I was reading in one of these threads, I think wayne or Ti when they were spending time with their kids, and people were making negative remarks. Somebody quoted something like whats wrong with a black man spending times with the kids, something to that effect.
Do you think blackculture, and hiphop culture, brainwash the youth to hate their fathers? I was just thinking this. It's like most people I know are bitter towards their fathers. It's like their mothers can be phuck ups and they will forgive their mothers, but when it come down to the FATHERS, people hold such bitter grudges towards their fathers.
Personaly, I love my father despite his short commings. Half of the reason my father couldnt play a part with my up bringing is because of my mother. I don't understand why black people (especialy) blame everything that goes wrong with their upbrining on their fathers. You hardly hear black people say positive things about their fathers. Why do you think our culture bash father figures? Also on top of that in hiphop culture a lot of people say negative things about their fathers. When the mothers could be twice as wrong, however they still hate daddy...
what you think is causing the hate towards father figures??
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Local Hip Hop Artist Inspires Youth By Combining Entertainment With Education
Today’s generation of youth is more apt to know lyrics written by Lil Wayne than poems by Maya Angelou. They can sing along to a Chris Brown hook but are not able to pick key themes out of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. They recognize the name Tommy the Clown, creator of the Krump dancing movement, but have never heard of Debbie Allen. Older generations call them lost souls, ignorant of their history and identity, left to the trappings of corporate greed and unreachable to those who don’t own a MySpace or Facebook page. All too often it is parents, educators, ministers and care providers that are the makeup of these older generations — the very same people charged with leading these young people into adulthood. However, it would seem that they do not know how to reach this new generation through the maze of internet networking sites, text messages and web podcasts that make up basic communication for today’s youth.
These young people are often left to feel as though no one but their peers understand them and quite often they’re right. This is an age where a student can find any piece of information on the Internet very quickly, but their teacher doesn’t know what the Soulja Boy dance is. It is an age where half the brain stays in cyberspace and the real world moves at a snail’s pace. It is also an age where, according to US Today, 51% of 18-25 year olds’ number one goal is to become famous.
Shyan Selah, Founder and CEO of the Seattle entertainment company Brave New World, Inc., is aware of this. He also knows that there are way too many parents and educators who may not be.
“There is a generational gap between educators and the kids,” says Selah. “Traditional ways are failing, especially in inner-city areas. We want to bridge that gap.”
In addition to owning his own company, Selah is also the Spokesperson and COO of the Jimi Hendrix Foundation and a hip hop/soul artist with his freshman album, Brave New World, currently in stores. He has a goal of using his talents and contacts in the entertainment industry to reach and educate young people where others may have had trouble. In addition to embarking on what Brave New World has called the “Stay in sChOOL” tour to promote his music throughout Washington State, Selah has also partnered his company with the Maxine Mimms Academies for Suspended and Expelled Youth as well as the Southwest Boys and Girls Club in White Center.
“The reason why I deal with the youth is because they deserve a fair chance to get answers about life. Answers that go deeper than the conventional methods.” says Selah.
“Those answers have to come from someone who has extensive experience in the dominant areas of influence in their lives, such as entertainment, especially Hip Hop culture,” he adds.
The golden method for Selah is not fighting the youth culture of today, but embracing it. According to Selah, mass marketing, television, movies and music are how children learn about their society nowadays and people cannot be afraid of using those things to connect to their kids.
“You have too many people in the position of leading our youth that don’t have real experience in dealing with what’s going on in their world so the kids have a form of distrust with authority figures all together,” he asserts.
Dr. Maxine Mimms of the Mimms Academies agrees and states that Hip Hop culture has taken over the top roles of educating youth.
“Hip Hop is the new professor,” she says. “But it confesses, not professes.”
Like Selah, Dr. Mimms says this is why the youth gravitate to Hip Hop music rather than school. To them, it just seems more real.
“As teachers we profess what’s right and we act like we don’t cuss, screw, etc.” says Dr. Mimms who adds that Hip Hop is the exact opposite of professing what should be and instead tells it like it is.
“This music is dirty and filthy and it’s confession,” she says.
Dr. Mimms said she was introduced to the power of hip hop in education back in 2004 when Selah first brought his company to the then brand new Maxine Mimms Academy in Tacoma. For six months Selah and his employees volunteered their time to keep students who had been suspended and expelled learning during their time off from school with one important modification: he used the entertainment business (and his own life) as an educational model. They placed students in to groups of seven or eight — one student would be picked to be a superstar going on tour, another the tour manger, two others would be sponsors vying for top placement, etc. The students had to calculate, negotiate, plan ahead and problem solve how to take care of the star and make everything else run smoothly. Selah would then touch on social science by having the students look at changes they could make in their own communities with their “star” influence. They took a tour of nice establishments in Bellevue and the run down neighborhoods in the Hilltop and discussed how they could make a difference.
“We taught them that there were levels to obtain success other than being a rapper,” says Selah. “We incorporate the business model into our program and yet still provide the star quality so that there’s some resonance developed between the moderator or the teacher and the student.”
And when Selah goes to the kids, he knows to embody that star quality to make them respond even faster.
Educators he’s worked with say it’s not just what he says or sings, but he also looks the part. As a former athlete who maintains a football player’s build, drives a Hummer and dresses in high-end urban fashion, the Federal Way native has the ultimate kitchen pass when it comes to being accepted by the students he talks to. His street credentials are major and, according to Emily Slagle, Executive Director for the Southwest Boys and Girls Club, very necessary when dealing with her kids.
“Shyan is able to reach these kids in a way that I can’t. I’m not an African American hip hop star with a record deal,” says the petite Slagle, who’s Caucasian.
Slagle requested Selah and Brave New World join with the Boys & Girls Club after a certain amount of gang activity in the White Center neighborhood affected some club members. Selah and his staff have agreed to volunteer time at the club, including providing entertainment once a month during their Friday Teen Late Nights. The company has already hosted two teen nights at the SW Boys & Girls Club facility and Selah is currently planning a project for the students to learn about what it takes to produce, market, sell and distribute an album.
“I think including Shyan, who’s lived and felt a lot of what these kids have felt, into the club is important,” says Slagle. “In an age where kids want to be rappers, I like Brave New World’s idea of showing them the whole transition from writing a song to getting an album in stores.”
Despite the fact that the Mimms Academies are educational based and the Boys and Girls Club leans more to providing a recreational after-school venue for kids, Selah says his approach in youth outreach remains the same.
“For us it’s the same movement. It’s not much different at all,” says Selah.
“Our goal is to impact our community with real substance. Something they can take home right away, a living example of that what they’re influence by,” he continued. “It’s two fold: we get to teach them about the industry of influence and at the same time to renew their hope and desire for success.”
Of course some may have misgivings about using an art form that has seen as much controversy as hip hop has through the years to teach impressionable minds. Dr. Mimms herself was not immune to the occasional vulgar expressions found in rap.
“Shyan came in and introduced a new genre,” says Dr. Mimms. “Blues was as offensive to my parents as hip hop was offensive to me. But I love opera and I realized all rap is a new form of opera. Rap songs are new urban operas. What I have an obligation to do is incorporate it into what I know. As long as it has a message, positive or not, it is my job to find a space for it.”
That space is now in a new curriculum she is developing directly from Selah’s Brave New World album.
“Shyan’s lyrics bring the children to their moment,” says Dr. Mimms. “[As teachers] we are the facilitators to remind you of your past and bring you to the future. Music can hold you into the now. Shyan is able to instruct through his music.”
“It’s a perfect combination,” says Selah. “It’s today’s hip hop entrepreneur meets the old regime. It’s exactly what they need to see.”
These young people are often left to feel as though no one but their peers understand them and quite often they’re right. This is an age where a student can find any piece of information on the Internet very quickly, but their teacher doesn’t know what the Soulja Boy dance is. It is an age where half the brain stays in cyberspace and the real world moves at a snail’s pace. It is also an age where, according to US Today, 51% of 18-25 year olds’ number one goal is to become famous.
Shyan Selah, Founder and CEO of the Seattle entertainment company Brave New World, Inc., is aware of this. He also knows that there are way too many parents and educators who may not be.
“There is a generational gap between educators and the kids,” says Selah. “Traditional ways are failing, especially in inner-city areas. We want to bridge that gap.”
In addition to owning his own company, Selah is also the Spokesperson and COO of the Jimi Hendrix Foundation and a hip hop/soul artist with his freshman album, Brave New World, currently in stores. He has a goal of using his talents and contacts in the entertainment industry to reach and educate young people where others may have had trouble. In addition to embarking on what Brave New World has called the “Stay in sChOOL” tour to promote his music throughout Washington State, Selah has also partnered his company with the Maxine Mimms Academies for Suspended and Expelled Youth as well as the Southwest Boys and Girls Club in White Center.
“The reason why I deal with the youth is because they deserve a fair chance to get answers about life. Answers that go deeper than the conventional methods.” says Selah.
“Those answers have to come from someone who has extensive experience in the dominant areas of influence in their lives, such as entertainment, especially Hip Hop culture,” he adds.
The golden method for Selah is not fighting the youth culture of today, but embracing it. According to Selah, mass marketing, television, movies and music are how children learn about their society nowadays and people cannot be afraid of using those things to connect to their kids.
“You have too many people in the position of leading our youth that don’t have real experience in dealing with what’s going on in their world so the kids have a form of distrust with authority figures all together,” he asserts.
Dr. Maxine Mimms of the Mimms Academies agrees and states that Hip Hop culture has taken over the top roles of educating youth.
“Hip Hop is the new professor,” she says. “But it confesses, not professes.”
Like Selah, Dr. Mimms says this is why the youth gravitate to Hip Hop music rather than school. To them, it just seems more real.
“As teachers we profess what’s right and we act like we don’t cuss, screw, etc.” says Dr. Mimms who adds that Hip Hop is the exact opposite of professing what should be and instead tells it like it is.
“This music is dirty and filthy and it’s confession,” she says.
Dr. Mimms said she was introduced to the power of hip hop in education back in 2004 when Selah first brought his company to the then brand new Maxine Mimms Academy in Tacoma. For six months Selah and his employees volunteered their time to keep students who had been suspended and expelled learning during their time off from school with one important modification: he used the entertainment business (and his own life) as an educational model. They placed students in to groups of seven or eight — one student would be picked to be a superstar going on tour, another the tour manger, two others would be sponsors vying for top placement, etc. The students had to calculate, negotiate, plan ahead and problem solve how to take care of the star and make everything else run smoothly. Selah would then touch on social science by having the students look at changes they could make in their own communities with their “star” influence. They took a tour of nice establishments in Bellevue and the run down neighborhoods in the Hilltop and discussed how they could make a difference.
“We taught them that there were levels to obtain success other than being a rapper,” says Selah. “We incorporate the business model into our program and yet still provide the star quality so that there’s some resonance developed between the moderator or the teacher and the student.”
And when Selah goes to the kids, he knows to embody that star quality to make them respond even faster.
Educators he’s worked with say it’s not just what he says or sings, but he also looks the part. As a former athlete who maintains a football player’s build, drives a Hummer and dresses in high-end urban fashion, the Federal Way native has the ultimate kitchen pass when it comes to being accepted by the students he talks to. His street credentials are major and, according to Emily Slagle, Executive Director for the Southwest Boys and Girls Club, very necessary when dealing with her kids.
“Shyan is able to reach these kids in a way that I can’t. I’m not an African American hip hop star with a record deal,” says the petite Slagle, who’s Caucasian.
Slagle requested Selah and Brave New World join with the Boys & Girls Club after a certain amount of gang activity in the White Center neighborhood affected some club members. Selah and his staff have agreed to volunteer time at the club, including providing entertainment once a month during their Friday Teen Late Nights. The company has already hosted two teen nights at the SW Boys & Girls Club facility and Selah is currently planning a project for the students to learn about what it takes to produce, market, sell and distribute an album.
“I think including Shyan, who’s lived and felt a lot of what these kids have felt, into the club is important,” says Slagle. “In an age where kids want to be rappers, I like Brave New World’s idea of showing them the whole transition from writing a song to getting an album in stores.”
Despite the fact that the Mimms Academies are educational based and the Boys and Girls Club leans more to providing a recreational after-school venue for kids, Selah says his approach in youth outreach remains the same.
“For us it’s the same movement. It’s not much different at all,” says Selah.
“Our goal is to impact our community with real substance. Something they can take home right away, a living example of that what they’re influence by,” he continued. “It’s two fold: we get to teach them about the industry of influence and at the same time to renew their hope and desire for success.”
Of course some may have misgivings about using an art form that has seen as much controversy as hip hop has through the years to teach impressionable minds. Dr. Mimms herself was not immune to the occasional vulgar expressions found in rap.
“Shyan came in and introduced a new genre,” says Dr. Mimms. “Blues was as offensive to my parents as hip hop was offensive to me. But I love opera and I realized all rap is a new form of opera. Rap songs are new urban operas. What I have an obligation to do is incorporate it into what I know. As long as it has a message, positive or not, it is my job to find a space for it.”
That space is now in a new curriculum she is developing directly from Selah’s Brave New World album.
“Shyan’s lyrics bring the children to their moment,” says Dr. Mimms. “[As teachers] we are the facilitators to remind you of your past and bring you to the future. Music can hold you into the now. Shyan is able to instruct through his music.”
“It’s a perfect combination,” says Selah. “It’s today’s hip hop entrepreneur meets the old regime. It’s exactly what they need to see.”
Hip-hop is over for me, says Kanye
In an overheated hotel room, Kanye West gives a little introductory speech about his latest album, 808s & Heartbreak, before taking an iPod out of his pocket and plugging it into a speaker.
At regular intervals as the album plays, he does a dance - still seated - to the strange new sounds coming from the iPod. Instead of the hip-hop with which he made his name, the new album mixes a kind of science-fiction synth-pop with an R&B undertow. It sounds like Michael Jackson fronting the Human League in Studio 54.
West is one of the biggest and most interesting artists in music today. It is not an overestimation to regard his second album, Late Registration, as rap's White Album. He is extravagantly talented - and he knows it. Modesty is not his strong suit: when he lost out on an MTV award two years ago, he interrupted the speech of winners Justice Vs Simian to shout out: "This award should have gone to me!" He once posed as Jesus Christ on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
Other times, he makes better use of his public profile. He deviated from a speech he was giving at a Hurricane Katrina benefit to declare on live TV that "George Bush doesn't care about black people". He is also one of the few artists to speak out about rampant homophobia in the rap world.
There are only two things he doesn't want to talk about today: the death of his mother last year and the recent end of his 18-month engagement to the designer Alexis Phifer. There's one other proviso: "If you ask me which do I prefer - producing or singing? - I will walk straight out of this room."
He smiles as he says this. Or at least, his mouth is smiling. His eyes aren't.
The emotional backdrop to the latest album is bereavement and romantic grief: most of the 11 tracks are about West's break-up with Phifer, while one, Coldest Winter, is an elegy for his mother, Donda West, an academic who raised him alone after her marriage broke up when he was three.
West blames himself for her death, which occurred during cosmetic surgery for breast reduction and a "tummy tuck". She had left her job as chairwoman of Chicago State University's English department to be with her son in Los Angeles and he believes she would still be alive if she hadn't made the move to that city. As he puts it: "I lost her to Hollywood."
Today West is in a sombre, workmanlike mood. He casts a baleful look at an assistant who has the temerity to talk during the album playback, but rather sweetly writes a note with the album's track listing for me and whispers clarifications into my ear between tracks.
"The reason why I feel I had to give a little introductory speech before you heard the album is because this is not hip-hop music," he says. "Taking a sample, looping it and doing all that 'throw your hands up in the sky' thing has become such a cliche. Hip-hop is over for me. I sing, not rap, on this album. I now want to be grouped among those musicians you see in those old black-and-white photos - the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles. And I'm not going to get there by doing just another rap album full of samples.
"I've had to create a whole new musical genre to describe what I'm doing now and I'm calling it 'pop-art' - which is not to be confused with the visual art movement. I realise that my place and position in history is that I will go down as the voice of a generation."
Outside his native America, West can come across as an unbearable show-off. But at home he represents the voice of a confident black middle class that will assert their self-belief in blunt terms. His ego may be the size of Illinois but he has the sales figures to match. He's a 10-time Grammy winner whose four previous albums have tallied 12 million sales worldwide. As a producer he has sprinkled his magic over works by Jay-Z, Beyonce and Janet Jackson.
The most immediately striking thing about the new album is the use of a software package called Auto-Tune on all but one of the 11 tracks.
Auto-Tune - used in much of today's pop music - corrects the pitch in a singer's voice but also gives it a slightly distorted, robotic feel (not too dissimilar to how Cher sounded on her big 1998 hit Believe).
"I wanted to use Auto-Tune to distance myself from that traditional rap sound," he says. "I've already braced myself for the critical reaction to it. The other really different thing here is that there are no natural drum sounds on the album.
"I've called the album 808s & Heartbreak because all the drum sounds are made by the Roland TR-808 drum machine which was really big in the 1980s. Most drum machines use samples of real human drumming but the Roland doesn't so you've got that MTV-in-the-1980s feel throughout the whole album."
Before arriving at his new sound, West trawled all the pop music he had grown up with.
"I was listening to the stuff that really excited me when I was a kid. It was Boy George and Madonna and Michael Jackson and Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. I completely subscribe to popular culture."
He disdains what he calls the snobbery of people who think if something is popular "then it's necessarily bullshit".
"Look at all those indie guitar bands who look down on pop music. My question to them is: 'Do you not want a song of yours to explode and be heard by everyone?' Look at Britney Spears and how people talk about her.
"If you don't like Britney Spears, then you're just wrong."
Telegraph, London
808s & Heartbreak is out now. Kanye West performs at the Acer Arena on Saturday.
At regular intervals as the album plays, he does a dance - still seated - to the strange new sounds coming from the iPod. Instead of the hip-hop with which he made his name, the new album mixes a kind of science-fiction synth-pop with an R&B undertow. It sounds like Michael Jackson fronting the Human League in Studio 54.
West is one of the biggest and most interesting artists in music today. It is not an overestimation to regard his second album, Late Registration, as rap's White Album. He is extravagantly talented - and he knows it. Modesty is not his strong suit: when he lost out on an MTV award two years ago, he interrupted the speech of winners Justice Vs Simian to shout out: "This award should have gone to me!" He once posed as Jesus Christ on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
Other times, he makes better use of his public profile. He deviated from a speech he was giving at a Hurricane Katrina benefit to declare on live TV that "George Bush doesn't care about black people". He is also one of the few artists to speak out about rampant homophobia in the rap world.
There are only two things he doesn't want to talk about today: the death of his mother last year and the recent end of his 18-month engagement to the designer Alexis Phifer. There's one other proviso: "If you ask me which do I prefer - producing or singing? - I will walk straight out of this room."
He smiles as he says this. Or at least, his mouth is smiling. His eyes aren't.
The emotional backdrop to the latest album is bereavement and romantic grief: most of the 11 tracks are about West's break-up with Phifer, while one, Coldest Winter, is an elegy for his mother, Donda West, an academic who raised him alone after her marriage broke up when he was three.
West blames himself for her death, which occurred during cosmetic surgery for breast reduction and a "tummy tuck". She had left her job as chairwoman of Chicago State University's English department to be with her son in Los Angeles and he believes she would still be alive if she hadn't made the move to that city. As he puts it: "I lost her to Hollywood."
Today West is in a sombre, workmanlike mood. He casts a baleful look at an assistant who has the temerity to talk during the album playback, but rather sweetly writes a note with the album's track listing for me and whispers clarifications into my ear between tracks.
"The reason why I feel I had to give a little introductory speech before you heard the album is because this is not hip-hop music," he says. "Taking a sample, looping it and doing all that 'throw your hands up in the sky' thing has become such a cliche. Hip-hop is over for me. I sing, not rap, on this album. I now want to be grouped among those musicians you see in those old black-and-white photos - the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles. And I'm not going to get there by doing just another rap album full of samples.
"I've had to create a whole new musical genre to describe what I'm doing now and I'm calling it 'pop-art' - which is not to be confused with the visual art movement. I realise that my place and position in history is that I will go down as the voice of a generation."
Outside his native America, West can come across as an unbearable show-off. But at home he represents the voice of a confident black middle class that will assert their self-belief in blunt terms. His ego may be the size of Illinois but he has the sales figures to match. He's a 10-time Grammy winner whose four previous albums have tallied 12 million sales worldwide. As a producer he has sprinkled his magic over works by Jay-Z, Beyonce and Janet Jackson.
The most immediately striking thing about the new album is the use of a software package called Auto-Tune on all but one of the 11 tracks.
Auto-Tune - used in much of today's pop music - corrects the pitch in a singer's voice but also gives it a slightly distorted, robotic feel (not too dissimilar to how Cher sounded on her big 1998 hit Believe).
"I wanted to use Auto-Tune to distance myself from that traditional rap sound," he says. "I've already braced myself for the critical reaction to it. The other really different thing here is that there are no natural drum sounds on the album.
"I've called the album 808s & Heartbreak because all the drum sounds are made by the Roland TR-808 drum machine which was really big in the 1980s. Most drum machines use samples of real human drumming but the Roland doesn't so you've got that MTV-in-the-1980s feel throughout the whole album."
Before arriving at his new sound, West trawled all the pop music he had grown up with.
"I was listening to the stuff that really excited me when I was a kid. It was Boy George and Madonna and Michael Jackson and Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. I completely subscribe to popular culture."
He disdains what he calls the snobbery of people who think if something is popular "then it's necessarily bullshit".
"Look at all those indie guitar bands who look down on pop music. My question to them is: 'Do you not want a song of yours to explode and be heard by everyone?' Look at Britney Spears and how people talk about her.
"If you don't like Britney Spears, then you're just wrong."
Telegraph, London
808s & Heartbreak is out now. Kanye West performs at the Acer Arena on Saturday.
Hip-hop is over for me, says Kanye
In an overheated hotel room, Kanye West gives a little introductory speech about his latest album, 808s & Heartbreak, before taking an iPod out of his pocket and plugging it into a speaker.
At regular intervals as the album plays, he does a dance - still seated - to the strange new sounds coming from the iPod. Instead of the hip-hop with which he made his name, the new album mixes a kind of science-fiction synth-pop with an R&B undertow. It sounds like Michael Jackson fronting the Human League in Studio 54.
West is one of the biggest and most interesting artists in music today. It is not an overestimation to regard his second album, Late Registration, as rap's White Album. He is extravagantly talented - and he knows it. Modesty is not his strong suit: when he lost out on an MTV award two years ago, he interrupted the speech of winners Justice Vs Simian to shout out: "This award should have gone to me!" He once posed as Jesus Christ on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
Other times, he makes better use of his public profile. He deviated from a speech he was giving at a Hurricane Katrina benefit to declare on live TV that "George Bush doesn't care about black people". He is also one of the few artists to speak out about rampant homophobia in the rap world.
There are only two things he doesn't want to talk about today: the death of his mother last year and the recent end of his 18-month engagement to the designer Alexis Phifer. There's one other proviso: "If you ask me which do I prefer - producing or singing? - I will walk straight out of this room."
He smiles as he says this. Or at least, his mouth is smiling. His eyes aren't.
The emotional backdrop to the latest album is bereavement and romantic grief: most of the 11 tracks are about West's break-up with Phifer, while one, Coldest Winter, is an elegy for his mother, Donda West, an academic who raised him alone after her marriage broke up when he was three.
West blames himself for her death, which occurred during cosmetic surgery for breast reduction and a "tummy tuck". She had left her job as chairwoman of Chicago State University's English department to be with her son in Los Angeles and he believes she would still be alive if she hadn't made the move to that city. As he puts it: "I lost her to Hollywood."
Today West is in a sombre, workmanlike mood. He casts a baleful look at an assistant who has the temerity to talk during the album playback, but rather sweetly writes a note with the album's track listing for me and whispers clarifications into my ear between tracks.
"The reason why I feel I had to give a little introductory speech before you heard the album is because this is not hip-hop music," he says. "Taking a sample, looping it and doing all that 'throw your hands up in the sky' thing has become such a cliche. Hip-hop is over for me. I sing, not rap, on this album. I now want to be grouped among those musicians you see in those old black-and-white photos - the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles. And I'm not going to get there by doing just another rap album full of samples.
"I've had to create a whole new musical genre to describe what I'm doing now and I'm calling it 'pop-art' - which is not to be confused with the visual art movement. I realise that my place and position in history is that I will go down as the voice of a generation."
Outside his native America, West can come across as an unbearable show-off. But at home he represents the voice of a confident black middle class that will assert their self-belief in blunt terms. His ego may be the size of Illinois but he has the sales figures to match. He's a 10-time Grammy winner whose four previous albums have tallied 12 million sales worldwide. As a producer he has sprinkled his magic over works by Jay-Z, Beyonce and Janet Jackson.
The most immediately striking thing about the new album is the use of a software package called Auto-Tune on all but one of the 11 tracks.
Auto-Tune - used in much of today's pop music - corrects the pitch in a singer's voice but also gives it a slightly distorted, robotic feel (not too dissimilar to how Cher sounded on her big 1998 hit Believe).
"I wanted to use Auto-Tune to distance myself from that traditional rap sound," he says. "I've already braced myself for the critical reaction to it. The other really different thing here is that there are no natural drum sounds on the album.
"I've called the album 808s & Heartbreak because all the drum sounds are made by the Roland TR-808 drum machine which was really big in the 1980s. Most drum machines use samples of real human drumming but the Roland doesn't so you've got that MTV-in-the-1980s feel throughout the whole album."
Before arriving at his new sound, West trawled all the pop music he had grown up with.
"I was listening to the stuff that really excited me when I was a kid. It was Boy George and Madonna and Michael Jackson and Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. I completely subscribe to popular culture."
He disdains what he calls the snobbery of people who think if something is popular "then it's necessarily bullshit".
"Look at all those indie guitar bands who look down on pop music. My question to them is: 'Do you not want a song of yours to explode and be heard by everyone?' Look at Britney Spears and how people talk about her.
"If you don't like Britney Spears, then you're just wrong."
Telegraph, London
808s & Heartbreak is out now. Kanye West performs at the Acer Arena on Saturday.
At regular intervals as the album plays, he does a dance - still seated - to the strange new sounds coming from the iPod. Instead of the hip-hop with which he made his name, the new album mixes a kind of science-fiction synth-pop with an R&B undertow. It sounds like Michael Jackson fronting the Human League in Studio 54.
West is one of the biggest and most interesting artists in music today. It is not an overestimation to regard his second album, Late Registration, as rap's White Album. He is extravagantly talented - and he knows it. Modesty is not his strong suit: when he lost out on an MTV award two years ago, he interrupted the speech of winners Justice Vs Simian to shout out: "This award should have gone to me!" He once posed as Jesus Christ on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
Other times, he makes better use of his public profile. He deviated from a speech he was giving at a Hurricane Katrina benefit to declare on live TV that "George Bush doesn't care about black people". He is also one of the few artists to speak out about rampant homophobia in the rap world.
There are only two things he doesn't want to talk about today: the death of his mother last year and the recent end of his 18-month engagement to the designer Alexis Phifer. There's one other proviso: "If you ask me which do I prefer - producing or singing? - I will walk straight out of this room."
He smiles as he says this. Or at least, his mouth is smiling. His eyes aren't.
The emotional backdrop to the latest album is bereavement and romantic grief: most of the 11 tracks are about West's break-up with Phifer, while one, Coldest Winter, is an elegy for his mother, Donda West, an academic who raised him alone after her marriage broke up when he was three.
West blames himself for her death, which occurred during cosmetic surgery for breast reduction and a "tummy tuck". She had left her job as chairwoman of Chicago State University's English department to be with her son in Los Angeles and he believes she would still be alive if she hadn't made the move to that city. As he puts it: "I lost her to Hollywood."
Today West is in a sombre, workmanlike mood. He casts a baleful look at an assistant who has the temerity to talk during the album playback, but rather sweetly writes a note with the album's track listing for me and whispers clarifications into my ear between tracks.
"The reason why I feel I had to give a little introductory speech before you heard the album is because this is not hip-hop music," he says. "Taking a sample, looping it and doing all that 'throw your hands up in the sky' thing has become such a cliche. Hip-hop is over for me. I sing, not rap, on this album. I now want to be grouped among those musicians you see in those old black-and-white photos - the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles. And I'm not going to get there by doing just another rap album full of samples.
"I've had to create a whole new musical genre to describe what I'm doing now and I'm calling it 'pop-art' - which is not to be confused with the visual art movement. I realise that my place and position in history is that I will go down as the voice of a generation."
Outside his native America, West can come across as an unbearable show-off. But at home he represents the voice of a confident black middle class that will assert their self-belief in blunt terms. His ego may be the size of Illinois but he has the sales figures to match. He's a 10-time Grammy winner whose four previous albums have tallied 12 million sales worldwide. As a producer he has sprinkled his magic over works by Jay-Z, Beyonce and Janet Jackson.
The most immediately striking thing about the new album is the use of a software package called Auto-Tune on all but one of the 11 tracks.
Auto-Tune - used in much of today's pop music - corrects the pitch in a singer's voice but also gives it a slightly distorted, robotic feel (not too dissimilar to how Cher sounded on her big 1998 hit Believe).
"I wanted to use Auto-Tune to distance myself from that traditional rap sound," he says. "I've already braced myself for the critical reaction to it. The other really different thing here is that there are no natural drum sounds on the album.
"I've called the album 808s & Heartbreak because all the drum sounds are made by the Roland TR-808 drum machine which was really big in the 1980s. Most drum machines use samples of real human drumming but the Roland doesn't so you've got that MTV-in-the-1980s feel throughout the whole album."
Before arriving at his new sound, West trawled all the pop music he had grown up with.
"I was listening to the stuff that really excited me when I was a kid. It was Boy George and Madonna and Michael Jackson and Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. I completely subscribe to popular culture."
He disdains what he calls the snobbery of people who think if something is popular "then it's necessarily bullshit".
"Look at all those indie guitar bands who look down on pop music. My question to them is: 'Do you not want a song of yours to explode and be heard by everyone?' Look at Britney Spears and how people talk about her.
"If you don't like Britney Spears, then you're just wrong."
Telegraph, London
808s & Heartbreak is out now. Kanye West performs at the Acer Arena on Saturday.
Rappers Remember, Pay Homage To Pimp C
Exactly one year ago today (December 4) the Hip-Hop world was rocked by the sudden passing of Chad Butler, known worldwide as the cavalier Pimp C of the seminal Southern rap duo UGK.
The founder of UGK was found dead in a West Hollywood hotel after accidentally overdosing on codeine syrup.
An autopsy report confirmed that it was the combination of sleep apnea and the recreational syrup drug that proved lethal.
In his native Texas, Pimp C’s name and legacy continues to be an inspiration.
"I'm normally good with words but It took me a while just to put a three sentence quote together about him because there are no words to describe how much he meant to me and so many others,” Houston rapper Chamillionaire told AllHipHop.com. “It really seems like it was just yesterday that he was here and I still can't believe he's not. He is deeply missed an I know his legacy will live on forever."
Rapper Slim Thug credits his late predecessor with laying the difficult groundwork in the 80s and 90s that has culminated this decade with an explosion of Texas artists.
“A year has passed since the Pimp died and he is still missed everyday,” Slim said. “I hear him sampled on hooks and hear all the good music he made while alive and I know we will never forget what he did for Texas. Its UGK 4 life b*tch!”
Madd Hatta, host of The Box’s 97.9 Morning Show, is proud of Bun B and Pimp C’s wife Chinara Butler for valiantly upholding the rapper’s name.
But the host admits it is still hard to comprehend that Pimp C is actually gone.
“The city continues to feel the void of our fallen soldier. The colorful language, sayings, clothes, attitude and rhymes he gave us is missed so much,” Hatta explained to AllHipHop.com. “Bun B continues to keep the UGK name and the legacy of Pimp C, as well as Mama Pimp. It’s still a shock to think he hasn’t been with us for an entire year.”
On this day, Chinara Butler chose to frame her words directly to the spirit of her late husband, who she feels remains with her every day.
“To my husband and best friend words can never express how much you are missed and how much of a gap you left in the lives of family, friends, the industry and your fans!” Butler stated. “I don’t think I’m alone when I say I definitely miss you, speaking the real. You are loved and missed but your spirit and music will live on forever. The Trill is gone!”
In 2009 a final UGK and Pimp C solo album will be released, which represent the last work of the deceased rapper.
On December 29, Pimp C would have celebrated his 35th birthday. Exactly one year ago today (December 4) the Hip-Hop world was rocked by the sudden passing of Chad Butler, known worldwide as the cavalier Pimp C of the seminal Southern rap duo UGK.
The founder of UGK was found dead in a West Hollywood hotel after accidentally overdosing on codeine syrup.
An autopsy report confirmed that it was the combination of sleep apnea and the recreational syrup drug that proved lethal.
In his native Texas, Pimp C’s name and legacy continues to be an inspiration.
"I'm normally good with words but It took me a while just to put a three sentence quote together about him because there are no words to describe how much he meant to me and so many others,” Houston rapper Chamillionaire told AllHipHop.com. “It really seems like it was just yesterday that he was here and I still can't believe he's not. He is deeply missed an I know his legacy will live on forever."
Rapper Slim Thug credits his late predecessor with laying the difficult groundwork in the 80s and 90s that has culminated this decade with an explosion of Texas artists.
“A year has passed since the Pimp died and he is still missed everyday,” Slim said. “I hear him sampled on hooks and hear all the good music he made while alive and I know we will never forget what he did for Texas. Its UGK 4 life b*tch!”
Madd Hatta, host of The Box’s 97.9 Morning Show, is proud of Bun B and Pimp C’s wife Chinara Butler for valiantly upholding the rapper’s name.
But the host admits it is still hard to comprehend that Pimp C is actually gone.
“The city continues to feel the void of our fallen soldier. The colorful language, sayings, clothes, attitude and rhymes he gave us is missed so much,” Hatta explained to AllHipHop.com. “Bun B continues to keep the UGK name and the legacy of Pimp C, as well as Mama Pimp. It’s still a shock to think he hasn’t been with us for an entire year.”
On this day, Chinara Butler chose to frame her words directly to the spirit of her late husband, who she feels remains with her every day.
“To my husband and best friend words can never express how much you are missed and how much of a gap you left in the lives of family, friends, the industry and your fans!” Butler stated. “I don’t think I’m alone when I say I definitely miss you, speaking the real. You are loved and missed but your spirit and music will live on forever. The Trill is gone!”
In 2009 a final UGK and Pimp C solo album will be released, which represent the last work of the deceased rapper.
On December 29, Pimp C would have celebrated his 35th birthday.
The founder of UGK was found dead in a West Hollywood hotel after accidentally overdosing on codeine syrup.
An autopsy report confirmed that it was the combination of sleep apnea and the recreational syrup drug that proved lethal.
In his native Texas, Pimp C’s name and legacy continues to be an inspiration.
"I'm normally good with words but It took me a while just to put a three sentence quote together about him because there are no words to describe how much he meant to me and so many others,” Houston rapper Chamillionaire told AllHipHop.com. “It really seems like it was just yesterday that he was here and I still can't believe he's not. He is deeply missed an I know his legacy will live on forever."
Rapper Slim Thug credits his late predecessor with laying the difficult groundwork in the 80s and 90s that has culminated this decade with an explosion of Texas artists.
“A year has passed since the Pimp died and he is still missed everyday,” Slim said. “I hear him sampled on hooks and hear all the good music he made while alive and I know we will never forget what he did for Texas. Its UGK 4 life b*tch!”
Madd Hatta, host of The Box’s 97.9 Morning Show, is proud of Bun B and Pimp C’s wife Chinara Butler for valiantly upholding the rapper’s name.
But the host admits it is still hard to comprehend that Pimp C is actually gone.
“The city continues to feel the void of our fallen soldier. The colorful language, sayings, clothes, attitude and rhymes he gave us is missed so much,” Hatta explained to AllHipHop.com. “Bun B continues to keep the UGK name and the legacy of Pimp C, as well as Mama Pimp. It’s still a shock to think he hasn’t been with us for an entire year.”
On this day, Chinara Butler chose to frame her words directly to the spirit of her late husband, who she feels remains with her every day.
“To my husband and best friend words can never express how much you are missed and how much of a gap you left in the lives of family, friends, the industry and your fans!” Butler stated. “I don’t think I’m alone when I say I definitely miss you, speaking the real. You are loved and missed but your spirit and music will live on forever. The Trill is gone!”
In 2009 a final UGK and Pimp C solo album will be released, which represent the last work of the deceased rapper.
On December 29, Pimp C would have celebrated his 35th birthday. Exactly one year ago today (December 4) the Hip-Hop world was rocked by the sudden passing of Chad Butler, known worldwide as the cavalier Pimp C of the seminal Southern rap duo UGK.
The founder of UGK was found dead in a West Hollywood hotel after accidentally overdosing on codeine syrup.
An autopsy report confirmed that it was the combination of sleep apnea and the recreational syrup drug that proved lethal.
In his native Texas, Pimp C’s name and legacy continues to be an inspiration.
"I'm normally good with words but It took me a while just to put a three sentence quote together about him because there are no words to describe how much he meant to me and so many others,” Houston rapper Chamillionaire told AllHipHop.com. “It really seems like it was just yesterday that he was here and I still can't believe he's not. He is deeply missed an I know his legacy will live on forever."
Rapper Slim Thug credits his late predecessor with laying the difficult groundwork in the 80s and 90s that has culminated this decade with an explosion of Texas artists.
“A year has passed since the Pimp died and he is still missed everyday,” Slim said. “I hear him sampled on hooks and hear all the good music he made while alive and I know we will never forget what he did for Texas. Its UGK 4 life b*tch!”
Madd Hatta, host of The Box’s 97.9 Morning Show, is proud of Bun B and Pimp C’s wife Chinara Butler for valiantly upholding the rapper’s name.
But the host admits it is still hard to comprehend that Pimp C is actually gone.
“The city continues to feel the void of our fallen soldier. The colorful language, sayings, clothes, attitude and rhymes he gave us is missed so much,” Hatta explained to AllHipHop.com. “Bun B continues to keep the UGK name and the legacy of Pimp C, as well as Mama Pimp. It’s still a shock to think he hasn’t been with us for an entire year.”
On this day, Chinara Butler chose to frame her words directly to the spirit of her late husband, who she feels remains with her every day.
“To my husband and best friend words can never express how much you are missed and how much of a gap you left in the lives of family, friends, the industry and your fans!” Butler stated. “I don’t think I’m alone when I say I definitely miss you, speaking the real. You are loved and missed but your spirit and music will live on forever. The Trill is gone!”
In 2009 a final UGK and Pimp C solo album will be released, which represent the last work of the deceased rapper.
On December 29, Pimp C would have celebrated his 35th birthday.
source: allhiphop.com
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