Can We Get Much Higher? Kanye West and the future of hip-hop

(Due to high traffic from people wanting to know about Kanye West's song Dark Fantasy which features the line 'Can We Get Much Higher', I've decided to link you to the song Kanye sampled the hook from, it's called 'In High Places' by Mike Oldfield, listen to it here)

Kanye West is due to release his fifth album, titled My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy on November 22. In typical Kanye West style (extraordinary), the album is going to have five different cover artworks, one of which is featured here, another, racier one, can be viewed here. Kanye West has had a very troubled year, ever since his infamous interruption of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech it seemed the whole world was against him, I mean, even Obama called Kanye a jackass. Once the president of the United States of America, sets time aside from Middle East peace talks to call you a jackass, you know you've messed up somehow.

As a devoted Kanye West fan, I like to think I've always understood his motivation, and while I didn't agree with him spoiling Swift's moment, I agreed with his position that Beyonce had a better video (not the best of all time however)

With the increasing vitriol from the media and other artists, Kanye went on a self exile, recouping and recalculating. Some thought Kanye was done, but as a fan, I knew otherwise. Although he says different, Kanye's genius seems to stem from tribulation, whether his nearly fatal accident that led to College Dropout, or the untimely death of his mother and break up from his fiancée that led to 808s & Heartbreak. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Swiftgate and the avalanche of hate and criticism has led to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

However, my main reason for writing this article isn't to analyse the opinions of Kanye West, but rather to elaborate on what I think this man means for hip-hop as a culture right now.

Kanye has always been a visionary, and his music and artistry are a testament to that, no other hip-hop act could conceive and pull off the Glow in the Dark Tour. But just when you think there's nothing new he could do, Kanye has hit us with his latest venture, a half an hour movie, titled Runaway, directed by West himself.

Yes, you might be thinking, "No!! movies and rappers shouldn't mix", but this movie signals the first time (to my knowledge) of a mainstream rapper directing a film. Does Runaway deliver, you ask? My answer, it does. You may need to banish West's last foray into directing, Drake's breastfest video for 'Best I Ever Had'. Kanye West's short movie Runaway is abstract, full of symbolism, full of music, visually alluring and yes, model Selita Ebanks is there as well..as well as grazing rabbit and sheep. In short, the movie is about a phoenix (Ebanks) who crashes on earth and is rescued by Kanye, unaccustomed to human behaviour, the phoenix struggles to blend in and appears confused by life on earth. She is shunned and ridiculed by Kanye's guests at a dinner, and the final insult is the placing of a still feathered dead turkey on the table in front of her (she is part bird afterall) Disappointed with the world, the phoenix burns up and leaves earth, lamenting that human's always try to change that which they don't understand.

Selita Ebanks as the 'Phoenix' in Kanye West's 'Runaway'film

The phoenix can be seen as a representative of Kanye West's music, or art for that matter, for he is more than just music. Kanye has always sought to push the boundaries of hip-hop, experimenting with new sounds, new artists and new instruments. Just like any sub-culture, hip-hop does have it's boundaries, and some people protest when others 'ignore' it, Kanye did just that, ignoring the drug and gun narratives and instead criticizing hip-hop's fixation with crime. Ignoring entrenched homophobia in hip-hop by vehemently opposing it, and being outspoken about his opposition. Ignoring the homogeneous baggy clothes and rocking tight jeans. Kanye just didn't give a damn what others thought, as far as he was concerned, he is a 'Soldier of Culture', and soldiers don't surrender to trends, or conventions.

Kanye West, his Phoenix and guests at a dinner, screencap from 'Runaway'

The most important thing to me, in Kanye's seemingly one man hip-hop revolution, is his unshakeable love for hip-hop culture, so while he may be in Paris for Fashion Week, or making experimental movies, he brings his interpretation of hip-hop with him. It may be tempting to forego hip-hop when in the space of 'high culture', some purists may cringe at the mixture, but like Murakami at Versailles, Kanye brings two cultures that otherwise should clash into [an] imperfect (in perfect) harmony. He blends Kubrick inspired visuals with boastful rap lines like "How you say broke in Spanish? Me no hablo, me drown sorrow in that Diablo". There is a juxtaposition when you see ballet dancers performing life to music by a man with an MPC beat machine (2010 VMAs) but it's all within Kanye's mandate of fighting against 'traditional thinking', Kanye is redefining the space hip-hop music is supposed to occupy. As a much maligned and disrespected genre even today, these are the kind of artists we need in hip-hop, people who are not constrained by conventional notions of black masculinity, artists who can stand up for what they believe in, not what they think others expect them to believe. Artists who can get inspiration from genres of music that many of their fans may not even like, artists that can channel the emotions on the spoken word into beautiful visual vistas. Artists that refuse to recognize boundaries, artists that take risks.

Kanye West is all of the above, a true ambassador of hip-hop, a visionary. There are not many rappers (not any) who are five albums in, with all five albums sounding very different from the last, that, to me, is the mark of a true genius, someone not afraid of growth or experimentation. Kanye West's step into movie-making, while not perfect, is exactly the type of artistry we need in our still relatively young genre. The dynamism he shows should be embraced by the culture as we attempt to move beyond a conservative definition of what constitutes hip-hop. Kanye West is moving hip-hop further, I say we should support him.

Julian Obubo

Watch Kanye West's film 'Runaway'

Twenty-Two

Yes, I'm one year older, finally 22. I say finally as if I couldn't wait to turn 22. In truth though, the past year has being the most eventful year of my life, as you probably know I spent most my time as a 21 year old in Newcastle, studying for a postgraduate degree in Media and Public Relations. Well, I'm glad to say that that degree is done, and yours truly is graduating with a distinction. Yay! I've never been prouder of any piece of work as I am of my last dissertation, I pored through journals, articles, books and a gazillion hip-hop songs while researching, and I'm very happy it turned out well. I had loads of help, and I'll post my acknowledgement at the end of this blog post.

I think the theme of my last year has been 'Growth'. When I look back at myself at this time last year, and I look at my self today I'm so happy and humbled at how it all turned out, I owe it all to the fantastic people I met along the way.

A close friend of mine gave me this poignant analogy of life. He said it's like a train ride, and we are the drivers, and different chapters of our lives (being in uni for example) can be looked at as train stations, we pick some people up in these stations and they alter us in some way, positively or negatively. When we get to the next station, some of these people disembark, never to reenter. Others stay on, some stay on till the end of the journey. I guess in someway, the key to real friendships is discerning those who are on the train for a short ride, and those who will be on forever.

I've met some truly truly beautiful and inspiring people, who've not only challenged me in my religious faith, but also on life philosophies, love, and political ideologies. I've met people I could hang out with for hours just talking about any and everything under the sun. I've met people who can call me up at midnight to come eat some extra spicy food (our mouths were on FIRE!) I've spent time with beautiful people who made me rethink my prejudices and fears. I've 're-known' some old friends, and had many special moments I wish I could just bottle up and preserve. In short, it's been nothing short of a very memorable year.

So as I celebrate another year, here's a toast to all of you who made this past year extra crispy, extra special and extra fun, you know who you are. I love you all, I love you all so much! Some of you have left and indelible mark on me, and your words are in constant replay in my head. There are those I wish I knew better sooner, but hey, it's not the end of the world....and there is facebook afterall.

Peace and Love

Julian

P.S.

My actual dissertation acknowledgement

Acknowledgements

I’d like to thank my loving father Rodger Obubo first and foremost for his continued support and constant inspiration. Although this dissertation involved a topic that we could not easily discuss, he always gave me support and good guidance throughout the research and writing phase.

My second debt of gratitude goes to my ‘Facebook support team’ of Tokie Adebiyi, Rob Davies, William Smith, Rotimi Kuforiji and Afo Babatunde who not only showed interest in the work I was doing but also gave me suggestions as to possible lyrics or music videos I could analyse.

I’d like to thank Justin Tay for providing me with much needed distractions and entertainment during the laborious weeks of research and writing and for being an academic sparring partner on issues of identity, race and culture.

Thanks also goes to Dominik Plonner for his inquiries about my work and his probing questions which led to new ideas I could develop in the dissertation.

I owe a big thanks to the entire family at Jesmond Parish Church for their constant motivation and prayers (I needed that!)

I’d like to especially thank my lovely sister Laura for offering to proof read some of my writing and for her academic interest in my work.

I’d also need to thank Dr. Monica Figueroa for introducing me to advanced concepts of race and ethnicities and critical white studies.

To anybody who casually asked me what my dissertation topic was and had to bear through a ten minute monologue from me about why hip-hop is so fascinating, I do owe you all much thanks for getting my brain cogs moving.

My final and biggest thanks goes to my dissertation supervisor Dr. Carolyn Pedwell for her prompt and detailed feedback on drafts of my work and pointing me in the right direction when my ideas became a bit muddled.

I can only hope this work positively reflects the support you all have shown in different ways.

Muchas Gracias

Julian