound equipment but an entire team laced with talented artists and producers as well with each track consisting of about five writers kanye used the talents of mike dean a track playing pat and many others to his advantage with up-and-coming rapper kid cudi being credited on four separate tracks kanye's use of the roland 808s lent itself to another one of his inspirations phil collins who developed a technique unlike any other altering the reverb to make drums sound flat on impact collins unknowingly set the tone for the iconically dull tribal drums heard throughout kanye's album that's not where the influence stopped kanye has repeatedly named michael jackson as one of his biggest inspirations growing up drawing him into the pop scene and influencing the sound of his music as a whole in fact it was michael jackson himself who later encouraged kanye to sing in the first place yeah i sat with michael jackson uh i met him over leo cohen's house and i just vibed out with him and then like i think michael would have wanted to put that battery in my back to do 808s i played a good life and he was like who's that singing right there i like that voice it was my voice he gassed me up next thing y'all know y'all had me in the night here like michael jackson told me i could sing oh y'all ultimately his goal was to pour his feelings out through sheer melody tapping the brakes on samples and embracing his own organic harmonies and you know when i was a shorty when they taught her stuff they taught it with melody like the abcs abcdef you know so i'm about to express my stuff with melody and and have it be a fine line where you don't know if it's rapping or what it is it's just what's necessary at the time what i feel like what the beat makes me do this led to some of the most raw emotionally driven performances in kanye's discography the album concludes with pinocchio's story a gut-wrenching freestyle recorded live in singapore that was only included on 808s at the request of beyonce herself who was blown away upon first listen the lyrics show us the darkest iteration of kanye's psyche so far explicitly pinning the death of his mother on himself as he names his own life choices as the reason why he'll never be happy with lyrics like the day i moved to la maybe that was all my fault chasing the american dream chasing everything we see up on the tv screen would he really be happier without all the luxuries of the limelight according to kanye himself all he wants is to live a normal life free of the celebrity status he's brought himself into claiming i don't have to be what a celebrity is supposed to be i don't want to be a superstar shell of myself i need to know who's the real person i don't want to simply be a caricature of myself real life what does it feel like i ask you tonight i ask you tonight what does it feel like to live a real life i just want to be a real boy [Music] and yet throughout this spontaneous tear-jerking performance the audience is barely giving kanye the time of day shouting over his verses and making light of the vulnerability displayed in front of them it really is the perfect embodiment of what he's trying to say in the song that despite his best efforts to be treated as an individual like you and me to general audiences he's still nothing more than a source of entertainment a commodity artificially produced for mainstream consumption to this day the song still hasn't received a studio recording he's only performed it two or three times the inclusion of the audience's shouting in its official release is intentional as it perfectly displays the isolation felt throughout the album and gives the listener the perfect insight into an emotionally shattered headspace you crying in tears yeah no i i get that it's uh it's it's it's beautiful and it's it's hauntingly beautiful because of the because of his emotion and then with the crowd not really listening to whatever he's saying just screaming at random parts throughout the the song and the freestyle and him just putting his heart out there it's a it's a haunting way to close the album the initial reception of 808s and heartbreak may have divided the hip-hop community at the time but the indisputable influence of this album still echoes throughout the industry to this very day drake himself attributes most of his current sound to kanye and artists like travis scott admit to taking inspiration from the album's heavy use of autotune although kanye wasn't the first to open up about his feelings on a record it's safe to say that without 808s rappers would not be as publicly vocal with their emotions as they are today kanye carried out one of the most inspiring feats by taking his suffering and turning it into something breathtaking instead of exploiting his anguish kanye allowed us to experience his pain with him all while setting the blueprint for an entirely new generation of rappers to come which to me is the mark of a true artist seems like street lights glowing having to be just like moments pass and this is my [ __ ] bro i was singing street lights really sad like i had something to be sad about it was a little gold all like you know og struggle with this that ain't no reason this the 808s and heartbreaks that's a relationship you know people talk about those time travelers kanye is a time traveler and went to damn near 2015 and came back with some sauce but despite all the reviews of his newest record kanye was still struggling internally as mentioned earlier the guilt of his mother's passing is a permanent burden that has weighed heavy since the day she died now reasonably enough he didn't quite know how to cope with her loss leading to some rather infamous public occurrences [Music] i'm really happy for you i'm let you finish but beyonce had one of the best videos of all time one of the best videos of all time kanye west is here cool haircut what are you doing there and then ouch and then i guess i'm not going to get to thank the fans the other one seems like a perfectly nice person she's getting her award why would he do that let me ask something i was fortunate enough to meet your mom and talk with your mom a number of years ago what do you think she would have said about this um although many were quick to blame the outburst on the bottle of hennessy clutched in hand it was also clear that kanye was in a difficult spot mentally and with the death of his mother still lingering the paparazzi didn't help much either kanye received a massive wave of public backlash unlike anything he had ever experienced before he spoke his mind and as a result the future of his career was hanging by a thread following a pr hell storm like none other kanye quietly exited the states and fled for japan in 2009 abandoning his own home in a last-ditch effort to escape such crushing guilt brought on by the media attempting to cope with the incident by pouring his heart into the disturbing unreleased track never see me again the semblance of a cluttered headspace that went on to become amongst his most infamous leaked tracks in part due to the frightening theory behind it not unlike the majority of his unfinished songs you can quite literally hear kanye making up words as he goes trying to craft some sort of flow over the rough beat he just made though it's the haunting sample laced underneath his slurred delivery that really speaks to me the most borrowing from futari dake no ceremony by yukiko okada a japanese artist who unfortunately committed suicide in 1986 by jumping from a seven-story balcony as evident by the notes she made akata had been coping with unrequited love leading up to her death with one note reading i wanted to see him again my heart has nowhere to go language alluded to by the title and never see me again it's this connection paired with kanye's own admissions of suicidal ideation that has led many to believe this was not only supposed to be kanye's last song but his own version of a suicide note with feelings of utter hopelessness and pain lingering throughout the nearly 10 minute track culminating with this bleak heartbreaking equivalent of a bridge it's here that kanye can be heard at his absolute lowest alone in a studio clapping his hands doing his best to please a non-existent audience while struggling internally over the loss of his fiancee the death of his mother and now the perceived end to a career he spent the last decade trying to perfect he's well aware the entire world wants him to disappear and he wonders whether or not his career is even worth trying to rekindle a time of emotional despair and uncertainty he thankfully managed to overcome later citing a responsibility to make a meaningful contribution to pop culture and music for preventing his suicide but that wouldn't come without a challenge the place he was before the vmas felt so out of reach and it was redemption wouldn't be achieved overnight but kanye has never lacked passion for his art returning once more to his studio in hawaii to work on a new album in peace setting his sights on the perfect project that was sure to remind the world who he was and reclaim his spot in the limelight forever and just to say something about my mother i appreciate all the support i appreciate all the uh prayers it would be in good taste to stop the music then i appreciate i appreciate everything and i know you're really proud of me right now and i know you wouldn't want me to stop and you want me to be the number one artist in the world and mama all i'm gonna do is keep making you proud we run this but because there's no way youtube's monetizing this one i want to give a big thanks to our sponsor scentbird sinbird is an easy convenient fragrant subscription service that gives you the opportunity to shop from over 600 brands being a flexible subscription you can skip any month without penalties but why would you want to for only 16 a month you can choose from countless luxury brands or browse lesser known names to find 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use codejaw35 at checkout massive thanks to the wonderful people over at scentbird for sponsoring this video [Music] in essence kanye west opened the decade with a project widely accepted as his magnum opus a cornerstone of hip-hop that would victoriously stake his claim as the most prominent icon of the year while simultaneously putting the glorification of celebrities on blast this juxtaposition runs throughout the track list and is one of the qualities that makes it such a masterpiece in my opinion [Music] it's sort of like a sorry not sorry for the polarizing behavior he had become notorious for rather than trying to make amends with his critics kanye is embracing this divisive persona conveying his message through the means of melody symbolism and phenomenal production it's actually astonishing what all he's able to accomplish with this album alone i'ma tell you something this young man does yo they get up every morning to eat breakfast together his whole crew they talk about yesterday and the next day and the day of and the present they plan oh noble breakfast they sit there they talk about what they want to do what they did and how to make the music better first of all everybody in this studio had suits on everybody you're kidding me i'm serious was that like a pre-wreck yo i thought he had like flown in a bunch of guys from like europe or something but like all the all the engineers and everybody was in like black suits and white white shirts but then he goes to the studio and he stays there from four and when i was there we left it for so 12 hours of in the studio world then go to bed get up and do it again the next day like he he set up a mood right yeah when you walked in there you felt this mood it's not only his talent that took him to the top i gotta say it's his focus y'all i completely lost everything but i gained everything because i lost the fear i used to pray for god to deliver me from pain and fear and all these different things and in a way he did my beautiful dark twisted fantasy served as a collaborative masterpiece with each track featuring artist after artist after artist the fact this man got elton john kid cudi drake fergie alicia keys charlie wilson the dream and rihanna all on the same song for all of the lights is nothing short of awe-inspiring with producer mike dean heavily influencing the grandiose sounds heard throughout working with kanye ever since his debut in 2004 mike dean has made a name for himself during the 90s working with the most prolific artists in all of texas managing to dominate well into the 2010s alongside kanye west it's clear mike has always been his most frequent collaborator and for good reason he's one of the best there is my beautiful dark twisted fantasy when making that album did you guys know that you guys were arguably making the best rap album ever yeah it's short and simple and after the taylor swift incident that almost cost him his career there was no question he needed this thing to be as top-notch as possible kanye was pulling out all the stops on his road to redemption wanting to stay true to himself while reminding the masses that he was still the greatest to ever do it he needed to ensure that after this album there would be no way for anyone to question his legacy at what point did you realize like halfway through it to the end or like i mean before we started making it that was the goal you know like wow make the best album ever being the second track on the album gorgeous features a poignant commentary on social justice in america with kanye exhibiting some of his most politically charged words since the telethon in between the bluesy hooks sung by kid cudi we hear yay discussing the racial biases and inequality woven into a legal system that continues to oppress him no matter how rich and famous he becomes penitentiary chances the devil dances and eventually answers to the call of autumn all of them falling for the love of ball and get caught with 30 rocks a cop look like alec baldwin in a century anthems based off inner city tantrums based off the way it was branded face it jerome get more time than brandon expressing frustration and being racially profiled at the airport specifically it's really hard for me to summarize just how insightful these three verses are so i'd suggest you listen to it yourself to really get the full picture finally tying it all together at the end by provoking those who seek to silence his talent and more importantly his message i treat the cash the way the government treats says i won't be satisfied to all my [ __ ] get it they rewrite history i don't believe in yesterday what's a black beetle anyway a [ __ ] roach i guess is why they got me sitting there [ __ ] coach but god said i need a pr but god said i need a different approach cause people are looking at me like a sniffer coat it ain't funny anymore try different jokes tell them hug and kiss my ass x and know it kiss the ring while they had to do my thing while i gotta play strings for the dramatic ending of that whack like i ain't had a belt in two classes i ain't got it i'm coming out to whoever i'm coming out to whoever who has it you blowing up that's good fantastic that y'all it's like that y'all i don't really give a [ __ ] about it at all cause the same people that try to blackball me forgot about two things my black balls of course while the album contained a plethora of meaning and insightful political commentary kanye still managed to produce some absolute club bangers like monsters really i was in a hawaii in the studio with kanye and um i walked he wanted to play something for me and um i walked in the studio he cut the beat on he started spitting his raps before he even laid the verse and what i actually did was really just me being in the room i knew the structure of the song but i just did an intro for it a track that not only contained killer verses from two legends but sought to place a new younger name on the map man like just the way she said it like just what she was talking about where she was in her career at that point like you know 50 what'd she say 50k for a verse no album [Applause] with two legends and murdered them and everybody held their own but like come on like we all remember that monster became my most you know critically acclaimed verse and that was not the first verse i wrote and i'm not afraid to say that it wasn't and kanye told me go back and rewrite yes he did and then when i was in the booth he kept on saying um no do it like this do it like this and i'm just sitting there like no and i cussed him out and left the studio and you know did all that fun stuff but you know he he wasn't letting up he's like oh he's going we're going to get this right and then i remember after i did the verse he put it together and he took certain certain parts and he would and i was like no because he was like i like the grounding part and i'm like i hate that i just had to let it go i just had to trust that this man who i looked up to so much who asked me to the studio i can't disrespect or violate this man by saying no you know what i mean i know better i had to let this man be the genius that he is the album takes a darker tonal shift towards the latter half of the run time with runaway being an unabashed self-reflection on kanye's character blame game and lost in the world each serve as a fitting outro to the album apart from contrasting and sound the lyrics also focus on the death of kanye's relationship with amber rose compared to his reintroduction into love with kim kardashian i remember i was trying to explain to a girl that i loved so much how much i loved him and i uh i didn't have any words to this record but we loved it we love to be actually in the email [Music] in the email i wrote this to i said you're my heaven you're my head you're my freedom [Music] it was like she brought this poetry out of me that ended up becoming what the lyrics were and then eventually she ended up becoming my wife and she's here tonight yeah too bad that didn't last but it doesn't matter how you feel about him any music fan will agree that the lead single power is one of if not the most profound tracks in all of kanye's discography i mean the song itself deserves its own analysis man it's just that great but power also represented a turning point in kanye's lyrical ability kanye used to be infamous for just going into the booth and speaking his mind he didn't write down any of his raps on the last four albums but according to ice t that all changed by the time this one dropped with kanye himself insisting the power took 5 000 hours to complete and considering what we got i can believe that the track samples king crimson's 21st century schizoid man which acts as the basis of the entire track as the original song tackles the calamities of the vietnam war this is of course meshed with the track afro-america off continent number six is 1978 album of the same name throw on a few tribal drums and piano chords and you've basically got the musical foundation of power the finished instrumental is a clever ensemble of electric boom bap and rock sounds that go on to convey a unique harmony with kanye's classic braggadocio lyrics layered on top the track carries a strangely pop zeitgeist that just works so seamlessly it's a great track with an infectious beat but with the majesty of power's production set aside for a second the lyrics themselves are also worth a closer look see the more you pay attention the more you start to realize the utter complexity of what the track is actually saying the grandiose theme of the song can be understood solely through its key signature c minor is often reserved for more awe-inspiring pieces dating all the way back to the days of beethoven's symphony number five it's no accident that kanye chose this signature for his comeback from public degradation although it certainly enhances the song it serves a more metaphorical purpose than anything the song aims to underline every possible angle of the apparent power kanye wields questions celebrates and abuses the lyrics themselves go on to paint a far clearer picture than i could ever describe power five thousand hours five thousand man hours to make the song like and you can you can hear it so so much work rewriting rethinking about every line i just needed time alone with my own thoughts got treasures in my mind but couldn't open up my own vault my child like creativity purity and honesty is honestly being crowded by these grown thoughts reality is catching up with me taking my inner child i'm fighting for custody with this responsibility that they entrusted me as i look down at my diamond encrusted teeth thinking no one man should have all this power as the track continues we hear a sudden shift in tone as the bridge fades away the words so excited start to sound like suicide which can be interpreted as kanye's only perceived escape route from this fantasy as a black entertainer he sees his out similar to donny hathaway's death which is to lose control and fall from the top a theory further reinforced through the use of the schizoid man sample as hathaway famously suffered with schizophrenia leading up to his death a reflection of kanye's perceived career suicide that occurred after the amas the track is essentially a criticism of kanye's self-proclaimed omnipotence and his struggle with maintaining a normal lifestyle while still wishing to be worshipped as a god it's kanye relishing in the very consumerism that taunts him this sentiment is woven throughout my beautiful dark twisted fantasy as the entire album encapsulates kanye's reliance on the very luxuries that inadvertently lead to hurting him ego decadence and self-doubt are all side effects of the fame kanye can't seem to get enough of as described by spins chris martens the album owed as much to the artist's self-aggrandizing ego as to the voracious id that would destroy it publicly which is better illustrated in the music videos for both power and runaway that each contain their own fair share of religious imagery according to folklore the phoenix is a fiery bird that obtains the new life through the death of its predecessor when a phoenix dies a new one rises from the ashes which goes on to accurately reflect kanye's musical reputation at the turn of the decade just as everyone thought he was done for good he rose out of the ashes like a phoenix and delivered perhaps the most acclaimed and memorable hip-hop record of recent history later being named album of the decade by both billboard and complex the record was ahead of its time and would go on to receive critical acclaim like never before for the most part anyway [Applause] after just dropping amber rose for kim kardashian regaining public notoriety and producing two beautifully polished albums that would remain iconic for the next decade it was safe to say kanye was on the ultimate power trip no one man should have all that power with more money fame and influence than most people could ever fathom he was unstoppable and ready to cut his teeth in a whole new industry fashion once his joint album with jay-z dropped watch the throne represented a burning desire within kanye to shatter his own expectations and challenge the very strength of his own influence he wanted to prove to the world that he was an icon that he was bigger than music well conveniently enough nike happened to be handing out sponsorships to big celebrities at the time so they were happy to help him out kanye's always had a thing for fashion i mean the nike air yeezys were first developed from 2007 to 2009 but as kanye's status grew the yeezys began to sell too well and kanye demanded royalties akin to athletes like michael jordan problem was that kanye wasn't an athlete and nike wasn't having any of it [Music] now this is one thing where the conversation changes because always cool that they marginalized me and i asked them when the easy red october's coming out i asked them me kanye west asked nike when did it come out they told they said we're not sure yet [Music] at least give me some royalty like michael jordan got five percent that business is two billion he makes a hundred million dollars a year off of five percent royalty i said i need some type of royalty nike told me uh we can't give you a royalty because you're not a professional athlete i tell them i go to guard and play one on no more that's right i'm a performance athlete [Applause] you guys don't understand you guys don't understand that i did the yeezys and they ebay for 90 000 right and people wanted them bad is whatever right but i didn't get a call from nike the next day for you to have done something to the level of the yeezys and not be able to create more and you cannot you cannot create that on your own with no support did you say that in the meaning do you really say that in the meaning did i really anything yes put it gently there were a few creative differences brewing over at nike kanye wasn't seeing eye to eye with the ceo and was instead beginning to feel his creative efforts weren't being recognized tired and angry at being written off as nothing more than a rapper his resentment towards the status quo intensified once more and after his last two albums the expectations for kanye were higher than ever people wanted more music akin to what we heard on dark fantasy but as per usual kanye refused to be placed in any kind of box as it was this type of daring resistance that led to kanye's most eccentric product ever [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i always knew they tried to tear me down tear me down i always knew they tried to tear me down tear me down but now there's nothing they can tell me now tell me now he's a black scheme ted [Music] at this point kanye doesn't give a single he just doesn't he makes what he wants he likes what he likes and he doesn't listen to anyone and if this album doesn't perfectly personify basking in your own glory i don't know what does experimental music was already a popular phenomenon in the uk but kanye brought the sound to the us with the myriad of brash noisy tracks packed into the short but ferocious 2013 album being inspired by the minimalist aesthetic observed at the louvre during his time in paris with the bulk of the album being recorded in his hotel alongside close collaborators seeking production help from long time associate mike dean and up and coming travis scott daft punk and more with much of the brazen sound being interpolated from french techno producer geseffelstein being known overseas for his intense industrial sound he later reflected on his time working with kanye stating if a rapper had asked me to do a classic hip-hop beat i would have said no when i was with kanye he wasn't like do something hip-hop he was like do what you want i just want to work with people who want to change things now it's always the same beats jesus was something different the album's opening track on site serves as a perfect start to yeezus with the uneven synth crash setting you up for the unpredictable ride of experimental hip hop you're about to endure with the first four tracks in particular exploring the wild animalistic side of the human psyche with black skinhead depicting the direct outcome of the vain rockstar lifestyle kanye now leads his lyrics reflect the hard-hitting punk rock style production as he raps about the volatility of his own ego driven persona by comparing historic events to the films made on them kanye could be drawing a parallel between his own reality and the public's manufactured interpretation of him making a subtle yet valid criticism of the media while simultaneously reflecting on his own eruptive style of living the bulk of new slaves focuses on the reality of modern day racism and tying it back to america's broken prison system featuring a heavy metal instrumental once again laced with an overall message to motivate those listening to create their own path and let people follow them rather than the other way around like everything else on the album it's the right amount of self-aggrandizing with a hint of political commentary added on top blood on the leaves for example utilizes an old nina simone sample to weave a story of abandoned love intertwined with celebrity status and how the effects of fame can lead to the decay of a relationship making pretty overweight comparisons to the way black people have been historically treated in america it's not an album you could ever play on the radio but it wasn't meant to be it's meant to be a giant middle finger to the mainstream exhibiting his experimental taste and further cementing himself as the biggest pop culture figure in the world classism it's racism's cousin this is what we do to hold people back this is what we do and we got this other thing that's also been working for a long time when you don't have to be racist anymore it's called self-hate it works on itself it's like real estate of racism where just like that when someone comes up and says something like i am a god everybody says who does he think he is i just told you who i thought i was a god i just told you that's who i think i am although met with much contention from audiences jesus was greeted with resounding approval from critics with pitchfork writer ryan domble concluding that cohesion and bold intent are at a premium on jesus perhaps more than any other kanye album a feat that could be widely attributed to mega producer rick rubin the founder of def jam who is brought in last minute to help strip the album down to its barest bones just as kanye had intended calling rick a reducer as opposed to a producer he called up and said i just couldn't play my album i always like to hear he's working on and he came over and we listened and i thought a finished album we listened to probably three and a half hours of works in progress so it was like really a rough sketch of a lot of music and i remember just thinking it just seems like it's like these are cool things but it's a long ways off and you know i'm assuming they're going to come out next year and uh i think when you think of you know finishing up and he's like well it's coming completely like confident and just fine i said you know i have a record coming out in november it's a lot further along than this he's like really to me it seemed impossible what he was asking we ended up working probably 15 days 16 days long hours no days off just on and just intense focus did you i was panicked the whole though i have to imagine the release of jesus was far from the biggest moment of kanye's summer seeing as his first daughter north west was born in june of that year just three days before the albums drop in fact this also came around the same time as a marriage proposal and some discreet media coverage it's a joke nothing's ever discreet with kanye he proposed at a stadium the event aired on e and they got married may of 2014. it was a wonderful occasion even if jay-z and beyonce couldn't make it not sure why that was but i'm sure they're good now regardless of their absence kanye became a shareholder for a new streaming service brought up by jay title which aimed to give complete creative freedom to the artist because as we know kanye loves his creative freedom which is why he also decided to join adidas right as his deal with nike fell through granting him the royalties he had been asking for kanye was finally able to express himself through ulterior means achieving his goal of becoming a major force in the fashion industry i'm here to crack the pavement and make new grounds you know sonically and in society culturally we're not always in the position that we want to be at we're constantly growing we're constantly making mistakes we're constantly trying to express ourselves and trying to actualize our dreams i want to create something better for you it was around this time that kanye obtained an honorary doctorate from the art institute of chicago fulfilling the promise he made to his mother long before she passed in addition to working with paul mccartney on a single known as only one the track is essentially a lullaby to his daughter north sign from the perspective of his mother donda from this point on a mccartney and kanye would share a unique bond working in conjunction on a handful of tracks in the coming years with mccartney losing his own mother at such a young age the two had delivered a raw moving performance that spoke through generations and further outlined kanye's unique relationship with god it's like to him god was sort of the catalyst to reconnect with his mother for the first time in a while kanye seemed to be doing pretty well for himself mentally financially and personally his music was topping charts he finally grounded himself in the fashion world even his family life was flourishing with the birth of his second child saints in december of 2015. what could possibly be in store for the man who appeared to have the world at his fingertips [Music] [Applause] [Music] selling artists of all time yes that's crazy yes he's a philanthropist a designer he's a father he does it all and now i'm happy to announce uh for the first time ever uh young brother has released his first first urban adult gospel singer uh that's amazing man let's find out about the new song please welcome to the show the one and only mr kanye west 2016 was a very interesting year for kanye to say to say the least for the first time in his career kanye began to work on an album that didn't contain much of a direction at all or at least it seemed that way on the surface up until this point all of kanye's albums displayed a clear overarching theme of some kind 808 with a heart-wrenching accumulation of emotional destruction and grief while twisted fantasy was all about his fall from grace and jesus was but they all share an underlying similarity which is his refusal to conform to the public's expectations which couldn't have been more apparent on the life of pablo yey dropped his seventh studio album for the first time on valentine's day 2016. exclusively untitled though it was far from the official polished version we have now the album went through a myriad of changes leading up to the finalization that year kanye being the annoying perfectionist that he is rearranged the very structure of the record itself scrambling the tracks into a more random confusing order than its initial release instead of ending with ultralight beam the album actually began with it but the random and otherwise nonsensical framing of the album was not done by accident as the record bounces between the varying sides of kanye's psyche both his spiritual family side as well as his uh you know other side now it just may have been the album's imperfection that made it such a cult favorite random fragments of kanye's life are spread all throughout the project even down to the bizarre cover although kanye has never fully explained it it's almost like the image itself is making a statement on rampant consumerism with the repeating text reflecting the derivativeness of modern celebrities it could be saying that the icons of today are so repetitive and bland that they may have been mass produced in a factory it's as if the art itself is a commentary on the tribulations of fame similar to what he did on the track famous [Applause] this one was a little controversial i mean i can't imagine why the music video only contained wax sculptures of taylor swift george bush ray j kim kardashian donald trump and caitlyn jenner all sleeping together naked what could possibly make people mad about that though its provocative intention may run a little deeper than what you may see upon first glance i'm sure it's no coincidence that kanye chose a number of controversial celebrities loosely associated with his public image the video itself is really hard to watch it may demonstrate how the media is obsessed with people's lives even as they're laying there naked and vulnerable the public remains entranced by these individuals the media has sensationalized in addition to kanye's standout line about taylor which actually serves more purpose than frivolous shock though i just wanted you to know what i wanted you to know the whole time you know in the spirit of nina simone [Applause] because it's something i wanted to say so bad that they told me i couldn't say taylor actually approved the first part of the line beforehand it was the making her famous part that got under his skin if you ask me famous not only sought to rejuvenate the influence of old music but signified the vulnerability of today's celebrities the life of pablo can be broken down into three essential characters pablo escobar pablo picasso and saint pablo these three figures all represent the conflicting personas found within kanye west being the most notorious drug kingpin in history escobar reflects kanye's sinful side accurately representing the overwhelming negative media attention kanye had drawn as a result of his offensive behavior while pablo picasso captures the artistic nature of west his yeezys his music everything pertaining to his creative abilities whether he's designing a product or watching himself on television he is pablo with the fictional character saint pablo serving as a direct representation of his spiritual beliefs being a vocal christian his views towards god and religion have been routinely challenged by the hard brazen lifestyle he now leads creating a constant struggle between doing the right thing and caving to natural human impulses the song fml perfectly sums up this inner struggle between these two concepts the title fml serving a dual meaning between my life and for my lady kanye expresses a desire to change his way of living in order to stay faithful to his wife and family providing a meaning behind the clever phrase which one plastered across the album cover kanye's inherent desire for materialism is clashing with his deep-rooted spirituality he's having trouble deciding which part of his life to prioritize his fame or his family i will die for those i love later that year kim would experience an alarming robbery at her paris hotel the perpetrators escaped with a diamond ring worth about four million dollars tying her up by her wrists and ankles in the process miraculously enough she wasn't hurt and neither were the kids although we can only imagine how traumatizing this must have been we can also be thankful nothing was seriously affected except kanye i'm sorry [Music] kanye obviously wasn't there to protect his wife which i can assume tore him to shreds on the inside many believe this was the incident to kick off his mental breakdown considering what all he had to say at a concert only a few weeks later beyonce i was hurt because i heard that you said you wouldn't perform unless you won video of the year over me jay-z called me brock you still ain't calling me it's sad to say that kanye's mental state hit a sharp decline canceling the rest of his tour and admitting himself into the ucla medical center fans were obviously worried about the man they had always looked up to whereas the media along with the general public who didn't know the full story couldn't be more antagonizing as kanye west was officially diagnosed with bipolar at the age of 43 leading a mental health advocates to re-examine the way we perceive and react to his apparent public outburst i feel like you avoided this title yeah no i mean i mean what it says right here on the i hate being bipolar it's awesome it's not an opposite it's not i hate being a bipolar it's awesome it's actually it drives more of how you really feel it doesn't do an opposite thing so i think it's important for us to have conversations about you know open conversations about mental health uh especially with me being black because we never had therapists in the black community we never approached like taking medication by the time i got to tmz i was ramped up so what was awesome is that the world got to really experience someone in a ramped up state and that's when you get these comments that just shoot out like almost like tourette's take bassy icp for example the new york times best-selling author and founder of the seaway project a mental health organization that centers black and brown people in an attempt to spread awareness and destigmatize a mental illness being hospitalized for bipolar herself ickbee writes that her own experiences with the disorder has changed her entire view on kanye in the way the media treats his ailments claiming we as a collective only care about mental health when we like the person who's experiencing it meaning we tend to speak quite harshly of kanye when he's doing something particularly contemptible but failed to consider his words are heightened by his illness as argued by igbe without dismissing the harmful effects of the things he's said mental illness is not an excuse but a reason she goes on to assert it has to be contextualized framed so that people understand that the way that one behaves is the literal definition of what mental illness is as stated directly by kanye himself in 2018 bipolar disorder is a health issue that has a strong stigma on it and people are allowed to say anything about it and discriminate in any way it is a health issue this is like a sprained brain like having a sprained ankle and if someone has a sprained ankle you're not gonna push on him more with us once our brains get to a point of spraining people do everything to make it worse he doesn't shy away from his assessment of the media's habitual negative framing highlighting exactly why these conversations must be handled with the utmost compassion intact by attacking and railing on someone with mental illness you're pushing on them more as written in wbur when someone needs medical help for an issue like diabetic shock we don't disagree with their opinions before making sure they receive care expecting him to know the right things to say and do during the midst of a mental health crisis becomes especially problematic when you remember kanye is perhaps the single most relevant celebrity experiencing bipolar disorder in the public eye the things people have to say about him go on to affect anyone going through the same thing making the public's handling of kanye's actions paramount not just for his own sake but for the destigmatization of all mental disorders across the board he's the most visible person with a bipolar diagnosis in the world right now says igb he represents more than just someone the people are projecting onto he represents all of us meaning his tribulations also have the potential to spark major change in the way we speak on mental health and how we can be there for those in our lives experiencing similar circumstances but it also means we must stay wary of how we approach certain topics since pushing on severely mentally ill people will only make the situation worse for everyone being more apparent than ever on his honorary single i feel like that [Music] originally included that the end of kanye in 12 years a slave director steve mcqueen's music video for all day the abstract but intimate track was heard for the first time at the los angeles museum of contemporary art in summer 2015 featuring an exhausted gay collapsed on the ground reciting a comprehensive list of symptoms for a variety of different anxiety disorders do you experience nervousness or shakiness inside faintness through labor to breathing kanye painstakingly admits to experiencing these symptoms quite candidly all the time as we move into the next few verses the questions become more scrutinizing remaining personal in nature as he asks do you have trouble sleeping do you have temper outbursts that you cannot control do you feel lonely even when you're with people it's unclear whether or not he's addressing the audience or asking himself these things but one thing is absolutely for certain times kanye has no problem expressing his insecurities anxiety apathy and drastic mood swings to anyone that will listen just as he wears his confidence on his sleeve kanye isn't afraid to exhibit the polar opposite side of those feelings turning the myriad of symptoms surrounding mental health into a bold unabashed artistic monument as delicately worded by vice is ryan basil despite carrying a notable weight of distress the track sound still manages to convey a sliver of brightness throughout as if to say that despite those overwhelming negative feelings you may be having you aren't alone these are feelings everyone has feelings that don't have to be repressed if the biggest artist on the face of the planet can be so open with his struggles why don't we all have more open and understanding conversations about mental health but kanye hasn't just helped audiences feel less alone in the face of internal crises his efforts in the music world have gone on to inspire a generation of young artists across genres over the past 20 years kanye has garnered a reputation for using artists to the best of their abilities on signs as opposed to just throwing an artist on a track for name recognition he's known for going deeper isolating an individual's raw talent and using it to strengthen the quality of a song overall take for example 07-0 shakes feature on ghost town a verse she recorded the same day it came out contributing some of the most heart-wrenching lines on 2018's yay an album we'll talk about in a minute osefino's shake has been relatively unknown in the music world until a friend from her town introduced kanye to her sawing sunday night without a moment's delay kanye had signed 07-0 shake to his label good music utilizing her voice to its fullest on track's lace across yay and even yandi with shay exciting her time with him as i learned a lot from his work ethic he was one of the main reasons i became so free in this music and can play and do whatever i want there are no boundaries i think that had a lot to do with my growth as an artist but kanye's influence as a mentor spans as far back as the mid-2000s when he met and began working with kid cudi a man he would later refer to as the most influential artist of the past 10 years i met kanye like any other person as a fan you know i mean and west oh at virgin music store and i was looking at cds that i couldn't buy and and he was standing right next to me looking at cds and then like yeah that he could buy and he had this exact chain on and i remember seeing it and like out of the corner my eye was like gleaming and i was like and i saw him and i was like oh my god i was like you know i had just moved to new york i'm from cleveland you don't see celebrities unless it's like concert how long ago was this 2004. okay so it's right up to the grammys i think he still had the graffiti in his head remember the ill lines is here so i noticed i remember that seeing that and i remember me just going like how you doing my name is cuddy um well actually i said my name was scott because i wasn't kid cuddy yet so i was like i'm scott man i'm i'm i'm from cleveland ohio and i remember him being like hold on a second hey man i'm gonna call you right back and he'll be like yeah so what's up like getting off his phone and i was like i'm from cleveland and i do music and i i really want to be signed can you sign me like i had no pitch like i was just being scared i was like you just signed me and unless you want some biggie and tupac type stuff or whatever and i was like nah i was like nah i'm not that good but i have the potential for greatness and i'm gonna be saying that and he was just like oh man i just got so much going on though man i was like man well you definitely gonna see me again man he's like what'd you say your name was again i was like scott but my rap name is kid cuddy you know so be checking for me kanye was reintroduced to cuddy in 2008 as he was working on 808s in heartbreak when producer and manager plain pat brought the attention of the kid named cuddy mixtape to west who is immediately interested and subsequently showed up to a release party for the project shortly before flying cuddy out to hawaii to write melodies and hooks for 808s since then the two have collaborated on over 30 official tracks including an entire album kid see ghosts a record cudi credited with saving his life in the same way that jay-z mentored kanye west kanye has played a major role in cultivating the careers of a myriad of once new musicians after dropping out of college to pursue music full time without telling his parents travis scott was brought in as a producer for kanye's cruel summer compilation album as well as being given production credits on jesus and rihanna's hit [ __ ] better have my money co-produced by travis and kanye the two go way back despite their own fair share of beef of course in addition to bringing up the likes of big sean and clemens and kc another artist heavily mentored by kanye would be chance the rapper who has famously recognized kanye as the biggest inspiration for the way he raps showing his support all the way back in 2011 the college dropout remains one of his favorite bodies of work and heavily shaped the sound of chance's debut mixtape acid rap finally getting the chance to work with the man on the life of pablo in 2016 even being the reason the album came out so late reportedly speaking on kanye's influence and work ethic during the pablo sessions by stating he's very big on multitasking we'll have a studio rented out and he'll bounce between rooms working on different songs writing for a second or adding or subtracting productions he'll also put a bunch of people in a room that he thinks might have good ideas and try to see what they come up with i'm a young dude from chicago who grew up with kanye as my image of hip-hop finding your voice in a room where you have to challenge kanye is scary but it's also life-affirming the media though was about as ruthless as ever in the years following pablo's release with kanye's rumored mental disarray combined with infamous public rants he wasn't viewed in the most positive light from this point forward a contemptible reputation that unfortunately wasn't about to get any better [Music] [Music] just friends shortly after the 2016 election kanye met with the soon soon-to-be 45th president at trump tower where they talked about stuff who [ __ ] knows man he's facing backlash from fans after tweeting out yesterday a photo of this make america great again hat and referring to president trump as his brother trump responding thank you kanye very cool clearly trump and kanye had a weird sort of fascination with each other i mean it makes sense they're both very similar in personality kanye uses the president's status to signify his own wealth and power while trump gets to say that he has black friends i'm not even sure if or how much of their relationship is rooted in politics everyone around me tried to pick my candidate for me and it took me a year and a half to have the confidence to stand up and put on the hat no matter what the consequences were and what it represented to me is not about policies and because i'm not a politician like that but it represent it represented overcoming fear and doing what you felt no matter what anyone said and saying you can't bully me it's like the fact that he won is like it proves something it proved that anything is possible in america that donald trump could be president of america i'm not talking about you know what he's done since he's been in office but the fact that he was able to do it like remember i said i was gonna run for president i had people that was close to me friends of mine like making jokes making memes talking ass like oh that was proven that that could have happened yeah yeah yeah so i get what you're saying i felt the non-conventional you know i mean even from what we're doing in fashion to me being a kid with the pink polos to me being outspoken to me being ostracized because of the taylor swift thing or the george bush thing or you know uh who i'm dating who i'm marrying what i'm talking about so maybe that's what you like the idea of yeah not necessarily the idea of donald trump with the idea of an outsider infiltrating yeah i like that it showed you that anything is possible so that relates to the non-conformist part of me now you know but i'm also i'm a producer i like to segue things i like to take otis chop it up do it like this so what's the yay version the a version would be the trump campaign and maybe the bernie sanders principles that would be my mix and stuff the messages woven throughout yay's discography hardly reflect the values of donald trump a lot of it had more to do with prison reform a similar cause argued by pete davidson's girlfriend around the same time but yay was more specifically interested in using trump to free larry hoover the ex-leader of the gangster's disciples prosecuted for directing the shooting of a man he accused of stealing from his gang in the 70s he didn't pull the trigger but the feds argued it was hoover who orchestrated the incident and is now serving 150 to 200 years in prison the fat then came back and convicted him again of drug conspiracy and extortion and was sentenced to six life sentences in a federal super max prison many including kanye have accused the government of outrageously over sentencing him especially because his six life sentences had to do with drug charges now what he was originally in prison for this is a big reason why kanye went to trump to try and persuade the then president to pardon this 71 year old he's already served 40 years but trump wasn't having it and shot down yay's request pretty quickly but that didn't matter so much as far as optics went kanye was still openly affiliating with the most polarizing figure in the world as we've already established kanye has and never will adhere to the desires of anyone else in his life primarily his critics he is a man who marches to the beat of his own drum and his vocal support of trump is indicative of that sometimes his desire to rebel goes too far and he ends up throwing support behind those who don't deserve the time of day which is absolutely deserving of criticism since marginalized grooves shouldn't be treated as collateral damage in the affiliations he makes his words still affect others and there are times where i wish he'd be more conscientious about the views he's amplifying after all he himself decided to step away from politics when he realized he was being used to spread ideas he didn't agree with at the end of the day he has a massive platform with the potential to make the change he's always wanted to see in the world i think a lot of people just wish he'd be more tactful with that platform which is a more than valid request but to better understand his character it's important we put his actions into context and know that he often means his words differently than what the media may want us to believe they keep us so focused on history that we start to believe that it actually repeats itself and we become overly traditional and we can advance as a race of beings we get too caught up in the past and what everyone's saying and what everyone's tweeting and sometimes you just have to be fearless enough to break the simulation when i run for president 2024 we're gonna definitely know which are laughing when i run for president 2024 but i can promise you one thing this wouldn't be the only amount of drama 2018 would entail [Music] i send him a picture of my son oh my god i tell him i'm having trouble with my son's mother we had a conversation i shared my so you didn't get pushed to the information no i didn't i would like don't pull me into this conversation i wake up now to this text from him passive like sends me something i did yo i love you brother lift yourself comes out with him just talking nonsense is drake's pool really bigger than yours i have three pools the drake and kanye beef goes way back ever since the turn of the decade when kanye went from producing for drake to being his biggest competitor in the genre it got to a point where drake was pretty much the only rapper as commercially viable as yay and thus the two have been known to spar ever since i look at drake it's like an amazing sparring partner someone's like come on man get back up wow get back up would have never made it watch the drone if this is the world putting pressure on us like that kanye's just meant to mentor me through his decisions and and i studied i study the game overall but i study him you know very closely and although good competition can be healthy there have been times where it got a little more than personal after the release of pusha t's 2018 album drake went on to defend himself against a diss track produced by none other than yay in which kanye is caught in the crossfire it's only then that pusho responded with another lethal verse exposing drake's secret child and accusing the rap icon of being a deadbeat dad drake doesn't respond in the booth but takes to lebron's podcast to accuse kanye of telling push about his kid to this day kanye insists he was never the one to tell push about drake's son and would prefer to let the beef rest so long as drake would quit messing with those in his life dropping a verse full of sneak disses on travis scott's sicko mode which was a pretty big power move seeing that kanye basically mentored travis at the start of his career kanye responded on twitter and later went on to accuse drake of furthering rumors that he had slept with his wife drake is like you know i never kim but i was like but you acted like you did you got bars it's like hidden hills give your wife to chills you doing all kind of it's like somebody throwing a marble and hiding a hand or something like that it's like you all that's disrespectful i actually had this conversation we had this conversation and this is all and to the point where can be like i don't listen to this no more this [ __ ] i can like and like we ain't never really like we we never really had that conversation at all i never came right no but what about order did you ever dm her did you ever you know i'm saying everything else around it you know because it ain't about just the actual act of it so you could be sitting there like diddy did he not that's worse than if you i would rather you did and i just actually had to just deal with the deal with the finality culminating at the end of the year when kanye released a lift yourself where he rapped about poop over a beat he had previously promised drake absolute legend like when we talk about the drake thing it like it hits me in a really sensitive place because you like hang around people and they come to your house and be around your family and this and that and then they get mad about a beat and then send you purple demon emojis and it's like what i was saying earlier is like i don't play like that but between every last controversy that would fill the summer of 2018 kanye was hard at work doing what he does best actual music that year kanye flung himself into his work producing a myriad of albums including daytona by pusha t nasir by nas by tiana taylor kids see ghosts by him and kid cudi as well as his own project simply titled yay being his last studio record since pablo people weren't sure what to expect especially after everything going on with twitter at a crisp 24 minutes long the album takes an uneasy plunge into the darkest corners of kanye's mind outlining his bipolarism and providing a snapshot into his contemptible thought process at the time with the first track i thought about killing you being exactly what you'd think it is the chilling instrumental is accompanied by kanye's dark thoughts of suicide compared to feelings of premeditated murder yay is being fully open about the most taboo areas of his soul it's arguable that the word you is indicative of his ulterior personality giving an even more extensive idea of his apparent mental disarray it's eerily personal to the point where it's almost awkward but serves as the perfect introduction to an album that's just that a look into a troubled and otherwise broken man practically begging to be heard the tragic ghost town can be summed up as kanye's attempt to move on from the eternal pain and suffering that comes as a product of bipolarism despite the mental prison he's fallen victim to ultimately he just wants to let go of the fear and let god take control of his life again returning to those christian roots in a time in which the media couldn't be more hostile the kid county feature also works as a teaser for their joint project kids see ghosts which may be one of my favorite kanye albums to date just for how deeply personal the lyrics are especially coming off the heels of them both being admitted to mental facilities just a few years prior as the project consists of cuddy's godly lyrics layered over kanye's violent and loud production the album plays to each of their musical strengths the highly introspective record is jam-packed with meaningful lines that signal kanye's view of himself as cited in countless interviews yay has compared himself to a child he's always been in tune with his younger self so in a way he and cudi are just kids who can see things that not everyone can both albums prove that kanye will never let anything get in the way of making impactful music that entertain millions while challenging the very fundamentals of pop culture or at least most of the time kanye west announced his ninth studio album yandi in august of 2018 set to be released initially on september 28th of that year only once the date finally rolled out fans were shocked to discover what happened next so you said the album was coming out on saturday it didn't come out what happened um i didn't finish it jesus christ but it also wouldn't be the first time in fact his scrap discography is almost as long as his actual one with lost albums dating back almost an entire decade kanye has always been a perfectionist so naturally that gives way to a myriad of unreleased tracks that were either reworked into commercialized songs or trashed completely kanye's vision comes above all else so if he ever feels a product is not living up to his standards it'll be cast aside without so much of the second thought whether it's a single featuring kid cudi and michael jackson or an entire album with paul mccartney kanye is going to do what kanye wants to do at the end of the day because although we didn't get yandi we sure as [ __ ] got something else [Applause] on october 25th 2019 kanye would release yet another tumultuous creation that would divide not only the hip-hop community but yay fans on a more compact scale i mean it's not that rappers hadn't done gospel albums before the medium definitely existed before jesus is king but for kanye to take such a daring plunge into this direction spoke wonders of his character whether it be for better or for worse overnight kanye west completing the second part of his sunday service at joel osteen's lakewood church with this riveting performance the fane pair welcomed more than 15 thousand ticket holders as wes spoke about his renewed journey towards christianity all of that arrogance and confidence and cockiness that y'all seen me use before god is now using for him i'd watch kanye's journey as he began to you know turn toward the lord and he reaches people that we will never reach in the church world though it's been made very clear that he's always lived by his own personal interpretation of the bible and religion which would predictably make for a very interesting product if you go back and listen to the yandi leaks you can tell where a lot of the changes were made with verses from nicki minaj and xxx tentacion removed completely due to the large amount of swearing one could argue jesus's king is just one of many ways kanye has attempted to rekindle the love and respect he has for his mother who cemented christianity into him as a child it's him setting aside the ego that has become intertwined with his reputation and attributing his enormous success to a higher power making for a compelling listening experience regardless of your own views on spirituality since kanye has always struggled with being christ-like it's not surprising he would want to venture down this path after the roller coaster of her career and a personal life no one on the outside could even fathom yay is finally ready to give his life to god and use his influence to serve at him and although it may have divided a lot of fans i don't personally see an issue with kanye producing gospel music just as long as his art stays true and honest to himself something i don't think we'll ever have to worry about i have decided in 2020 to run for president so remember that line from life of pablo about running the 2020 election he wasn't kidding on the fitting dates of july 4th 2020 kanye west made the official announcement to twitter that he would be joining the race for president of the united states now right off the bat it's important to note that this was months after primaries had concluded with voting day in november quickly approaching yay it didn't exactly have much time to cement a fleshed out campaign a late registration i guess you could say like this video is long and i'm going insane to his credit he was the only candidate who made flashing lights unfortunately though saint pablo only managed to garner a fraction of the votes across the country probably because he was counted off the ballot in numerous states graciously accepting defeats and promising to try his luck again in 2024 all i could say is godspeed you crazy bastard i am kanye west and i approve this message but before leaving twitter at the end of that year he did make a very specific announcement that caught the attention of countless fans posting this supposed track list in july of 2020 it seemed a new album may have been on the horizon after all ditching the previously teased gods country and hinting at a new project at one point titled dondo with child accompanied by this cover luckily fans got to hear it in august of the next year yeah i hate this man sometimes it was clear that 2021 would be another turbulent year for mr west when his partner of the previous decade filed for divorce in february of that year after months of rumors kim kardashian formally requested joint custody of their four children with neither party contesting a prenup the divorce seemed to be going as smoothly as it could with the true details behind the split being up in the air to this day i don't feel comfortable sitting here and speculating on the private details of their relationship the specific reasons behind their divorce is none of the public's business but it's fair to say the highly publicized nature of this seven year marriage coming to an untimely end was sure to leave an impact on the artist my kids want their parents to stay together i want their parents i want us to be together but if you like me together too if you look at the media that's not what they promoting that's not what they want they want it to be a new wedding a new episode a new tv show and then they have people all around and my wife here you know say this is publicist that's next to her i don't [ __ ] with her really that was as clear as you could say kanye went back to finishing the music he had promoted the previous year reallocating those negative emotions and pouring his candid feelings into an album that would break records and rebuild the reputation that had deteriorated somewhat in the rap community since jesus is king sure he had released a few singles over 2020 and he co-produced little not sex as industry baby but no one really knew what to expect in terms of a full-on album i'm sure kanye himself was the first to recognize the reception of jesus's king wasn't the best and knew that in order to move forward his comeback couldn't be overlooked and this is a perfect time for me to come back because you got to understand i was jay and then they started making more yays you get rocky dressing better than me tyler making better videos great more records virgil higher position in fashion j cole more backpack or kendrick better bars i literally had to go like thanos and i don't want to have to be the villain but when i went and did the donda thing yay returned [Music] on july 18th 2021 a member of kanye's inner circle justin la boye published a series of tweets regarding the artist's upcoming project revealing it yay had given him and kevin durant an exclusive taste of new music in las vegas noting the production is light years ahead of its time and the bars sound like he's broke and hungry trying to get signed again that following day pusha t took to instagram to announce a public listening event for kanye's 10th studio album that was said to take place just three days later at mercedes-benz stadium in atlanta georgia the very birthplace of mr west himself atlanta not not the stadium the very rollout of donda an album that sought to honor his late mother's legacy and influence was in itself a commentary on the media's portrayal of his actions without doing any interviews kanye still garnered enough press to spread the news of donda worldwide in spite of the cryptic circumstances thousands of fans filed into the falcons stadium in july welcomed by a kanye dressed in all red with a notably covered face as if to put the emphasis on the music rather than him as an individual the blank stage representing an empty canvas without saying a single word kanye west debuted the first public iteration of donda to a packed stadium in his hometown which in itself was an impressive feat regardless of your views on the man for an artist to pull so many tickets in such little time without saying even a single word was just unprecedented after presenting a series of rough verses laid over flawed and unfinished beats audiences anxiously awaited the album's release on streaming services only they didn't get it i didn't finish it truthfully the thing wasn't anywhere near finished and kanye needed some time to flesh things out hilariously retreating to the stadium locker rooms to re-record remix and rewrite the bulk of the album during this time kanye went on to sell out two more listening parties as we were given the chance to see donda evolve and change in real time conveying his unparalleled work ethic over the course of a constant apple music live stream documenting his entire progress with each passing moment it started to seem like donda may actually be coming with the hour and 48 minute journey into kanye's flaws triumphs insecurities and spiritual convictions finally seeing the light of day on august 29th 2021 [Music] can be considered a balanced culmination of kanye's entire body of work to date beginning by honoring his late mother with its opening track donda chant themes of family death and rebirth through christ are woven throughout the dark solemn project making donda a gospel album masquerading as hip-hop with its impressive featureless rivaling that of twisted fantasy and pablo i think in terms of scope it's generally agreed that donda is kanye's most grandiose project in years with kanye and his older brother collaborating for the first time in nearly a decade on the song jail being flown in to record his verse just hours ahead of the track's debut jay-z goes on to use a series of double entendres to create a connection between himself and his faith shortly before reassuring donda west herself that he's taking good care of her son while she's in heaven persuading him to back off the politics and return to the industry in which he pioneered the track serves not only as a reuniting between two icons who essentially made each other's career what it is today but also as kanye's returned to his roots as a musician making for a fitting introduction to the donda narrative jail really grounds us in the initial conflict of the album as kanye starts to examine not just issues he's having in his romantic relationship but potentially issues with the overall public and culture the first few songs exhibit a dark and ominous sound assisted by a brooding baseline of the third track god breathed with its minimalistic drums reminiscent of something off a darker 808s in heartbreak recorded during the jesus king sessions in 2019 the track features unnerving vocal sampling interspersed between kanye's pleas for the listener to trust in god referring back to the bible verse it's named after which i guess anyone could expect from an album with so many religious undertones much like 2004 as jesus walks the tracks off donda aren't your traditional gospel tunes the fourth track off the grid summarizes kanye's attempt at a more modern rap sound thanks to a charged feature from playboy cardi adding to this thing's high energy it's also the chicago rapper trying his hand at drill the original version of the song was leaked at the end of 2020 when a belgian youtuber recorded the song blaring through the walls of kanye's overseas hotel and at that time it was believed to be a leak from cardi's album a whole lotta red in which kanye executive produced the song was in the works for a long time though the additional guest feature from drill artist five eoforin wasn't added until the album's release i don't know how you think gay talk right but he texts me like yo this is yay how you doing may i call you like very like oh really professional i'm like because i saw a recent gay text that just said uh stop texting find god yeah oh not here gemina right that's how you true gemini it was like it was like real personal like he wanted to like get to know me he wanted to get to know each other like and vibe out more than anything that's why i think the song came off so good cause so hard iraq is tough he was like like it was like personal like he was dead then we kept going like three times saying like yo what got more he like keep going keep going it was crazy he had like 15 engineers have you ever seen anything like this before no this is crazy it was like it was like a factory music making factory it was crazy with the overall track demonstrating the grander theme of donda which is kanye's attempt to find a balance between the fast-paced self-indulgent lifestyle he craves and the christ-driven one he needs grappling with recent personal tragedies like losing kim in the lesser-known track never abandon your family off the extended cut of donda it's here that yay gets more personal than anyone could have seen coming painstakingly reciting the words i'm losing my family through tears over and over although some have speculated that the song is about kim others have argued it's about losing his mother with her own voice echoing throughout the track most notably at the end when the words no matter what you never abandon your family are chanted almost an uncomfortable amount of times regardless of who specifically the track is geared towards the sentiment of kanye losing those who he's closest to is echoed throughout the fact remains that kanye is in the midst of a divorce with the mother of his four children the last thing he wants is to repeat the mistakes of his father yet here he is finding himself directly opposed to the words taught by his mother whether he likes it or not the family theme hardly stops there however as he's made it clear in recent interviews that his home is wherever his children are during the second listening party he can be seen in the direct middle of the stadium surrounded by the only items he truly needs with the lighting depicting that of a jail cell not unlike the name of the opening song or the tiny locker room he's been living in this may all be a metaphor for his mental state at the time of his writing trapped within himself unable to break free of the emotional torment brought on by not only his recent divorce from kim but even his mother's untimely death while she may have passed over a decade ago just the pure existence of this project is enough proof to me that she has stayed with him ever since the album may aim to aid kanye's reputation in the music world as well as push the hip hop game forward with its impressive roster of features and diverse sound but it also serves as a way for kanye to finally publicly come to terms with his mother's fate as it's clear he's lashed out in a variety of other ways since 2007 donda the album is kanye's clearest attempt to accept his grave circumstances and move forward in the only way he knows how by surrendering his life to a higher being and maintaining faith that everything will be okay in the end [Music] [Applause] or personally i just like the random baby keem tame impala ad-lib hey baby king what did you mean by team impala after releasing a new line of clothes causing gap stock price to soar and to changing his legal name to yay the artist went on to found donda academy a school built on finding the intersection between faith and the innovation of the future already signing a myriad of top rated high school basketball players to its ranks not to mention his release of pocket-sized stem players that allow users to mix and match stems from any track to build new songs out of pre-existing ones technology that up until this point has never been readily accessible to the regular person giving average producers the ability to craft their own songs the very same way kanye did at the start of his career going on to extend an olive branch to his longtime rival he and drake closed out the year with a dedicated performance in los angeles to raise awareness for larry hoover's cause a moment in music that will undoubtedly go down in history if not for the symbolism of two icons finally settling their differences but for all the memes made about drake's performance i guess kanye had tricked drake into a versus after all you know if every time someone asks you a question you try to say the right answer your entire life is a test and when did you have the most anxiety in grammar school in high school no questions on test day so your entire life become this test i ain't trying to say the right answer i am just doing what i feel my mama said trying is failing there is no ifs words goods shoulds it just is and we just are [Music] gay is among the most perplexing artists of all time with his name being synonymous with polarization not only within music but pop culture as a whole yeah he's one of the few musicians who can maintain an unpredictable career filled with controversy and turmoil while still commanding respect from mainstream audiences in fact his overwhelming commercial viability is in part due to that brazen characteristic he so routinely exhibited his unfiltered tangents and exploits are rooted in the same egomania that drives him to such impressive heights creatively over the last two decades kanye west has personified the meaning of limitless art breaking the arbitrary boundaries of what we deem acceptable by reshaping an entire genre of music and setting a precedent for future talents to come whether you think his arrogance is justified is out of the question his influence ranges beyond music spilling over into innumerable industries and placing kanye west at the forefront of our modern culture to some he's an unhinged madman while to others he's a misunderstood artist tortured by his own mind living to subvert the expectations of everyone around him you can criticize praise quote or attack kanye all you want but the one thing none of us can do is ignore him and that to me is the mark of a true genius [Music] if you guys don't know kanye and i are the biggest fans of family feud what'd you say earlier you waited your whole life and we all on the plane back we saw arguing about what were the best movies and all my best movies are like coming to america meet the parents and all jay's movies is like gangster movies he's like godfather one two uh casino scarface goodfellas i was like hey jay you like any movies about like regular people reflecting now do you still believe george bush doesn't care about black people [Music] i mean i have a i have a hard time believing that george bush cares about anyone so jay is quality's favorite rapper 50 is eminem's favorite rapper and i'm my favorite rapper the next stage of my career you know i'm always looking for new ideas fresh ideas because you know basically i've accomplished in two years but it takes you know artists 10 years 20 years so you know let me figure out what else i'm going to do you know you know we won grammys number one records you know my first album came out less than two years ago mind you um how do i figure out something good to do [Music]

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Length: 122min 41sec (7361 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 22 2022