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Kanye Leads LG Action Sports Championships Music Roster
Friday, Nov 9 Dallas, TX
By Shanti Sosienski
It's hard to fight the claim that Kanye West is the biggest name in all of contemporary music. The fact that the hip-hop superstar's fingerprints have been all over tracks by the industry's hottest acts since the start of the century, along with those three platinum-selling solo records under his diamond-studded belt, makes a compelling argument as to why West has earned a pocketbook as big as his mouth. As a showman who is always on point, excessively confident in his work, and never fails to bring his A-game, West's headlining gig at the 2007 LG Action Sports Championships speaks as a testimony to the world of action sports as well as his own spot atop popular culture.
If it wasn't a marketing ploy it darn well should have been when West's latest album, Graduation, had its release date pushed forward to September 11, 2007, the same date that 50 Cent's Curtis was set to hit stores. From there, the modern destiny of a Kanye dynasty was clearly in the making once 50 Cent challenged the power of West's prowess, stating that he would outsell West or quit the rap game. In due time, 50 Cent would dispel his comments as West's Graduation proved to blow him away by selling close to one million records in its first week out. Since the album's release, he has gone on to tap into mainstream markets across the board by appearing on anything from SNL to Jimmy Kimmel Live to the Ellen DeGeneres Show, starting his own blog for all things Kanye, and making his presence known at just about every red carpet event around, all the while continuing to show off for audiences all around the world. If West's three favorite words aren't me, myself, and I, they must be produce, produce, and produce.
West first broke onto the hip-hop scene in the '90s while in college--first at the American Academy of Art, then Chicago State University where he later dropped out to fully pursue his music career--producing local Chicago artists. But, despite his work with Jermaine Dupri, Foxy Brown, Ma$e, Dead Prez, and Lil Kim, among others early on, it wasn't until West teamed up with hip-hop mogul Jay-Z that West actually started to make a splash. With his production featured heavily on Jay-Z's critically acclaimed The Blueprint, including the lead single "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)," West soon became a major behind-the-scenes figure in hip-hop.
In October 2002, West fell asleep while driving home from the recording studio and was involved in a near-fatal car accident in which he severely injured his jaw so badly that it had to be wired shut while it healed. This proved to be the inspiration for West's breakout track, "Through the Wire," which he wrote while recovering in the hospital and recorded while his jaw was still wired closed. To critical acclaim and commercial success, West's debut album, College Dropout, was released on Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records in February 2004, finally bringing him to the forefront of international attention.
Since, West has repeatedly made his presence known with politically and socially conscious lyrics, and a nasty habit of speaking his mind under a slew of circumstances. Most notable of which was his "George Bush doesn't care about black people" statement during a live Hurricane Katrina benefit program on NBC, and his outburst during the MTV Europe Music Awards when his video for "Touch the Sky" failed to win the video of the year award. Still, even his antics are a testament to West's international fame and success--after all, none of his actions would mean a thing if he didn't have the chops to back them up.
It's like West raps on the track "I Wonder" off Graduation, "I've been waiting on this my whole life/ These dreams be waking me up at night/ You say I think I'm never wrong/ You know what, maybe you're right, aight." He's on top of the world and can do no wrong. You could hate a guy for less, but at least "Mr. West, Mr. Fresh, Mr. by-his-self-he-so-impressed" deserves his spot, and those platinum records to boot.
