A man I predict they will call a legend, an icon, and a revolutionary in the future - Kanye West is an emcee, producer, and entrepreneur that defines where hip hop is today. There are lots of places where you can find out who Kanye is, what is acheivements are, and how he beat 50 Cent in record sales this year. I’m not here to talk or comment about those items. I more want to express how he as an individual and musician has reawakened the genre of hip hop back to its conscious roots and revolutionary overtone.

Granted, Kanye West might be one of the cockiest emcess and producers in the game. He might hog the spotlight at times and throw a fit occasionally if something doesn’t go his way. He also may brag about things that yet have not happened. I’m here to tell you - don’t disregard that. He is who he is and he has done what he has done because of his character.

• Made less known or underground emcees, popular. Emcees like Common, Lupe Fiasco, Consequence, Rhymefest, etc. Before their collaboration and work with Kanye through either production and/or collaboration, these artists were grinding, but never popular or wealthy. This changed significantly after Kanye’s influence.
• Made unknown stars, stars. Take all the R&B signers and musicians that he’s teamed up and/or helped raise awareness to: John Legend, Jamie Foxx, Dwele, Lily Allen, Estelle, Syleena Johnson, etc. These were signers that very little people knew about and very few artists were collaborating with. After their role in Kanye’s music + life, they are going on sold out tours and making a well known career for themselves.
• Made consciousness cool. There has not been one single conscious/obnoxious emcee who has sold as many albums or sold out more seats in a single venue as Kanye did with Graduation (2007) and his Glow In The Dark Tour. Kanye didn’t start the consciousness movement, nor will I say his contributions to conscious music are greater than others. But he did make it ok and cool to have music that was well produced and have great lyrics, a combination that wasn’t found in hip hop for decades.
• Began the roots for a racial revolution. Who can forget Kanye’s appearance on the news with Mike Myers talking about the relief efforts in Katrina? And when he blurted out, “George Bush hates black people.” That single statement sparked conversation between hip hop radio stations and tv channels to bring the Katrina tragedy to light in a perspective that simply was not being talked about. After that, there have been numerous public conversations about race and its implication in today’s politics. Just check out Bil
• Began the roots for a cultural revolution. Kanye made it “ok” and actually cool to question the acts of government and society on a public level. Though it was already being done by hundreds of artists, politicians, and teachers - Kanye did it in front of a bigger audience. Whether it was through his lyrics (Black Panthers being stopped by President Ronald Reagan, Magic Johnson curing AIDS), his public announcements (outburst on MTV and its favor towards skin color), orhis performances (Grammy’s & VMA’s), Kanye promote conversations and challenges that had to be addressed. That’s something big time and pop artists don’t do because they know they could lose thousands of fans at a time (look at Dixie Chicks!).

Kanye’s drive and motivation have taken him from a small studio producer to one of the most well respected and popular emcees in hip hop. When everyone told him that it couldn’t be done or that his skills were not that good, he took the challenge and excelled. When you have that many people in your life (whether family, friends, acquaintances) that keep telling you the impossibility of something, it manifests in the mind. So when Kanye boasts and he screams from the rooftop that he’s the best, its a self expression of his mind. It wouldn’t matter to him if he screamed to 10 people or 10 million people. He does it for himself, not others. And I believe a person needs that to release the thoughts of imperfection in your mind. Only then can someone (Kanye in this case) feel at ease and feel at peace. That’s how I view his so called “bad” attributes.

In summary, Kanye’s contributions are vast and his impact to hip hop music even larger. What really opened my eyes and really got me to understand this even more was a dead honest and open testimonial by Sean “P Diddy” Combs. He put it the best and I can’t find a better way to end this post. Thanks Diddy!