Is Kanye the most talented musician of the century so far?

Author: Vader

Posts

Total: 10
Vader
Vader's avatar
Debates: 30
Posts: 14,429
5
8
11
Vader's avatar
Vader
5
8
11
Despit the fact the man is a bit mad, I think Kanye West is one of the most talented musicians of all time. He has produced since the late 90s, is a great hip hop artist, and stirs away from the norms. In 2010, instead of the normal rap, he created a 30min ballad. Now in 2019 when drugs and money dominate rap, his album with choirs and church music is dominated. he is not someone who likes to follow the norm that is forced upon the rap world, giving him an unique taste different from other rappers 

All of his albums are produced by himself, and various artists he worked with have productions by him. Pusha T, Drake, Rihanna,Tyga, John Legend, and Jay Z. He has earned the respect from the likes of the best MC’s for his production, hence he can make great music for others to enjoy and rap over whatever he creates to it too

Kanye also crated the way for modern rap and brought auto tune into the industry. You can argue if it was helpful, but it was revolutionary and it caused a wave of new rappers like Lil Uzi, Travis Scott, and Juice WRLD to use and take advantage of it. He brought light to a new type of music and he took real courage doing it at his time period. While these sad rappers are criticized, Kanye is different due to the soul he brang and his unique style that formed over tons of young rapper. His sad lyrics go deeper into his struggles versus other 2D artist that state the lyric on the spot

His albums have also meaning/themes to them. He doesn’t like confrontation to societal norms, and one of his deepest songs “Good Morning,” talks about he wants to differ from the norm. Graduation is his deepest album diving into the roots of where he is from and his life. TCD and LR are examples of his creativity and his uniqueness to the game as a come up kid from chicago. 808s and MBDTF deal with the struggle of love and what he was going through with the death of his mother and the breakup of his girlfriend. It deviates from the norm of hip hop culture and he shifted attitudes. He started a genre of heartbreak with deep emotions in his vocals. YEEZUS and PABLO are example of modern society getting to him and the negative impact they had on him. Ye and JIK is recognizing his problem with himself and trying to find a solution for it. Even JIK had good songs, follow god and closed on Sunday are all good tunes. He tried to shed light on his life and his sickness, where he hopes god is the answer. Ye is one of his best albums. Melodic talking about serious topics with a mellow vibe and a mix of rap and lyrical rap

So is Ye the best musician of the 21st century. He had the production and musical value checked off, and he had the lyricism part checked off as well. With a shifting demographic of people respect rap music, he could be extremely influencial




SirAnonymous
SirAnonymous's avatar
Debates: 3
Posts: 4,140
3
7
10
SirAnonymous's avatar
SirAnonymous
3
7
10
-->
@Vader
While I don't doubt that he's talented, he's nowhere near the best. Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman are still alive and well. The largely unknown but incredibly talented Matt Smith has released a series of brilliant albums with his band Theocracy. Michael Sweet is probably considered 20th century, but his latest writing for Stryper is better than ever. John Williams continues to write stirring strains. Ultimately, the "best" musician is a subjective idea. So far as popular music goes, Kanye could be the best, but overall, I think there are a lot of musicians better than him.
Vader
Vader's avatar
Debates: 30
Posts: 14,429
5
8
11
Vader's avatar
Vader
5
8
11
-->
@SirAnonymous
I will also have to go by a bit of popularity. Kanye's album are highly touted as some of the best of the Decade. MBDTF is highly considered the #1 album of the decade by Rolling Stone and Billboard with true genius lyricism and beat production with great mixing of rock and rap, while Yeezus is a top 10 in lots of cases
RationalMadman
RationalMadman's avatar
Debates: 555
Posts: 19,351
10
11
11
RationalMadman's avatar
RationalMadman
10
11
11
please do go ahead and compare a kanye west rap to this:

he has his music made for him, mixed for him, distributed for him and most of his (still shit) lyrics are written for him, meaning he struggles to even come up with unoriginal things on his own LOL


don't know who told you that nonsense, Kanye has never ever claimed to be self-made in any sense of the term


the highlight of his career was making the kardashians famous by a sex tape


For those Yeezy fans who may have thought different, it's true. Kanye West does NOT write all of his rhymes.



let me tell you something this is when you know a real rap god:
15 minutes straight fire, 2 of them at it don't even tell Kanye can step to 1 minute of that; writing, memorising, finessing the delivery and everything!


you think kanye can step to eminem? pointless to even bring it up, think he can step to lil wayne even? Lil Wayne can't rap that well, he'd still run circles around West. Fact.


Kanye West could outrap some mumble rappers, no doubt. He probably can outrap non-mumblers who are still complete crap like Meek Mills and Birdman but when we start going slightly above that, we're at West's peer group. When we push further up, oh lord, you can't even comprehend how low on the overall food chain he is. I would argue that Lil Uzi Vert can outrap West when put to the test, he has some creative af lines when he wants to.

987 days later

Lair77
Lair77's avatar
Debates: 4
Posts: 97
0
1
4
Lair77's avatar
Lair77
0
1
4
Maybe not most talented.  He's not the most technically proficient at rapping, singing or writing. 

But in terms of influence, yes he was one of the most influential.  College Dropout, 808's and Heartbreaks, and Graduation were all albums that significantly changed the landscape of music.  It wouldn't even be much of a stretch to call 808's the most influential album of the past 20 years.

His antics and subpar releases the past several years have dampened his legacy a little bit though.
Lair77
Lair77's avatar
Debates: 4
Posts: 97
0
1
4
Lair77's avatar
Lair77
0
1
4
-->
@Vader
MBDTF is highly considered the #1 album of the decade by Rolling Stone and Billboard
I remember Kanye said MBDTF was one of his least progressive albums.  And I agree.  His other albums challenged conventions and influenced other artists to expand into different genres as well.

MBDTF is basically the album everyone expected and wanted.  I can see why lists rate it as his best album.  It's a safe pop album that was designed to be agreeable to as many people as possible.  It had polished production, radio hits and a few songs with good lyrics.  It followed conventions, but just executed them very well. 
Vader
Vader's avatar
Debates: 30
Posts: 14,429
5
8
11
Vader's avatar
Vader
5
8
11
-->
@Lair77
I compare Kanye West to a lion. A lion is not the strongest, fastest, or biggest in the jungle, but is still the king due to the mentality he has. That's how i feel about Kanye
Lair77
Lair77's avatar
Debates: 4
Posts: 97
0
1
4
Lair77's avatar
Lair77
0
1
4
I'd argue his mentality is his weakest component.  Over the years, his ego has caused him to be lazier musically.  He often leaves his projects unfinished and unpolished because he thinks he's such a genius and his albums have a brilliant vision, regardless of the execution.

On Yeezus, he wrote and record most of the album's lyrics in just 2 hours, the weekend before it released.  And it shows...

On both Ye and JIK, he scrapped the previous project he was working on, re-recorded and rushed the album out the door before there was any time to properly mix and master them.   His vocals on several tracks sounded like he recorded it at his home studio and mixed it himself.

For the past few album cycles, he would announce his album is coming out next week, when it's not even mastered yet, resulting in delays and his studio engineers being rushed.


Vader
Vader's avatar
Debates: 30
Posts: 14,429
5
8
11
Vader's avatar
Vader
5
8
11
-->
@Lair77
By mentality, I mean like creativity
Shila
Shila's avatar
Debates: 0
Posts: 2,736
3
3
5
Shila's avatar
Shila
3
3
5
The genius and talent of Kanye West is undeniable, regardless of whether or not people like him. He checks off every box and is the best artist of this century and one of the best of all time. Kanye West defines greatness in his music, and he has done more than enough to earn the title of “Greatest Artist of This Century”. Nobody else really comes close.