Kanye West in the Studio: Beats Down! Money Up!
Book Review by Kam Williams
 “Many
brilliant artists are dead long before their impact is recognized and
crystallized, or even established and explored in any analytical depth
with hindsight of the past to compare and contrast with. Beethoven died
in an unmarked grave; Van Gogh cut off his own ear out of artistic
frustration over a lack of acknowledgement. Thankfully, Kanye West is
getting his due props now, in the moment, because he demands it… Few
realize how important Kanye West has been to the last five years of
hip-hop… It is arguable that only Dr. Dre had had a more rounded role in
shaping the way the world of hip-hop has turned since 2000 dropped, and
even a brief glimpse over Kanye West’s production resume’ leaves no
doubt that his musical legacy will be looked upon and studied for its
historical importance in the years to come.”
- Excerpted from the Introduction (p. 5-6)
Kanye West caught the entire country’s attention during the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when he summoned up the nerve to call
President Bush a racist during a live, nationally-televised
broadcast on NBC and several other of the network’s channels. A
six-time Grammy-winner, West was a hip-hop producer who made his own
splash in 2005 with the release of his first CD, College Dropout.
Like a lot of famous rappers, he comes from a middle-class
background, having been raised by a single-mom who was the chairman
of the English Department at Chicago State University. However, in
contrast to most of the more macho gangstas in the industry who
never show themselves as vulnerable in their music, Kanye
revitalized the genre by “allowing the listening world to see inside
the mind of hip-hop through a much more honest and sympathetic
lens.” This is the contention of Jake Brown, author of Kanye West
in the Studio: Beats Down! Money Up! The
book is the literary equivalent of a fanzine, being basically
comprised of uncritical assessments of Kanye’s career plus plenty of
publicity photos and informal snapshots of its celebrated subject.
I suspect that this sort of adoring tome might be Mr. Brown’s stock
in trade, as he has also penned biographies of such hip-hop icons as
Dr. Dre, Biggie Smalls, Tupac Shakur, R Kelly, 50 Cent, Jay-Z and
Suge Knight. While not quite persuasive that comparisons to giants
like Beethoven and Van Gogh are in order, one does come away from
reading this opus convinced that Kanye does at least have a
contemporary message which resonates with this generation, though
only time will tell whether it will continue to do so over the ages.
Kanye West in the Studio:
Beats Down! Money Up!
Colossus Books
By Jake Brown
Paperback, $16.95
154 pages
ISBN: 0-9767735-6-2 |
Lloyd
Kam Williams