I like him..although I have to admit he is a little arrogant.

I'll probably buy his next cd.

West hopes to register with musical daring
By Steve Jones, USA TODAY
LANHAM, Md. — Kanye West is certain his Late Registration will ace the sales test Friday. What he wants to know is whether it will stand the test of time.

The never-shy producer/rapper says his newest album is sonically superior to last year's Grammy-winning debut, The College Dropout, and stacks up well against other classic albums.

"Music hasn't been taken this far in years — since Stevie (Wonder) did it. Since Prince did it," says West, 27, who enlisted Fiona Apple producer Jon Brion to help him go in a different direction.

"I'm not trying to compete with what's out there now. I'm really trying to compete with Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life. It sounds musically blasphemous to say something like that, but why not set that as your bar?" (Related story: West, hip-hop's writer in residence)

West has had a good year. He won three Grammys and delivered a show-stopping Jesus Walks on the awards program, and he produced two of 2005's most acclaimed albums — John Legend's Get Lifted and Common's Be. But the real question was what would he do for an encore to Dropout.

On Registration, he talks about everything from politics to partying, and guest artists include Maroon 5's Adam Levine, Jamie Foxx, Common, The Game, Brandy, Nas, Cam'Ron and Jay-Z.

His most daring move was bringing in multi-instrumentalist Brion, who had scored such movies as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Punch-Drunk Love. West, who came into prominence four years ago with Jay-Z's groundbreaking The Blueprint, was seeking a new plateau in production.

"Picture me, someone who likes cinematic-sounding stuff, having someone who actually scores movies to help produce the album," West says.

Brion says that although some might find their pairing odd, he and West shared a seriousness about making records and "a total obsession with lyrics." Brion's skill with orchestras and with such instruments as vibraphones and marimbas gave West a much broader spectrum of sounds to work with.

West showed a lot of courage, Brion says, by stepping out on an artistic ledge.

"If ever there was a time not to (mess) with the formula, this would be it," Brion says. "But he's fearless. A lot of people have a governor on themselves, usually peer pressure or fear of not being liked. This is a guy that is truly living by his tastes and his beliefs."

The result is "only the future of music itself," West says, laughing. "Only a Dr. Dre or a Pharrell (Williams) could even fathom accomplishing something like this, and they do it in their own way."

West, who likens himself to the Philadelphia Eagles' brash Terrell Owens, makes no apologies for talking smack.

"Are you supposed to be humble?" he says. "Honestly. If you've got a whole crowd of people singing your song and you've got one critic saying this song is OK, well, you know you're right."

anyone else spit up their water when reading the above article?

JackieBlue said:

When it's all said and done, it's just music. It's been around for centuries, y'know.

sosgemini said:

::cleaning water from keyboard::

He's right though. It does sound blasphemous to say such a thing. Just put the ish out. It'll be determined from there.

sosgemini said:

Wow we actually agree on something. When I think of great rappers and great hip hop producers I think The Roots, he's no where near them. However, they are always overlooked by the new flavor of the month. Kanye West will be like Timbaland in a few years, we will remember he was "IT" once but I don't know how many people will still care.

JackieBlue said:

i've heard it already, and his cd has taken music real far, like out of my cd player onto the self collecting dust.

sinisterpentatonic said:

I was wondering because the two singles I've heard or okay but nothing to write home about. Then I thought well maybe it's all the other tracks...

Too much talking leads to expectations that are often hard to meet. Even Be, while I love it, I didn't think it was earth-shattering. I don't run it repeatedly either. From my experience it's the thing I least expect that grabs my attention and keeps it.

JackieBlue said:

i think Kanye is just trying hard to create some hype over it, i'm sure he's aware of the power of suggestion.

It's not bad, but its not something i'd bang on the daily either. i've had a bootleg of this for the last 2 months and i'm starting to wonder if this is the official release, cuz i don't know what he hell he's going on about.

it might not be official, i did buy it over seas and it is titled. "Freshman Adjustment",


_____
[Edited 8/22/05 11:30am]

Ithink the doctors should have given Kanye a brain scan when he was in his car accident. I think part of his jawbone got pushed into the common sense section of his brain....

Mutts

"I was sick about awards
Couldn’t nobody cure me
Only playa that got robbed but kept all his jewelry
Alicia Keys tried to talk some sense to them
30 minutes later seems there’s no convincing them
What more can you ask for?
The international awards? nah
Who complains about when he is old?
And throw a tantrum like he’s 3 years old
You gotta love it though somebody still speaks from his soul
And wouldn’t change by the change, or the game, or the fame, when he came, in the game, he made his own name"
-----Kanye West: Diamonds Are Forever


I'm not a fan of his production work AT ALL, but I have to give it to him; he's honest. I have a lot of respect for someone who can profess his shortcomings on record like that. That was one of the things I liked about Prince back in the day, too. In his song "All Falls Down" he spoke of his own materialism and I thought that was RARE for a rapper to do. Kanye is ARROGANT. Not confident, ARROGANT. There's no mistaking that. He admits it himself. He even admitted his disloyalty to Dame Dash in a recent interview. I had a great deal of respect for him, evemn though I don't like his work that much nor do I care for his attitude. I do respect his honesty. He's not fake like Doody's six-times-a-day-name-changing ass.

MadameS said:

wow. u REALLY think he butchered it????

JackieBlue said:

however if he gonna say somethin like this he needs to be prepared to fail and prepared for the inevitable backlash. so he better bring it


"Music hasn't been taken this far in years — since Stevie (Wonder) did it. Since Prince did it," says West, 27, who enlisted Fiona Apple producer Jon Brion to help him go in a different direction.

"I'm not trying to compete with what's out there now. I'm really trying to compete with Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life. It sounds musically blasphemous to say something like that, but why not set that as your bar?" (Related story: West, hip-hop's writer in residence

terryfrancis said:

i agree. Kanye west sucks

Rhondab said:

I'm ambivalent as far as Kanye goes, but I agree with you. A lot of Prince fans like to hold our hero to a different standard than other artists, not so much in terms of talent, but in behaviour. Prince can be the most arrogant little bitch in the world, and he gets away with it because the same people who berate rappers like Kanye and others for being full of themselves don't object when P. does the same.

I can hear it now, "Prince is more talented.....been around longer.....could perform circles around Kanye....blah blah blah". That's no excuse, is it?
[Edited 8/23/05 3:23am]

for the record....


I like Kanye....


lol....but i'm simple.

he's entertaining at least...that's all I want from anyone....just make me look...maybe pop my fingas...and sing along....


but I'm simple...

Rhondab said:

-----
I'll give you mad props if you can pop your fingers to Diamonds. The song has absolutly no beat whatsoever. We are in a time when blackfolks have lost their ability to funk.

meow85 said:

-----
You can talk shit when you can back it up with talent. Kanye does not have any talent. He can sample shit and that's all he can do.

laurarichardson said:

Well Said Laura.

laurarichardson said:

not all of them though, lets not forget that...

laurarichardson said:

I knew I'd get this kind of Purple kool-aid, ass-kissing response. Holy shit, Martha! I'm psychic!

There's never an excuse for acting like your shit don't stink, whether you're Prince or the guy down at the corner store mumbling about Jesus stealing his car.

paisleypark4 said:

I finally saw the interview on Thursday and some of the stuff coming out of his mouth had me going i shit you not. He got points on talking about gays, i was totally with him on that but when he started talking about awards and how he should be always get 5 stars on every critic poll, i was just shocked at how big his ego is. I hope the CD can live up to the hype and i'm willing to give him a chance.
[Edited 8/27/05 20:23pm]