West began making beats and rapping in the early 90s in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois, when he formed the rap group Go Getters with Chicago natives GLC and Really Doe. He later gained nationwide popularity through his work in New York, where he began producing tracks for artists such as Jay-Z, Twista, Mase, Talib Kweli and Alicia Keys.
West's style of production often utilizes pitched-up vocal samples, usually from soul songs, with his drums and instruments. The first major label song he produced was The Truth by Beanie Sigel, and his first major release featuring his trademark vocal sampling style was This Canβt Be Life, a track from Jay-Zβs The Dynasty: Roc La Familia. West said he sped up the drum beat of Dr. Dreβs Xxplosive to use as a replacement for his drums on This Canβt Be Life.
West has said that Wu-Tang Clan producer RZA influenced him in his style, and has said on numerous occasions that Wu-Tang rappers Ghostface Killah and Olβ Dirty Bastard were some of his all-time favorites. Said Kanye West: βWu-Tang? Me and my friends talk about this all the timeβ¦ We think Wu-Tang had one of the biggest impacts as far as a movement. From slang to style of dress, skits, the samples. Similar to the [production] style I use, RZA has been doing that.β
In 2004 (after being pushed aside by many record companies who felt he wasn't a marketable hip-hop artist), he managed to release his debut solo album, The College Dropout on Roc-A-Fella Records. The album received critical acclaim, including 10 Grammy nominations and the awards for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album, as well as defining the style for which West would become known: "wordplay" and heavy sampling of the 70s soul and RnB tracks.
Not content to rest on his laurels, West invested two million dollars and hired a string orchestra to help with his latest effort, Late Registration (2005). West collaborated with Jon Brion to help develop the sound of the album, despite his lack of experience in hip hop production. The album received widespread acclaim like its predecessor and again claimed the Best Rap Album award at the Grammys.
West was no stranger to controversy, such as storming out at the 2004 American Music Awards after not receiving Best New Artist, but just days after the release of his second studio album, West began embroiled in a major controversy after going off-script during Hurricane Katrina broadcast, proclaiming "George Bush doesn't care about black people", which Bush claimed was "one the most disgusting moments of my presidency". In January 2006, West posed on the cover of Rolling Stone wearing a crown of thorns, once again attracting controversy.
For his third release, West was keen to produce songs that could be used more effectively when performing in arenas. For Graduation, the third and ultimately final entry into his 'Dropout Bear' series, West drew musical inspiration from The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash. In the lead up to the album he became involved in a friendly rivalry with 50 Cent over which of the two artists' upcoming albums would sell more, as they were both released on the same day. West ultimately sold 957,000 copies in the first week of release, outselling Curtis by a large margin. The albums lead single "Stronger" sampled Daft Punk, and was West's third number one on Billboard 200. Many proclaim West's 'victory' over 50 Cent to be the 'death' of gangster rap as the dominant hip hop subgenre.
Following the death of his mother, Donda West, and the end of his engagement to long term partner Alexis Phifer, West abandoned his initial plan to release a fourth album entitled Good Ass Job, and shocked his fans by releasing 808s and Heartbreak, which was full of autotune singing, extensive use of the TR-808 drum machine, themes of love, loss and loneliness and very little rapping. It received slightly more mixed reviews than his previous efforts, but many critics cite 808s and Heartbreak as the catalyst for a new wave of rappers, most prominently Drake, due to its themes which were uncommon in mainstream hip-hop.
West's grief seemed to lead to a spiral out of control which culminated in him storming on stage at the 2009 VMAs to interrupt Taylor Swift's award acceptance speech to proclaim that BeyoncΓ© deserved the award instead, in a move that is infamous in pop culture and was vilified by the entire world in the aftermath. West disappeared from the public eye following this, and his upcoming tour with Lady Gaga was cancelled. The disgraced West, who was described as a 'jackass' by President Obama, seemed to have much work to do to return to the his former glory, but he was about to embark on what some critics consider to be the best run of his career.
West holed up in Hawaii for a few months and worked tirelessly to produce what many consider to be his magnum opus. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, West's fifth studio album, was released in November 2010 to rave reviews from critics, which solidified his comeback. In stark contrast to his previous effort, which featured a minimalist sound, Dark Fantasy adopts a maximalist philosophy and deals with themes of celebrity and excess. The record included the international hit All of the Lights, and Billboard hits Power, Monster, and Runaway, the latter of which accompanied a 35-minute film of the same name. During this time, West initiated the free music program G.O.O.D. Fridays through his website, offering a free download of previously unreleased songs each Friday of the week, a portion of which were included on the album. Dark Fantasy went on to go platinum in the United States, but its omission as a contender for Album of the Year at the 54th Grammy Awards was viewed as a "snub" by several media outlets.
Following a headlining set at Coachella 2011 that was described by The Hollywood Reporter as "one of greatest hip-hop sets of all time," West released the collaborative album Watch the Throne with Jay-Z. By employing a sales strategy that released the album digitally weeks before its physical counterpart, Watch the Throne became one of the few major label albums in the Internet age to avoid a leak. Niggas in Paris became the record's highest charting single, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2012, West released the compilation album Cruel Summer, a collection of tracks by artists from West's record label GOOD Music. Cruel Summer produced four singles, two of which charted within the top twenty of the Hot 100: Mercy and Clique. West also directed a film of the same name that premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival in custom pyramid-shaped screening pavilion featuring seven screens.
Sessions for West's sixth solo effort begin to take shape in early 2013 in his own personal loft's living room at a Paris hotel. Determined to "undermine the commercial," he once again brought together close collaborators and attempted to incorporate Chicago drill, dancehall, acid house, and industrial music. Primarily inspired by architecture, West's perfectionist tendencies led him to contact producer Rick Rubin fifteen days shy of its due date to strip down the record's sound in favor of a more minimalist approach. Initial promotion of his sixth album included worldwide video projections of the album's music and live television performances.
Yeezus, West's sixth album, was released June 18, 2013 to rave reviews from critics. It became the rapper's sixth consecutive number one debut. Def Jam issued "Black Skinhead" to radio in July 2013 as the album's lead single. On September 6, 2013, Kanye West announced he would be headlining his first solo tour in five years, to support Yeezus, with fellow American rapper Kendrick Lamar, accompanying him along the way.
In November 2013, West stated that he was working on and recording his next studio album. The album was to be produced by Rick Rubin and Q-Tip.. Kanye released a single entitled "Only One", on December 31, 2014 featuring Paul McCartney, as well as collaborating with McCartney on the Rihanna track " FourFiveSeconds", released in January 2015. West appeared on the SNL 40th Anniversary Special on February 15th 2015 to debut a new song Wolves, featuring Sia Furler and Vic Mensa. Another single, entitled "All Day" was released on March 2, 2015, again featuring McCartney as well as Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom. In June of the same year, Kanye headlined the Glastonbury Festival in the UK, which garnered much outrage including a petition with 135,000 signatures against his appearance, leading to West declaring he was "the greatest living rock star on the planet" towards the end of his set, and the performance receiving a mixed reaction among fans and critics, due to its controversy. In September 2015, West performed {album artist kanye west]808s and Heartbreak in its entirety at the Hollywood Bowl over two nights, which received rave reviews a featured a 60 person orchestra, guests such as Kid Cudi and Mr Hudson, and over 70 dancers. West released "Facts" at the turn of the new year.
West had originally stated that his upcoming album would be called 'So Help Me God' before changing the title to 'SWISH' and announcing that it would be released on February 11th. In January 2016 he released "Real Friends" and "No More Parties in LA", featuring Kendrick Lamar. As well as renaming the album once again to "Waves", West became involved in several twitter controversies in the lead up to the album, including with rapper Wiz Khalifa after he suggested that West had stolen the idea of the wave from other artists and seemingly dissed Kim Kardashian, which later turned out to be a misunderstanding over the use of "KK". West again changed the name of the album just days before it's release, this time to "{album artist=kanye west]The Life of Pablo", and debuted it at Madison Square Garden on February 11, but delayed it's release for a few days. On February 14, West released the album are a performance on SNL. West initially claimed the album was to be a Tidal exclusive, but it was later released on other streaming platforms, although it is yet to receive a physical release. West continued to tinker with the mixing and production of the album even after it was released, and it was updated several times, including the final song "Saint Pablo" in June 2016. West had also made public his plans to release an album in the summer of 2016, entitled "Turbo Grafx 16", based on the 1990s games console, which never surfaced, although he did release a single thought to be from the upcoming G.O.O.D. Music album "Cruel Winter", called Champions. In the same month, a video for "Famous" was released, including nude wax figures of celebrities such as West, Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, Donald Trump, Chris Brown, Rihanna, Bill Cosby and George W. Bush.
In August 2016, West embarked on the ambitious Saint Pablo Tour, which included a mobile stage suspended from the ceiling. After the violent robbery of Kim's jewellery in Paris in October, West had to end a show early and postpone shows following it. In the following performances, West cancelled shows early and went on long winded rants against fellow artists such as Jay Z and BeyoncΓ© among others, as well as making controversial political statements including implying his support for Donald Trump. On November 21st 2016, West cancelled the rest of the tour and was hospitalised due to sleep deprivation and extreme dehydration. Following this, West disappeared from social media, and only resurfaced 11 months later with a series of tweets which included many philosophical thoughts and the announcements two albums in June 2018, a solo album which would include 7 tracks on June 1, and a collaboration with Kid Cudi to be released on June 8.
On August 29th, 2021, Kanye released his 10th highly anticipated studio release Donda via GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings after a series of three listening parties.
Personal life:
West was born in Atlanta, Georgia. When he was three years old (as mentioned in Hey Mama) his parents divorced, and he moved with his mother to Chicago, Illinois. His father, Ray West, was a former Black Panther; one of the first black photojournalists at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; and is now a Christian counselor. Kanyeβs late mother, Dr. Donda West, worked as a Professor of English at Clark Atlanta University, and the Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University before retiring to serve as Kanyeβs manager. He was later raised in an upper middle class background, attending Polaris High School in suburban Oak Lawn, Illinois after living in Chicago.
After attending The American Academy of Art, a Chicago art school, West attended Chicago State University but eventually dropped out due to poor grades and to continue working on his music career. While attending school, West produced for local artists, including on rapper Gravβs debut album Down to Earth. He later gained fame by producing hit singles for major hip hop/R&B artists, including Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, Camβron, Paul Wall, Common, Mobb Deep, Jermaine Dupri, Scarface, The Game, Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson and John Legend among others. He also βghost-producedβ for his once mentor Deric Angelettie according to his song Last Call and the credits of Nasβ Poppa Was a Playa.
West was married to Kim Kardashian. Together they had four children: daughters named North (*2013) and Chicago (*2018); and sons named Saint (*2015) and Psalm (*2019). In 2021, Kardashian filed for divorce.
In 2020, West launched an unsuccessful independent presidential campaign that primarily advocated for a consistent life ethic. In 2022, he faced backlash and lost a number of sponsors and partnershipsβincluding his collaborations with Adidas, Gap, and Balenciagaβafter making antisemitic statements.
HAM
Kanye West Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Niggas feel they selves
And then Watch The Throne drop
Niggas kill they selves
What niggas gon' do Hov?
This a new crack on a new stove
I'm in the two-door, true that
Niggas tellin' me "You back" (you back)
And if life a bitch suck my dick huh?
And I bet she fucked the whole clique, huh
By the way nigga, you should fuckin' quit, nigga
Just forget it, you talk it, I live it
Like Eli I did it, jokes on you mothafucker and I get it
No paper hoe, but you can have some more of me
Or-gy, or are we, speakin' metaphorically
Historically, I'm kickin' bitches out like Pam nigga
Goin' HAM nigga, me and Jigga
And a nigga still young, wanna have no kids
But I've been practicing with some actresses as bad as shit
Had a few white girls, asses flat a shit
But the head so good, damn a nigga glad he hit
Got 'em jumpin' out the building
Watch out below, a million out the door
I'm about to go HAM
Hard as a mothafucker let these niggas know who I am
I'm about to go HAM
Hard as a mothafucker let these niggas know who I am
Fuck y'all mad at me for?
Y'all don't even know what I've been through
I play chicken with a Mack truck
Y'all mothafuckers woulda been moved
I swam waters with great whites
Y'all mothafuckers woulda been chewed
I hustle with vultures late nights
Y'all mothafuckers woulda been food
Fuck wrong with these dudes
Try to walk around in these shoes
See the shit I saw growing up
And maybe you can take a peek at these boo's
Niggas fantasize about the shit that I do daily like
These rappers rap about all the shit that I do really
I'm like really half a billi nigga
Really you got baby money
Keep it real with niggas
Niggas ain't got my lady money
Watch the Throne don't step on our road
Bad enough we let you step on our globe
When my nephew died, daddy dead
Niggas took the price on my uncles head
Nobody called the cops as my uncle bled
So I feel like I would like to know my uncles bread
Bow down, brother pay homage
Don't spill hate all on my garments
Commes Des Garcon, fuck your fresh
Head shots nigga fuck your vests
Fuck the pig, no pork on my fork
Peace God 'cause you know a nigga just went Ham
Hard as a mothafucker let these niggas know who I am
Yeah I'm 'bout to go HAM
Hard as a mothafucker let these niggas know who I am
Yeah I'm 'bout to go HAM
The lyrics to "HAM" by Kanye West Jay Z talk about their success and how they are at the top of the rap industry. The first verse discusses how quickly things can change in the music world, and how artists can quickly fall out of favor. The second verse discusses their struggles and obstacles they have faced to get to where they are now. Kanye West talks about the hardships of his upbringing and how he had to fight to get where he is today. Jay Z brags about his wealth and success, challenging other artists who might try and step on their territory.
The chorus announces both artists' determination to go "HAM" (hard as a motherfucker), letting people know who they are and asserting their dominance in the industry. Overall, the song is a boastful anthem about power, wealth, and success.
Line by Line Meaning
It was all good just a week ago
Everything was fine just a week ago
Niggas feel they selves
People become overly confident
And then Watch The Throne drop
The release of their album changed things
Niggas kill they selves
People ruin their own careers
What niggas gon' do Hov?
Asking Jay Z what they'll do now
This a new crack on a new stove
This is a new level of success
I'm in the two-door, true that
I'm in a two-door car
Niggas tellin' me "You back" (you back)
People are telling me I'm back
Like a nigga ever left up out this bitch, huh?
As if I ever left this place
And if life a bitch suck my dick huh?
If life is tough, I'll deal with it
And I bet she fucked the whole clique, huh
I bet life has screwed everyone over
By the way nigga, you should fuckin' quit, nigga
You should give up, man
Just forget it, you talk it, I live it
Forget what you're saying, I'm putting it into action
Like Eli I did it, jokes on you mothafucker and I get it
Like Eli Manning, I achieved success despite what people said
No paper hoe, but you can have some more of me
I may not have much money, but I have a lot more to give
Or-gy, or are we, speakin' metaphorically
Are we talking about a literal orgy or using a metaphor?
Historically, I'm kickin' bitches out like Pam nigga
I'm removing people from my circle like Pam on Martin
Goin' HAM nigga, me and Jigga
We're going hard as a motherfucker
And a nigga still young, wanna have no kids
I'm still young and don't want children
But I've been practicing with some actresses as bad as shit
I've been with some beautiful women
Had a few white girls, asses flat a shit
I've been with some white girls with no ass
But the head so good, damn a nigga glad he hit
Their oral sex abilities made up for their lack of ass
Got 'em jumpin' out the building
I'm so good, they can't handle it
Watch out below, a million out the door
My success is causing chaos
Fuck y'all mad at me for?
Why are you guys angry at me?
Y'all don't even know what I've been through
You don't know my struggles
I play chicken with a Mack truck
I take on dangerous challenges
Y'all mothafuckers woulda been moved
You would have backed down
I swam waters with great whites
I've dealt with big threats
Y'all mothafuckers woulda been chewed
You would have been destroyed
I hustle with vultures late nights
I work hard with shady people
Y'all mothafuckers woulda been food
You would have been taken advantage of
Fuck wrong with these dudes
What is wrong with these guys?
Try to walk around in these shoes
You don't know what it's like
See the shit I saw growing up
I've been through a lot
And maybe you can take a peek at these boo's
Maybe you could learn from my experiences
Niggas fantasize about the shit that I do daily like
People wish they could do what I do every day
These rappers rap about all the shit that I do really
Other rappers talk about what I actually do
I'm like really half a billi nigga
I have a lot of money
Really you got baby money
You don't have much money compared to me
Keep it real with niggas
Be honest
Niggas ain't got my lady money
Other people don't have as much money as me and my wife
Watch the Throne don't step on our road
Don't challenge us
Bad enough we let you step on our globe
We've already given you some ground
When my nephew died, daddy dead
Two family members died
Niggas took the price on my uncles head
Someone put out a hit on my uncle
Nobody called the cops as my uncle bled
No one helped him
So I feel like I would like to know my uncles bread
I deserve to know what my uncle's life was worth
Bow down, brother pay homage
Respect those who came before you
Don't spill hate all on my garments
Don't bring negativity to me
Commes Des Garcon, fuck your fresh
My fashion is better than yours
Head shots nigga fuck your vests
I'm so good I don't need to aim for your body
Fuck the pig, no pork on my fork
I don't eat pork
Peace God 'cause you know a nigga just went Ham
I just went hard as a motherfucker
Lyrics Β© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Kanye West, Shawn Carter, Mike Dean, Lexus Lewis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@paradoxus6098
I wish modern rap music would incorporate more opera/orchestra elements in it, it sounds bloody epic
@travylacefield2770
look up boosie
@andrewdjdrewyoung6999
Yessss!!!! This opera orchestra sounds too epic
@G_0_0_Zroot
This used to be played on the radio back 2 back.... Think about that, then think of current day radio
@Fenixion88ZX
do you guys know more songs like this ? a similar style would be with classical music like "Lord Knows" from meek mill and Tory Lanez
@SovereignSpectre
I had to come back to this song after hearing the Superhero meme song and how it kind of incorporates opera.
@j.breezy
This is the song I play when Iβm doing sprints or need to go hard at the gym.
In my opinion, itβs one of the best songs either of them has done, together and individually. I love choir samples and unexpected change ups. We need more of this in the current music being put out.
@zaniellowery6926
There's not a wasted syllable in Jay's verse π―
@La_Horca
Yeah but not gonna lie, the lyrics are always shit in Kanye's songs. Average rappers like Kanye are saved by the production, this song is amazing because the production is so experimental. While hearing the drop, choir and mix this just feels like I'm about to shake hands with God.
@zaniellowery6926
@Tengu that's why we got j on the track π―ππΏ