The Life of Kanye West
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==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||
===Rationale=== | ===Rationale=== | ||
| − | Kanye West is one of the most influential artists of the 21st century. He has received 92 awards out of 380 nominations including 21 Grammys. Born on 8 June 1977, Kanye has evolved from a record producer to a rapper, songwriter, fashion designer, and entrepreneur. He has been named by Time Magazine one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005 and 2015. There is no doubt Kanye West has had an impact in the modern world and the evolution of this impact is worthy of pursuit. Kanye West’s music is an important topic because it has influenced many people in the current century and has changed the way modern day hip hop is produced. Not only has Kanye influenced the people that listen to his music but he has also shed the light on other artists such as the most recent artist Chance the Rapper. Throughout his career Kanye has featured little known artists in his songs that bring these artists into the spotlight allowing their careers to flourish as well | + | Kanye West is one of the most influential artists of the 21st century. He has received 92 awards out of 380 nominations including 21 Grammys. Born on 8 June 1977, Kanye has evolved from a record producer to a rapper, songwriter, fashion designer, and entrepreneur. He has been named by Time Magazine one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005 and 2015. There is no doubt Kanye West has had an impact in the modern world and the evolution of this impact is worthy of pursuit. Kanye West’s music is an important topic because it has influenced many people in the current century and has changed the way modern day hip hop is produced. Not only has Kanye influenced the people that listen to his music but he has also shed the light on other artists such as the most recent artist Chance the Rapper. Throughout his career Kanye has featured little known artists in his songs that bring these artists into the spotlight allowing their careers to flourish as well. |
| − | Currently Kanye has 7 solo albums and 2 collaboration albums and has been featured on numerous songs. What makes Kanye such an interesting topic is that Kanye has had multiple styles of music. He has evolved his music through the years and this evolution is the perfect centerpiece for an investigation. | + | To put a number on how popular Kanye is, Spotify, a digital music streaming service, reports that Kanye has 21,546,447 listeners per month and 4,470,661 followers which make him the 29th most popular artist on Spotify in the world. If all this did not make him one of the most popular people in the world then his spouse does. Kanye West is married to Kim Kardashian-West with 2 children. Kim Kardashian is one of the most popular TV personalities in the world. Outside of music Kanye has his own clothing brand. Currently Kanye has 7 solo albums and 2 collaboration albums and has been featured on numerous songs. What makes Kanye such an interesting topic is that Kanye has had multiple styles of music. He has evolved his music through the years and this evolution is the perfect centerpiece for an investigation. |
===Method=== | ===Method=== | ||
| + | The topic of the project is the evolution of Kanye West. Kanye West has experienced many ordeals throughout his life but perhaps the greatest ordeal was the passing of his mother due to complications from surgery. This death occurred during the middle of his career. The guiding question is: How was Kanye West’s music affected by the death of his mother? We believe Kanye West became much more aggressive and explicit after the death of his mother because he had to cope with the deep sadness and he dealt with is by taking a narcissistic approach to his music. We will investigate this thesis by first outlining Kanye West’s life. A timeline will be created to pinpoint exactly when Kanye West’s mother passed so there is a before and after that can be analyzed. To do most of our investigation we will compile the lyrics of every single song from Kanye’s 7 solo albums and analyze them through digital technologies. Only the 7 solo albums will be looked at and not 2 collaboration albums because the 7 solo albums represent the thoughts of just Kanye West. Text mining will be used to gage the explicitness of Kanye’s music before and after his mother’s passing. | ||
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| + | Every lyric, even the lyrics sang by features in Kanye West's songs, will be analyzed because Kanye West had the final say on whether or not the lyrics would be part of the final product and therefore represent him in that time period even if he is not the one singing the lyrics. Once specific words are analyzed, the songs in which those word appear in with the greatest frequency will be analyzed to help gain context behind the usage of the words which will better help us determine the impact of Kanye's mother's death on Kanye's music. In music sometimes a word is repeated many times in the chorus or the hook. This can affect the analysis because the frequency of a word may not necessarily equate to the significance of that word in the song. For this project we chose to ignore this because the frequency of a word in a rap song usually implies in emphasis rather than simply the repeating of a chorus to transition to the next verse. | ||
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==Timeline== | ==Timeline== | ||
<html> | <html> | ||
<iframe src='https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=1nQRzFUIR-i5cEhhB9gibafAO3sqDJh1IDEl09ZOjf_s&font=Default&lang=en&initial_zoom=2&height=650' width='100%' height='650' frameborder='0'></iframe> | <iframe src='https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=1nQRzFUIR-i5cEhhB9gibafAO3sqDJh1IDEl09ZOjf_s&font=Default&lang=en&initial_zoom=2&height=650' width='100%' height='650' frameborder='0'></iframe> | ||
</html> | </html> | ||
| + | ==Map== | ||
| + | |||
| + | <html><iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/embed?mid=1DY15DgW7ypY2plMWBTdtWnqj2jQ" width="640" height="480"></iframe></html> | ||
==Text Mining== | ==Text Mining== | ||
| + | To use text mining to determine the explicitness/aggressiveness of Kanye's music, one has to text mine not only negative words but also positive words to get a whole sense of how Kanye is affected by his mother's death. The nature of Kanye's lyrics give a look into how Kanye copes with his mother's dead. For Voyant Tools, two corpi are used. One corpus divides Kanye's discography by album and the other corpus divides it by song. The corpus divided by album will give insight into the usage of specific words before and after Kanye's mother death. Kanye's mother died after Kanye's third album Graduation. The corpus divided by song will help pinpoint high frequency usages and allow further analysis which will give context behind the usages. | ||
| + | ===Bitch/Fuck=== | ||
| + | These curse words tackle specifically the explicitness of his music. The thesis is that Kanye becomes more explicit after the death of his mother which occurs after his third album Graduation. Fuck is used most in his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy while Bitch is most in his sixth album Yeezus. | ||
| + | |||
| + | <html> | ||
| + | <iframe style='width: 75%; height: 400px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?view=Trends&query=bitch*&query=fuck*&bins=7&corpus=def28fd0f15cbe0201418749d2b47744'></iframe> | ||
| + | <iframe style='width: 75%; height: 400px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?query=bitch*&query=fuck*&bins=100&view=Trends&corpus=7eb22a0921cf351f88380102b1ea6764'></iframe> | ||
| + | </html> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Kill=== | ||
| + | Kill is analyzed to give an insight into the subject matter of the music. The word kill could signify a more aggressive Kanye as a result of his mother death. Kill is used the most in Kanye's third album Graduation. | ||
| + | |||
| + | <html> | ||
| + | <iframe style='width: 75%; height: 400px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?query=kill*&bins=7&corpus=def28fd0f15cbe0201418749d2b47744&view=Trends'></iframe> | ||
| + | <iframe style='width: 75%; height: 400px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?query=kill*&bins=100&view=Trends&corpus=7eb22a0921cf351f88380102b1ea6764'></iframe> | ||
| + | </html> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Money=== | ||
| + | Money is analyzed again to gain insight into the subject matter of the music. The usage of the word money might not necessarily mean a greater degree of explicitness but with context it could unveil narcissistic lyrics which is another way Kanye could have dealt with his mother's death. It is used the most in Late Registration followed very closely by Life of Pablo. | ||
| + | |||
| + | <html> | ||
| + | <iframe style='width: 75%; height: 400px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?query=money*&bins=7&corpus=def28fd0f15cbe0201418749d2b47744&view=Trends'></iframe> | ||
| + | <iframe style='width: 75%; height: 400px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?query=money*&bins=100&view=Trends&corpus=7eb22a0921cf351f88380102b1ea6764'></iframe> | ||
| + | </html> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===God=== | ||
| + | God is one of the positive words that is discussed earlier on. The usage of the word God could signify a religious approach instead of a narcissistic approach that is being tested for. Higher frequency in the usage of God could mean that Kanye has turned to religion instead of become more explicit to deal with his mother's death. | ||
| + | |||
| + | <html> | ||
| + | <iframe style='width: 75%; height: 400px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?query=god*&bins=7&corpus=def28fd0f15cbe0201418749d2b47744&view=Trends'></iframe> | ||
| + | <iframe style='width: 75%; height: 400px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?query=god*&bins=100&view=Trends&corpus=7eb22a0921cf351f88380102b1ea6764'></iframe> | ||
| + | </html> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Jesus=== | ||
| + | Jesus is another positive word and it is being analyzed because of why God is being analyzed. Little is known about how religious Kanye West is and the usage of Jesus could give an insight on that as well as see if Kanye took a religious approach instead of a narcissistic approach to deal with his mother's passing. | ||
| + | |||
| + | <html> | ||
| + | <iframe style='width: 75%; height: 400px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?query=jesus*&bins=7&corpus=def28fd0f15cbe0201418749d2b47744&view=Trends'></iframe> | ||
| + | <iframe style='width: 75%; height: 400px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?query=jesus*&bins=100&corpus=7eb22a0921cf351f88380102b1ea6764&view=Trends'></iframe> | ||
| + | </html> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Love=== | ||
| + | Love is analyzed because it could give the greatest insight on how Kanye feels at the time. The usage of love depending on the context could show direct connection with his mother and even his current family. Love is a positive word that would help determine if Kanye became more explicit over time. | ||
| + | |||
| + | <html> | ||
| + | <iframe style='width: 75%; height: 400px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?query=love*&bins=7&corpus=def28fd0f15cbe0201418749d2b47744&view=Trends'></iframe> | ||
| + | <iframe style='width: 75%; height: 400px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?query=love*&bins=100&corpus=7eb22a0921cf351f88380102b1ea6764&view=Trends'></iframe> | ||
| + | </html> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Mama=== | ||
| + | Mama of course is perhaps the most important text of all. The usage of mama helps determine if Kanye had a strong relationship with his mother at all using only his lyrics. It is known that Kanye was very close to his mother but the mention of mama in his music would further solidify that claim and bring the whole analysis together. | ||
| + | |||
| + | <html> | ||
| + | <iframe style='width: 75%; height: 400px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?query=mama*&bins=7&corpus=def28fd0f15cbe0201418749d2b47744&view=Trends'></iframe> | ||
| + | <iframe style='width: 75%; height: 400px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?query=mama*&bins=100&corpus=7eb22a0921cf351f88380102b1ea6764&view=Trends'></iframe> | ||
| + | </html> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Contextual Analysis== | ||
| + | ===Jesus Walks, The College Dropout, 10 February 2004=== | ||
| + | Jesus is used extensively in Jesus Walks, a song in Kanye West's debut album. The song could be described as a hip-hop song that promotes Christianity and it even won a Grammy for Best Rap Song. In the song itself Jesus is used mostly but not exclusively in the hook where a choir sings "Jesus walks" intermittently between Kanye's verses. This was one of the first song Kanye ever released and it showed a religious side of Kanye. This song still has a few explicit words in it but compared to most of Kanye's music this is a very clean song and is a classic representation of "early Kanye." | ||
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| + | ===Last Call, The College Dropout, 10 February 2004=== | ||
| + | Kill or a variation of kill is used 5 times in this song making it the most times out of any Kanye song. Last Call is the very last song on Kanye West's debut album, The College Dropout. It is also the longest song Kanye has ever recorded lasting 12 minutes and 41 seconds. This song has a lot going on in it but in summary Kanye raps about his rise from a minor producer to major producer to underappreciated rapper to the rapper he is now. In the verse "Now I could let these dream killers kill my self-esteem" Kanye talks about how people never thought he could become a successful rapper. The word kill in this song is not used in an explicit way as much as it is used in a way to express how Kanye feels now that he has become a successful rapper. Kill is only used 5 times anyway so that goes to show Kanye does not use the word kill very often in any of his music. | ||
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| + | ===Gold Digger, Late Registration, 30 August 2005=== | ||
| + | Money is used frequently and mostly in the hook of this song. Gold Digger is one of Kanye West's most popular songs ever and it was released in his second album Late Registration. The verse "She take my money when I'm in need" is echoed throughout the song and is sung by Jamie Foxx who is impersonating Ray Charles in the song. Money is used to talk about a gold digger. The word money was text mined because if the lyrics included Kanye boasting about his money it could represent narcissism but that is not the case in this song. This song is not a narcissistic song. | ||
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| + | ===Hey Mama, Late Registration, 30 August 2005=== | ||
| + | This song is a complete tribute to Kanye West's tribute. Kanye's relationship with his mother was private until this song came out. The obvious affection and love for his mother is echoed throughout this song. Kanye describes his appreciation of her raising him amidst all of the personal hardships and instilling her values in him. During Kanye's first performance after his mother's death on 17 November 2007, Kanye broke down in tears trying to perform this song. Kanye's relationship with his mother was very strong and her death influenced him greatly. Mama was used extensively in this song. | ||
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| + | ===Love Lockdown, 808s & Heartbreak, 24 November 2008=== | ||
| + | Love Lockdown was the first single released for the album 808s & Heartbreak. This was also the first single to be released after the death of Kanye West's mother and Kanye's breakup with his fiancee. It was also Kanye's first song that contain only singing and no rapping. 808s & Heartbreak is in interesting album in that there is not a single curse word used in the whole album and every song features a 808, which is a drum pattern. Every song in the album is completely clean, the only such Kanye album. This song is about his breakup with his fiancee because it covers keeping control over love. It is about not loving someone anymore and not being about to get out of that situation. | ||
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| + | ===Monster, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 22 November 2010=== | ||
| + | Monster may be one of Kanye's most explicit songs he has ever recorded. It has a horror aspect to it and has been described as disturbing and weird. The music video that accompanied it was even more explicit and was banned by MTV. The song itself talks about a monster using atmospheric, heavy-drum composition. The hook "I'ma need to see your fucking hands at the concert" is repeated many times throughout the 6 minute 18 second song but the use of fuck is also very common in other verses. This type of aggressive music was new in terms of Kanye's previous type of music and started the cascade from "old Kanye" to "new Kanye." | ||
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| + | ===I Am A God, Yeezus, 18 June 2013=== | ||
| + | God was text mined to see if Kanye West's used religion in his music at all. As seen before Jesus was used quite a bit in the song Jesus Walks for Kanye's first album therefore there is evidence of a religious Kanye early on. This song, however, is quite the opposite. In this song Kanye proclaims himself as a God. Kanye promotes his "new brand of Kanye" in that nobody love Kanye more than Kanye. Narcissism is rampant in this song and the new style of Kanye has long been differentiated from Kanye's first few albums. | ||
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| + | ===Send It Up, Yeezus, 18 June 2013=== | ||
| + | Bitch is used many times in this song. The hook "We can send this bitch up, it can't go down" is Kanye boasting that even with the success he has had he can not go any farther down. He can only go up from here. More narcissism is evident this song. This song is also about how the old Kanye is gone and the new Kanye is back and here to stay. If you keep reliving the old Kanye then you are going to miss out on the new Kanye. | ||
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==Conclusion== | ==Conclusion== | ||
| + | Using the analysis from text mining and contextual analysis, the thesis, "Kanye West became much more aggressive and explicit after the death of his mother because he had to cope with the deep sadness and he dealt with is by taking a narcissistic approach to his music" is supported. The use of explicit words and themes skyrocketed after the death of Kanye's mother. However, this change was not evident immediately. Kanye's first album after his mother's death, 808s & Heartbreak, did not use a single explicit word throughout the whole album. The change in Kanye was first evident in My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy where Kanye becomes the most explicit he has yet and this trend is carried throughout Yeezus and is even seen, though to a less degree, in Kanye's most recent album The Life of Pablo. Kanye even goes as far as proclaiming himself as a God in the album Yeezus. Kanye's mother's death has had a major impact on Kanye's life. When the death first occurred Kanye went into almost a depression releasing his album of heartbreak with 808s & Heartbreak. But after this release Kanye has not looked back and has embraced a narcissistic attitude toward life. This narcissism is a way to deal with his mother's death by displacement. Displacement in psychology is the movement to a new aim or goal to cope with an event. This can be seen in Kanye's music after the death of his mother with the creation of "new Kanye." | ||
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| + | ==Sources== | ||
| + | Genius. "The Evolution of Kanye West Rewind." Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ARmSqvfwnE. Accessed 17 April 2017. | ||
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| + | Sinclair, Stefan and Geoffrey Rockwell, Voyant Tools, 2017 Web. 19 Apr 2017. <http://voyant-tools.org>. | ||
