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The following biography
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Wikipedia.org
“The
Free Encyclopedia.”
Kanye West (pronounced KAHN-yay) (born
Kanye Omari West, June 8, 1977 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American music
producer and rapper from Chicago, Illinois.
Previously best known for producing hit
singles for Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, and Ludacris, Kanye himself worked on a
solo album for a long period of time, having the release pushed back
time and time again. A car crash on October 23, 2002 left his jaw
fractured in three places. With his mouth still wired shut and only
weeks after having an encounter with death, Kanye West began recording
"Through The Wire," reliving his near-fatal accident. "Through The
Wire", which sampled Chaka Khan's classic track "Through The Fire",
would eventually become his lead single from The College Dropout, which
was released on Roc-a-Fella Records in February 2004.
West also has his own clothing line -
"Pastel Clothing" , and his own record label - "G.O.O.D. Music" (an
acronym for Getting Out Our Dreams), under which John Legend's platinum
selling debut album Get Lifted has been released, along with Common's
latest album - "Be". Other artists on his label include Keyshia Cole,
GLC, Consequence, and Farnsworth Bentley.
Kanye West is currently finishing his
follow-up studio album, Late Registration, due for release on August
30th, 2005. He recently released the first two singles from Late
Registration, "Diamonds (From Sierra Leone)" (which sampled Shirley
Bassey's "Diamonds Are Forever") and "Gold Digger" (which sampled Ray
Charles's "I Got a Woman"). West's 3rd and 4th albums will be titled
"Graduation" and "Good Ass Job", respectively.
In 2005, Kanye West received ten Grammy
Award nominations, making him the most nominated artist of 2005. He
received two nominations in the Album of the Year category, one for The
College Dropout, and one for his work on Alicia Keys' album The Diary of
Alicia Keys. His work with pop icon Janet Jackson also earned him a
nomination for her single I Want You, produced by West, which was
nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
At the 47th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony
held on February 13, 2005, Kanye won Best Rap Album for his album The
College Dropout and Best Rap Song for his single "Jesus Walks".
In 2004, Kanye appeared on MTV's prank
show, Punk'd. Ashton Kutcher tricked Kanye into thinking that his music
video shoot for the song "Jesus Walks" was censored by the Los Angeles
Film Commission due to a "rule" about filming on Sundays without a
permit. To the audience's amusement, Kanye stole back the music video
footage from them and then jumped into his van for his safety until
Ashton Kutcher stopped the van.
Kanye has collaborated with numerous
artists including rapper Twista, on songs such as "Overnight Celebrity"
and "Slow Jamz" (also featuring Jamie Foxx) - which reached #1 on the
Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. Kanye also features on Brandy's single,
"Talk About Our Love". Some of the many other artists he has worked with
include Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, Dilated Peoples, Mariah Carey and John
Legend.
* * * *
Political views
On 2 July 2005 West appeared on the
Philadelphia bill of Live 8, using the global platform to refer to
"man-made diseases placed in African communities", expressing his belief
that AIDS was created by the U.S. government to exterminate Africans in
Africa. He made the parallel between the government using AIDS to
exterminate Africans and using crack to destroy African-American
communities and halt the civil rights movement. He also criticised
politicians for "riding home in their Benzs and Bentleys while poor
Africans starve".
In a recent MTV interview, West criticised
rappers of discriminating against homosexuals, "Not just hip-hop, but
America just discriminates. And I [wanted to just] come on TV and just
tell my rappers, just tell my friends, 'Yo, stop it.'" GLAAD recently
recognized West for these comments, and for the tolerant views that he
models.
[Added by PSP: Kanye made a stir in early
Sept. 2005 when he criticized President Bush's handling of Hurricane
Katrina Disaster by saying it was because he did not like blacks]
Discography
Studio albums:
2004: The College Dropout #2 US, #12 UK (RIAA
certification: 2x platinum)
2005: Late Registration
2006: Graduation
TBA: A Good Ass Job
Compilations:
2005: Freshmen Adjustment
Mixtapes:
I'm Good
Get Well Soon
2003: Kanye West presents: The Lost Tapes
2005: The Late Mixtape
Singles
|
Year |
Title |
Chart positions |
Album |
|
US Hot 100 |
US R&B/Hip-Hop |
US Rap |
UK |
|
2004 |
"Through the Wire" |
#15 |
#8 |
#4 |
#9 |
The College Dropout |
|
2004 |
"All Falls Down" (feat. Syleena
Johnson) |
#7 |
#4 |
#2 |
#10 |
The College Dropout |
|
2004 |
"Jesus Walks" |
#11 |
#2 |
#3 |
#16 |
The College Dropout |
|
2004 |
"The New Workout Plan" |
- |
#60 |
- |
- |
The College Dropout |
|
2005 |
"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" |
#43 |
?? |
?? |
#8 |
Late Registration |
|
2005 |
"Gold Digger" (feat. Jamie Foxx) |
#27 |
#3 |
#3 |
?? |
Late Registration |
* * * *
Awards
His complete 2004 Grammy
nominations were:
-
Album of the Year for
The Diary Of Alicia Keys (as a producer)
-
Album of the Year for
The College Dropout
-
Song of the Year for
Jesus Walks
-
Best New Artist
-
Best R&B Song for You
Don't Know My Name (as a songwriter)
-
Best Rap Solo
Performance for Through The Wire
-
Best Rap/Sung
Collaboration for All Falls Down
-
Best Rap/Sung
Collaboration for Slow Jamz
-
Best Rap Song for Jesus
Walks
-
Best Rap Album for The
College Dropout
-
Kanye took home three
Grammys in 2004: Best Rap Song for "Jesus Walks," Best Rap Album for
"The College Dropout," and Best R&B Song for producing Alicia Keys'
"You Don't Know My Name."
-
Janet Jackson's "I Want
You", produced by West, was nominated for Best Female Recording
(R&B).
* * * *
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URL of Original Article:
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Date Article Copied:
August 26, 2005
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