“He’s up there with Michael Jackson in my world.”įinally, the most important aspect of what makes an artist great is their critical success. “Kanye West is one of my biggest influences,” Chance said. Kanye is known for having gospel influences on his albums all throughout his career. Chance the Rapper, who won 3 Grammys off of his gospel-infused rap album ‘Coloring Book,’ called Kanye one of his biggest influences. Drake, Travis Scott, and Pusha T are only a few of the artists who have discussed how he has had a great influence on their music. Kanye made it cool for rap and R&B artists to be open and emotional on their records.īeyond just ‘808s and Heartbreak,’ Kanye is a mentor to some of the biggest artists not only in rap but in all of music. This album opened up the floodgates of what now saturates the rap music scene: the usage of autotune and the creation of emo rap. “Most male R&B stars want to be taken seriously as a misunderstood anti-hero now, and in this they are reenacting the public breakdown that West staged without a net.”Īt his most vulnerable, Kanye made his most influential album. “‘808s’ made sullen solitude fashionable again,” writes Jayson Greene of Pitchfork Magazine.
One album of his that was particularly influential was his 2008 album ‘808s and Heartbreak.’ Many current rap artists cite Kanye as a major influence on their music. In addition to being able to sell albums, Kanye makes music that has had incredible influence. Not to mention, this is the least important part of the greatness criteria. He may not sell as much as other artists, such as Eminem or Drake, but Kanye definitely moves enough units to check off sales part of the greatness. He has sold 21 million albums and has amassed over 100 million digital downloads. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Kanye has seven platinum albums, six of which are solo albums. While he may not be the best artist for some of the categories, even though he is for one of them, his total scores across the board are the reason that he is a cut above the rest of the field.įirst, Kanye is a great artist because of his ability to sell records. Like I said in the opening, there are three things that make an artist great: sales, influence, and success.
The reason why Kanye is the greatest artist of this century is because of how well he checks the boxes of what it takes to be a great artist. However, all of the knocks people have against him are never rooted in his lack of artistic ability.ĭenying Kanye’s artistic genius is simply ignorant, and today I am going to try to enlighten you, the reader, on why the title for greatest artist of the 21st century goes to the one and only Mr. Whether it is his braggadocious attitude, his crazy antics, or just his seeming inability to fail, people always find a reason to hate on him or knock him. He rocketed his way onto the music mainstream back in 2004 with his debut album, ‘The College Dropout,’ and has maintained relevance on the music scene and beyond ever since. Kanye West is unarguably the definition of a successful artist. Kanye West hits every mark that makes somebody one of the greatest artists of all time.
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