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 Can’t Be Life, a track from Jay-Z’s The Dynasty: Roc La Familia. West said he sped up the drum beat of Dr. Dre’s Xxplosive to use as a replacement for his drums on This Can’t 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 Ol’ Dirty Bastard were some of his all-time favorites. Said Kanye West: “Wu-Tang? Me and my friends talk about this all the time… 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.”
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 Beyoncé 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 Beyoncé 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. Kanye’s 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 Kanye’s 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 Grav’s 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, Cam’ron, Paul Wall, Common, Mobb Deep, Jermaine Dupri, Scarface, The Game, Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson and John Legend among others. He also “ghost-produced” for his once mentor Deric Angelettie according to his song Last Call and the credits of Nas’ 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 partnerships—including his collaborations with Adidas, Gap, and Balenciaga—after making antisemitic statements.
Neva Gonna Stop Me
Kanye West Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You know what I'm saying
I used to be in gym class like "Nigga
I'm finna be a rapper"
I didn't do my homework for my
Last three years of high school, nigga
So I'm assuming ya'll niggas don't
You're not hot cause your tapes don't work
We can't stop, our brakes don't work
Man I heard you spit your favorite verse
It's the softest place on Earth
Ya'll some motherfucking idiots
Dropping enough bricks to build a city with
What the fuck is on your mind?
You sniffing that shit
My own blood, go on stud
Probably the reason that the phone bugged
Always talking fast as hell like Bone Thugs
You act like you don't know
What the chrome does
Like what 2 shots to the dome does
Plus you kind of slow man
But if we listen to you
We all be broke like Gary Coleman
I'm trying to blow like Pokémane
And I don't want to have to choke you man
I'd rather go to bed
Getting head on the sofa man
Yo but, aigh, it's over man
Nothing's gonna stop Nothing's gonna stop
Nothing's gonna stop me!
(I said) Nothing's gonna stop Nothing's gonna
Stop Nothing's gonna stop me!
You the only Nigga who lights
Went out fucking 2000!
Let's go man
I hate a gold digging bitch that
Want to get in my whip fuck fucking
I make her kiss the tip of my dick
You know what I'm here for cut
All that crying and shit
Plus my nigga want a fit
Why don't you buy him some shit?
I'm from the land of the P-IM-P
I got these hoes buying the
Weed and the optimos
Why you think my neck froze?
Why I got these clothes?
PSSH Man I gots to pose
Next to the, lex to the, benz fit
Ya, next time we, fuck, bring ya
Friends with ya
And he doesn't take American Express
And he don't take hoes with
Small breast keep it moving (keep it moving)
I hate lame niggas, I hate gay niggas
I hate a dick riding I I
I I know Kanye niggas
(So) save the talk and save the game how you
Gon con me when Kan half my name? Nigga
I did about 4 or 5 beats for Nas
This nigga don't know how to pronounce my
Name because they always spell it wrong
Shit, you know I'm saying, I'mma
I'mma tell it real
You know what I'm saying? That's not cool
Y'all can't even
The lyrics of Kanye West's "Neva Gonna Stop Me" convey a sense of confidence and defiance. Kanye reflects on his journey to becoming a rapper, highlighting how he didn't prioritize academics in high school because he believed in his talent as a musician. He challenges those who doubt his abilities, proclaiming that their tapes don't work and their verses are weak. He criticizes their lack of skill and ambition, comparing them to idiots dropping bricks instead of building something meaningful.
Kanye believes in his own potential for success, comparing himself to the unstoppable force of a train with brakes that don't work. He dismisses his competitors as slow and ignorant, using wordplay to emphasize both their mental slowness and the consequences of following their lead. He also expresses his disdain for gold diggers and superficiality, rejecting the idea of buying expensive gifts for someone just to please them. Kanye takes pride in his own style, bragging about his clothes and his ability to attract women.
Overall, "Neva Gonna Stop Me" reflects Kanye West's confidence in his own talent and his determination to succeed despite any obstacles or doubters he may encounter.
Line by Line Meaning
What are they gon' tell me?
What criticisms or judgments do they have for me?
You know what I'm saying
Do you understand the message I'm trying to convey?
I used to be in gym class like 'Nigga, I'm finna be a rapper'
Back in gym class, I confidently knew I would pursue a career as a rapper
I didn't do my homework for my last three years of high school, nigga
I neglected my academic responsibilities during the final three years of high school
So I'm assuming ya'll niggas don't know what you doing
Based on your actions, it seems like you don't know what you're doing
You're not hot cause your tapes don't work
Your music releases are not successful or well-received
We can't stop, our brakes don't work
We are determined to continue and nothing can hinder our progress
Man I heard you spit your favorite verse, it's the softest place on Earth
I listened to your most cherished rhyme, and it was incredibly weak
Ya'll some motherfucking idiots, dropping enough bricks to build a city with
You all are complete fools, making numerous mistakes that could build an entire city
What the fuck is on your mind? You sniffing that shit
What are you thinking? Are you under the influence of drugs?
My own blood, go on stud, probably the reason that the phone bugged
My own relatives might be betraying me, causing my phone to be tapped
Always talking fast as hell like Bone Thugs
You constantly speak quickly and incoherently like the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony group
You act like you don't know what the chrome does
You pretend to be unaware of the dangerous consequences of a gun
Like what 2 shots to the dome does
Similar to the impact of two gunshot wounds to the head
Plus you kind of slow man
In addition, you possess a slow and unintelligent mindset
But if we listen to you, we all be broke like Gary Coleman
If we follow your advice, we will all end up financially destitute like Gary Coleman
I'm trying to blow like Pokémane
I aim to achieve massive success and fame like the popular streamer Pokémane
And I don't want to have to choke you man
I would rather not resort to violence and aggression towards you
I'd rather go to bed getting head on the sofa man
I prefer to engage in intimate activities and receive oral pleasure while resting on the sofa
Yo but, aigh, it's over man
But, alright, it's finished and concluded
Nothing's gonna stop Nothing's gonna stop Nothing's gonna stop me!
No obstacles or challenges will hinder my progress or determination
(I said) Nothing's gonna stop Nothing's gonna stop Nothing's gonna stop me!
I reiterate that nothing can prevent or deter me from achieving my goals
You the only Nigga who lights went out fucking 2000!
You are the only person whose career and relevance faded away in the year 2000
Let's go man
Let's proceed and take action, my friend
I hate a gold digging bitch that want to get in my whip fuck fucking
I strongly dislike women who are only interested in material gain and try to enter my car for sexual purposes
I make her kiss the tip of my dick
I compel her to perform oral sex on me
You know what I'm here for cut
You are aware of my intentions, my friend
All that crying and shit
All that emotional outburst and unnecessary drama
Plus my nigga want a fit, why don't you buy him some shit?
Additionally, my friend desires some new clothes. Why don't you purchase something for him?
I'm from the land of the P-IM-P
I come from a place where the culture celebrates the lifestyle of a pimp
I got these hoes buying the weed and the optimos
I have these women purchasing both marijuana and cigarillos
Why you think my neck froze? Why I got these clothes?
Have you ever wondered why I wear expensive jewelry and designer clothing?
PSSH Man I gots to pose
Well, man, I have to exhibit a confident and stylish demeanor
Next to the, lex to the, benz fit, ya, next time we, fuck, bring ya friends with ya
Next to the Lexus and Mercedes-Benz vehicle, yes, next time we have intercourse, bring your friends along
And he doesn't take American Express
Furthermore, he does not accept American Express credit cards
And he don't take hoes with small breast keep it moving (keep it moving)
Moreover, he refuses to associate with women who have small breasts, so continue on your way
I hate lame niggas, I hate gay niggas
I strongly dislike uninteresting individuals and also those who are homosexual
I hate a dick riding I I I I know Kanye niggas
I detest people who excessively praise and emulate others, especially those who imitate my own style
(So) save the talk and save the game how you gon con me when Kan half my name? Nigga
Therefore, spare me your empty words and attempts to deceive me, as how can you try to trick someone named Kan, which is half of my name?
I did about 4 or 5 beats for Nas
I produced approximately 4 or 5 instrumentals for the rapper Nas
This nigga don't know how to pronounce my name because they always spell it wrong
This individual does not know how to correctly say my name, as it is often misspelled
Shit, you know I'm saying, I'mma I'mma tell it real
You see, I want to emphasize that I will always speak the truth
You know what I'm saying? That's not cool
Do you understand my point? That behavior is not acceptable
Y'all can't even
All of you can't even accomplish or achieve simple tasks
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@cyrildelarosa4020
cool beans.