Reminiscing on Old Kanye
Back in 2003, when "College Dropout" came out I remember it distinctly I was ending the end of my sophomore year at MWSU @ in a little city in Missouri named St. Joseph. Around 4pm, Monday thru Friday I tried to be in my room to watch a show called "106th & Park" on BET came on everyday about 4pm. They interviewed all the hottest artists.
Prior to the song, "Through The Wire" I wasn't familiar with who Kanye West was, but oh when I found out I was so in love with his music.
I mean everyone had that CD on campus, whether the original or the burnt CD (sorry yes we were bootlegging with our poor college butts). Before streaming burning CD's, that's all we had until I think IPOD's came out in 2005.Kanye came in like a force, part of the Roc-A-Fella crew with Jay-Z, so he was automatically alright in my book. Seeing that Jay-Z was one of my favorites for sometime now ever since that MTV Unplugged album I had copped in Chicago on a band trip.Kanye was so relatable, speaking of struggles of finding your way in the world but often putting a comical spin on it. Kanye had a certain style that was contagious also. He made Polo's cool again. Remember that?College Dropout through Late Registration was such and intricate part of my college career...literally the soundtrack to my College Career. (I kept all three albums in rotation on my little MP3 player)
Who can forget the "Broke Phi Broke" sketch on "Late Registration"!
Then when "Graduation" came out around 2007, I had moved on into another part of my life. I had just graduated College. My now husband, then boyfriend where dating and used to ride to that CD so much we had to buy another copy because the first one was so scratched it wouldn't play good anymore!You see Kanye West's earlier body of work was the sound track of so many people's lives, including ours. Often time we don't separate an artists work from their personal lives, because that's how we get to know them is through their work but how they conduct them selves outside of music is also important.For me, in light of his recent antics I just feel ye' has lost his way. Mainly I think the passing of his mother broke him somewhere deep inside...understandable...but sadly he's never been able to come back to us.
He's had his outbursts, but that's typical Kanye isn't it?
In closing, not only does it hurt me that he's some how turned his back on his culture in a way, but really once he said "slavery was a choice", I really felt sympathy for him. His recent releases just make me raise and eyebrow.Will I ever look at one of my favorite artists in the same way ever again, likely no.We love you "old" Kanye, and thank you for your body of work pre-808's & Heartbreaks! We hope you come back to your senses soon!Until next time...