By Kelley L. Carter
Detroit Free Press
October 16, 2005
Kanye West has something to rap about. Critics and fans alike
knew that from the first spins of "Through the Wire," the debut single the hip-hop
producer released under his own name in 2004 at a time when he was known mostly
for the studio work he did for other artists.
| Kanye West |
|
8 p.m. Saturday
Fox Theatre
2211 Woodward, Detroit
313-983-6611
$43, $58
7:30 p.m. Nov. 11
Jack Breslin Student Events Center
Michigan State University, East Lansing
800-968-2737
$32.50, $41.50
|
| |
| Kanye West |
|
Age: 28
Background: Born in Atlanta, raised in Chicago.
Debut Album: "The College Dropout," which sold nearly
three million copies and earned 10 Grammy nominations.
Current Album: "Late Registration," which has the potential
to be one of the biggest albums of the year.
Biggest singles as an artist: "Gold Digger," "Jesus
Walks," "All Falls Down," "Slow Jamz," "Through the Wire."
Biggest singles as a producer: "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" by
Jay-Z and "You Don't Know My Name" by Alicia Keys.
Artists he's sampled: The Jackson 5, the Doors, Shirley
Bassey, Chaka Khan, Ray Charles, Curtis Mayfield and the Temptations,
to name a few.
Kanye West speaks ...
Before Kanye West's controversial Hurricane Katrina
comments, he stopped in Detroit at a listening party for his new album:
Outspoken? Yep.
On getting censored by radio and music video outlets:
"On MTV, when they played 'All Falls Down,' they bleep out where it says
'And the white man gets paid off of all of that.' And on Canada radio,
I just found out that on 'Gold Digger,' they bleep out when I say 'Leave
your ass for a white girl.' I understand the word 'ass.' But white girl?
That line would only be offensive to black guys that left their black
girlfriends for white women. But I don't have anything against interracial
relationships. If that's what you want to do, that's what you're going
to do. I just talked about it."
On rap newcomers: "It's tough now that I'm out. You
got to actually say something. And you got to put real story lines behind
your movie."
On how he had to fight to get "Jesus Walks" on his
debut album, "The College Dropout." (It ultimately became a hit.): "I
always have stuff that's too racy or too cutting edge. And people will
hear it and be like 'That'll be the end of your career.' I remember when
people said 'Jesus Walks' was scary. They said, 'That's nice, but that's
scary.' "
On what critics could possibly say about his new album:
"If there were flaws in this album, it's like, why even ... why?"
On blowing his budget and spending $2 million in order
to make "Late Registration" -- and getting away with it: "I would hate
to not be me."
On people telling him to just stick to producing, rather
than rapping: "I'm like the dude that can't really play basketball that
well, but it's my ball. So I have to play as long as I have the ball.
But now, I know I'm going to get picked."
By Kelley L. Carter
|
In song, he touches on topics dealing with spirituality,
racism and issues plaguing U.S. inner cities.
And in public forums, he has talked politics, most recently
making controversial comments blasting the federal government's response to
Hurricane Katrina, suggesting that it and the news media coverage of the disaster
were racist. West is considered a conscious rapper, someone who stays away from
constantly rhyming about money, women and drugs or glorifying a gangsta sensibility.
Instead, he makes what many consider backpack hip-hop: the kind of go-against-the-grain
music that often has a hard time getting airtime on radio and selling.
Still, his does. His 2004 debut "College Dropout" sold nearly
3 millions copies. His current album, "Late Registration," has been in the Top
10 since its debut six weeks ago, and is expected to be one of the biggest albums
of the year. (It debuted at No. 1, selling an impressive 860,000 copies in its
first week alone.)
West's successes have afforded him the chance to headline
his first major U.S. tour for arenas and large theater venues, playing Saturday
at Detroit's Fox Theatre. He comes back to Michigan Nov. 11 to play at the Jack
Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.
One thing is certain: Hip-hop just happens to be the forum
that West uses to let people know his take on politics, social injustices, relationships
and racism.
There's no gimmick to that, says West. What he says, he means.
And editing it would undercut its intent.
"God taps me on my shoulder sometimes and says, 'Yo, I want
you to talk about this,' " West says. "And the way He does it, it's ... more
like He places angels in my life, and it feels like the movie the 'Sixth Sense.'...
He is like, 'This is for you to deliver.' "
The rapper ad-libbed some pretty shocking statements during
a live telethon to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina. A visibly emotional
West also expressed his disgust at media portrayals of black and white victims.
"I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black
family, it says, 'They're looting.' You see a white family, it says, 'They're
looking for food,' " he said on the NBC program. "And, you know it's been five
days because most of the people are black. And even for me to complain about
it, I would be a hypocrite because I've tried to turn away from the TV because
it's too hard to watch."
West continued talking. His cohost, actor Mike Myers, stuck
to script and was clearly startled. When the camera came back to West, he again
deviated from the prepared words, delivering the sentence that has had many
playing back their TiVos, downloading footage online and calling and e-mailing
friends who missed it:
"George Bush doesn't care about black people."
In a way, the telethon flap was a mainstream look inside
the rapper's mind, a mixture of truth and personal conspiracy theories rooted
in America's racist history. The comments fit into the context of who West has
always been: someone who follows his own instincts for good or for ill -- in
politics, music or whatever.
"Late Registration" is a essentially a soundtrack of urban
blight and the desire for a better life. There's sadness, there's pain, there's
humor, history, hope and celebration. In a spoken-word delivery, West spits
verses over melodic 40-piece string sets, 30-piece horn sets and DJ scratches,
giving birth -- in a way -- to a new sound for hip-hop. His album is a catalyst
for an everyman political platform.
"My subject matter," says West, who talked to the Free Press
two weeks before his Katrina comments, "is like a politician. And it's basically
like if you -- the fan -- were talking to the screen. I'm speaking for that
person over these beats."
West has rarely spoken about the televised incident, but
did say during a BET marathon a week later: "I just let my heart speak for itself
without thinking about my image or how it's going to hurt me financially. I
felt the world needed to hear from me ... I just do it, and I say what I really
feel."
The president's wife, Laura Bush, spoke out against West's
remarks in an interview with American Urban Radio Networks six days after the
first telethon, saying: "Of course President Bush cares about everyone in our
country, and I know that. I know what he's like and I know what he thinks and
I know how he cares about people."
As ill-timed as West's outspokenness might have been -- his
album was released the same week -- commercially it didn't hurt him at all.
His single, "Gold Digger," which has been on the charts for 13 weeks, remains
the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. His album is No. 6.
"For the most part, I feel like me and Kanye pretty much
speak from the heart," says rapper Consequence, formerly of rap group A Tribe
Called Quest. Consequence, who is featured on both of West's albums, is performing
a set with West on the current tour.
"What's in your heart is just what's on your brain, as far
as how you feel. How can you be mad at me for being honest? I just told you
how I felt. Backlash is something that I wouldn't even pay attention to. I know
if I said something that is for real, I honor that. At the end of the day, I
got to be content with myself."
Still, words sting. And they resonate near and far, especially
if you're someone who Time magazine voted one of the 100 Most Influential People
in the World.
More than a month has passed since West's on-air pontification
and folks are still talking about it in online forums, in the media and in the
privacy of their homes.
"There are different rules in entertainment regarding morality
and responsibility in speech," says Mike Paul, a New York-based reputation management
expert who has worked with hip-hop celebrities and artists like Aretha Franklin.
"But if he wants to branch out and do other things, the audiences
don't just include those who are just 18 to 35 and black. Or those who like
urban music. You want to start doing things with sponsors? Like family-oriented
businesses? That's not an option for him right now."
And in some cases, it solidifies your position: Though he
has a multicultural audience -- he's even doing dates with rockers U2 and has
talked with Chris Martin of Coldplay about touring with his group -- his core
is a young black and largely liberal audience, who in many ways share his on-air
sentiment.
Even some who come from a conservative point of view think
it's honorable, in a way, to exercise free speech.
"The most dangerous thing for our democracy is having people
who don't care at all about politics. Second to that is having leaders -- whether
musicians, politicians, or teachers -- who say things only to excite their audience
for personal gain. You may disagree with Kanye's statement about Bush, and I
do, but he has a right to say what he wants," says Drew Bon, CEO of www.townhall.com,
a conservative online forum.
"What's more concerning to me is not what he said, but that
so many African Americans seem to agree with him. While I don't know the president
personally, I can't imagine that he doesn't care about black people. You can
argue over which party or politician has the best ideas, but to say that they
don't care about a certain population is a bit extreme."
Extreme or not, it hasn't stalled the rapper at all. Since
the brouhaha, he's made fun of himself, most notably on "Saturday Night Live,"
where he was a musical guest.
Although he's been reluctant to speak with media outlets
since the outburst, he did make an appearance on "Ellen": "If I can have the
opportunity to talk, I'm like, yo ... don't ask me to talk if you don't want
me to be sincere," he said in response to people who criticized his comments.
That sounds like West. T3 of the Detroit hip-hop duo Slum
Village says that West is not a shy guy. T3 worked with West on his group's
last album, work that resulted in one of its best-received singles, last summer's
"Selfish."
"He's just a guy who just goes for it," T3 says. "He's aggressive and it works for him. I just like what he's
done for hip-hop. I think sometimes with certain hip-hop artists they just play
the background and kind of hope that somebody acknowledges them. But he's just
one of those guys who takes it. He's like, 'Hey, this is what I do, deal with
it.'"
Contact KELLEY L. CARTER at 313-222-8854 or carter@freepress.com.
Copyright © 2005 Detroit Free Press Inc.
