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'

Jay-Z: Hip-Hop's Saviour?

‘Not only N.Y.C, I’m Hip-Hop’s Saviour, so after this flow you might owe me a favour’ so Jay-Z triumphantly proclaimed on the title track from his 2006 [return] album Kingdom Come. Back then these words may not have meant much; they could simply have been considered to be the braggadocious thoughts of one of hip-hop’s heavyweights, everyone did it, even newcomers claimed to be ‘Kings’ and ‘Mayors’ of cities or regions, so Jay-Z claiming to be hip-hop’s saviour wasn’t something to quibble over.

However with the music industry in decline and new rappers coming with a one album expiry date it is safe to say hip-hop music has being in a bad state, there is a still a debate whether it has declined artistically, but it beyond doubt that financially it is not what it used to be. Rappers used to have big budgets to shoot music videos, now studios are strapped for cash, and music video staples i.e. “shiny cars, jewellery and objectified women” are recycled to a point that it almost becomes embarrassing to watch a rapper talking about his diamonds and money in a video you know was shot by a two man team at most, probably the rappers friends or film students in university.

With declining budgets also came declining respect for hip-hop, a genre once hailed as revolutionary- as a mouthpiece for the underprivileged, and a platform for the creation of a new black popular culture soon became even more synonymous with excess, gaudiness and ignorance. Comments made by popular new rapper Soulja Boy praising the slave masters because “Without them we'd still be in Africa. We wouldn't be here to get this ice and tattoos” show how little intelligence was needed in order to become a best selling hip-hop artist.

I would argue that it is this seeming allergy to intelligence that prevents hip-hop and its artists from getting the sort of respect other genres get. It’s this perception that led to calls for an artist like Jay-Z to be prevented from performing at Glastonbury. While hip-hop was and is very popular, it is still considered ‘stupid music’, and its listeners are perceived to be as stupid as its artists.

Enter Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter. Since Kingdom Come Jay-Z has been on a mission to change the perception of hip-hop. Sure, there are many rappers who don’t fit the stereotype of blinged out, tattoed up with ridiculous slogans and from the money they always seem to be carrying either don’t know what a bank is or don’t have ATM cards, but by and large, popular hip-hop was dominated by these stereotypical figures.

By never compromising lyrically, and by refusing to be a caricature of what a ‘rapper’ was supposed to look like, Jay-Z gained admirers and ‘haters’ There were calls for him to retire for being too old, yet there didn’t seem to be anyone ‘young’ who could consistently produce lyrically and sonically astute albums.

By moving away from the gangsterism and lewdness that characterized popular hip-hop, Jay-Z began to earn the respect of musicians in other genres, actors and even politicians. Here was a rapper who could outrap the best of them but was neither vulgar nor ostentatious, he didn’t subscribe to the ‘nouveau riche’ attitudes that characterized his peers, and yes it is true that his marriage to popular songstress Beyonce Knowles did help.

For the first time in recent hip-hop we began to see a separation of art from artist as is common in other genres. A folk artist or R&B singer can take many forms and personas on their records and in real life would not be expected to be a replica of a personality on one of their songs.

Jay-Z could then rap on Say Hello ‘they sayin’ I’m a bad guy, why is that? Coz when my back’s against the wall, n**ga I react’ and still be considered safe enough for the Obama campaign team to allow him appear on their website in support of the then candidate.

The last three Jay-Z albums are the best examples of this split between Jay-Z the man, and Jay-Z the rapper, it meant that Jay-Z could do what very few other rappers couldn’t - he could be himself in interviews, he did not have to put on an act, or play up the persona he projected on wax. With Jay-Z, hip-hop was an art form, and while personal truth and honesty were still pillars of the art form to him, he did not feel imprisoned by lyrics. And it is this personal liberation and self assuredness that allowed him to appear on the Oprah Winfrey show, once a no-go area for any rap artist, Jay-Z sat on that couch laughing and cavorting with the talk show host.

Even British journalist Andrew Marr, better known for grilling Gordon Brown or David Cameron conducted a widely watched interview with Jay-Z, it became the most viewed clip on Marr’s website.

Jay-Z took himself, and by extension hip-hop to areas where it had been derided or misunderstood, and thus his personal conduct reflected on the genre- he went on tour with Coldplay, he played Glastonbury, performed at Obama’s inaugural ball, produced successful Broadway shows- it seems with everything he does he breaks down a preconception about what hip-hop is or should be.

For me, perhaps his greatest effort in the rebranding of hip-hop is his collaboration with U2’s Bono and the Edge and Rihanna- on ‘Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)’ a song produced by Swizz Beatz in response to the earthquake in Haiti. The four performed the song in London on the telethon on January 22, and helped raise $61 million dollars for the relief effort.

The strangest thing was considering the fact that while rap music is popular on both sides of the Atlantic, Jay-Z was the only rapper (apart from Haitian Wyclef Jean) who performed at the fundraiser. It goes to show that while rappers can entertain on the dance floor, when it comes to serious issues, it is best to leave out the genre. It is idiotic comments like that from Soulja Boy, and an aversion to education and intellectual improvement from many rappers that perpetuates this prejudice. Jay-Z’s music and work show that hip-hop can go far beyond the material; hip-hop is an art form as much as rock, country and soul music are. As he goes on promoting his latest album ‘The Blueprint 3’ he also promotes greater respect for hip-hop music. So yes, those words he uttered in 2006 ring true today; Jay-Z is ‘Hip-Hop’s Saviour’.

Forever Young: A look back on the last three albums from Jay-Z

Forever Young:

A look back on the last three albums from Jay-Z

by Julian Obubo

“Forever young, I wanna be Forever Young”

So goes the chorus on the last track on Shawn Carter’s latest album: The Blueprint 3. For some, at 39, Jay-Z is much too old to still be in the rap game, an industry that over the last few years seems to require a new dance to accompany a single.

With your Soulja Boys and Young this and Young that, can the self-proclaimed Young Hov still compete?

I think we all know the answer to that question, and if we don’t, then maybe Glastonbury and the success of American Gangster will jog your memory. Or maybe you need to do a google search on ‘Roc Nation’, or perhaps just look up the current top ten songs in America right now.

In 2002 when Jay-Z retired after dropping The Black Album, many felt he had cemented his place in hip-hop history, a string of number one albums, a hard fought feud with Nas (which I felt he won) and many hot lines and verses. In fact Jay-Z felt pretty much the same way about his career, he was famously ‘finished’ at the end of the ’99 Problems’ video, going out under a hail of bullets. (a scene that would seem very premature when viewed today)

But we would be suckers if we really believed HOVA was out for good, in 2006 after joining forces with the UN to help fight the lack of clean water in developing nations, Jay-Z went on a world tour, a tour that took him to places like Korea and Tanzania, he even got a chieftaincy title and a road named after him in Nigeria.

Soon after the tour ended, the world learned that Jay-Z would be releasing another album, this one called: Kingdom Come. The title borrowed from the comic series in which Superman famously returns. The rap world was excited and optimistic. What would this album sound like, would it be gangster/street like his earlier efforts? The lead single ‘Show me what you got’ was a glitzy, showy, fabulous song, with a video shot in Monaco- it was chic, it was modern, refined, and mature.

Jay-Z realised that people would catch feelings about his comeback, on ‘Show me what you got’ he proclaimed himself the ‘Mike Jordan of recording’, and that other rappers might ‘wanna fall back from recording’ Shawn Carter was aiming to grab the ownerless hip-hop crown and sit at the throne that he vacated.

When the album did drop reactions were varied, in fact I call it the most divisive Jay-Z album. Some people absolutely loved it (myself included) and others hated it.

I can understand the reactions from those who didn’t like it; this album was very different from Reasonable Doubt, this album wasn’t Volume II, it wasn’t even like The Black Album. This was the first mainstream album by a respected figure in hip-hop where that artist was ‘keeping it real’...as real as a man worth $400 million would keep it. Jay-Z wasn’t moving keys or shooting up people, Jay-Z was with Beyonce, so he wasn’t ‘skeet skeeting’ or singing ‘booty’ songs. His new work dealt with the life he was now accustomed to, the question was now: “Can true hip-hop be done by a wealthy businessman who raps about adventures in his wealthy world?” sure you can argue that that wasn’t an entirely new issue, 50 Cent is wealthy too, so was Ja Rule at one time, Snoop etc. But we have to remember that while all these rappers were wealthy in real life their music wasn’t reflective of it. They would sign contracts to promote Vitamin Water, but their music would tell you of how they are still selling cocaine and still killing foes. That was the plot that we hip-hop heads were conversant with: “The mansion owner who tried to convince you he was still on the corner” Posing with guns while in reality they had extensive security personnel. Hip-Hop was a paradox, and the consumers were happy with it.

What Kingdom Come did was to expose that paradox. Jay-Z basically said “Hey guys, I’m rich now, I’m no longer involved in crime or the drugs, therefore I don’t have to rap about it” Jay-Z was displaying what every normal person goes through- Maturity. He had transcended the bulletproof vest wearing, or street dvd “come and see me in the hood with all my guns” rubbish. Jay-Z was at the same time telling other rappers to keep it as real as he was. He wasn’t disrespecting the hood or belittling the narratives of young rappers who spoke of the ills they face regularly, why would he? It was his life in the projects that got him to where he was. He had recorded Reasonable Doubt- that was his truth then, Kingdom Come was his truth now!

But Jay-Z is no fool, Jay-Z knew that some of his fans wanted Reasonable Doubt again, they wanted drug narratives, rags to riches, rise and fall, some good old “mafia s**t”. If that was what they wanted, Jay-Z was going to find a way to give it to them. One option was to simply do another ‘gangsta’ album and act like Kingdom Come never existed. Jay-Z could just be a gun toting gangster on the album and raise a middle finger to everyone who respected Kingdom Come. The other option was to find a mature and intelligent way of recreating Reasonable Doubt, while maintaining his credibility.

Luckily, his break came in the form of Ridley Scott’s ‘American Gangster’, a movie about 7os New York drug kingpin Frank Lucas. Using this as a platform, Jay-Z announced a concept album, also entitled American Gangster. The album was to follow a similar narrative as the movie, charting a young man’s entry, rise and fall in the drug game.

We were treated to the triumphant single ‘Roc Boys’ which could have easily fit in Reasonable Doubt but still felt very relevant and timely. When the album dropped: fans were satisfied, critics were pleased and generally mouths gaped: not only at the sheer smoothness of the beats, but at Jay-Z’s intricate wordsmithery, no two songs had the same flow, no two songs dealt with the same topic, this album was thorough, this album was clean, it was deep (No hook, Say Hello) introspective (American Dreamin’, Pray) Flamboyant (Sweet, Roc Boys, Party Life) Intelligent (I Know, Ignorant Shit,), this album, was in my opinion Jay-Z’s magnum opus.

The sheer monstrous perfection of American Gangster dwarfed the solidity of Kingdom Come. Kingdom Come, while being full of witty lyrics and some good beats just looks completely average next to American Gangster. With American Gangster, where no foot was put wrong, we are immediately reminded of the missteps on Kingdom Come (I Made It & Anything)

So when in 2008 Jay-Z announced that he was making a new album his fans went into a frenzy. Those that felt salty about Kingdom Come had their fears alleviated by the classic American Gangster, surely his new album could only be better; expectations were high.

When Jay-Z said that the album was going to be entitled The Blueprint 3, expectations got even higher, could this album live up to the succinct genius of the first Blueprint?, can it come close to the commercial success of Blueprint 2?

Jay-Z gave us little appetizers along the way, from ‘You’re all welcome’ featuring Mary J Blige to the single worthy History produced by Kanye West and the lyrical ‘Brooklyn Go Hard’ featuring Santigold. All of these tracks were solid, and if the album was made up of songs like these then we were fine.

Of course, Jay-Z hardly disappoints, and when it came time for the official single to be realised, he set the hip-hop world on fire by choosing D.O.A (Death of Auto-Tune)

I happened to be listening to Hot97 when they debuted this song, it seemed the whole of New York came to a standstill, the microblogging site Twitter was inundated with talk of Jay-Z. Weaker rappers must have been shaking in their boots, people felt that Jay-Z was coming for all those guilty of using auto-tune in their records, “OMG he must be gunning for Lil Wayne and T-Pain” they said, but what about his protégé Kanye, surely they can’t be feuding too?! But then they listened again, and heard that Jay-Z actually bigs up Kanye on the song, and a few weeks later he appeared on stage with T-Pain. It was then people started to understand the meaning of D.O.A. Jay-Z wasn’t starting a beef, or looking for undeserved publicity, he was mainly highlighting the homogeneity of hip-hop today, auto-tune symbolized the lack of diversity, the band-wagon mentality that has plagued hip hop for a few years now. Everyone using the same people on hooks, everyone having a new dance, everyone dressing the same way, talking about the same things; artists were essentially trying to out-do each other by doing what each other was doing.

The second single Run This Town features Kanye West and Rihanna and is fundamentally a song about marking territory, in case we need reminding, Jay-Z tells us that he is on top, and he has no plans of relinquishing his position.

Listening to the Blueprint 3, you sense even more growth and even more maturity from Shawn Carter, the Blueprint 3 is more Kingdom Come than Blueprint. It is intelligent, witty, vibrant and loud. Songs like Empire State of Mind featuring a brilliant chorus from Alicia Keys simply make you fall in love not only with Jay-Z’s music but with hip-hop all over again. Already Home ft Kid Cudi is perhaps is the best summary of Jay-Z’s current philosophy, it condenses Jay-Z’s relationship with hip-hop and other rappers into 4.30 mins.

The album is not without its missteps though, and those shortcomings a largely down to Timbaland’s production (Venus vs Mars, Reminder, Off That ft Drake), bear in mind that Timbaland once said that he was going to be the only producer on Blueprint 3, well, we thank God that didn’t happen. Timbaland’s beats are bland and lack the vibrancy that songs on his Shock Value album had, these ones are very repetitive and as much as Jay-Z tries to salvage them with witty wordplay one can’t help but think that Kanye should have at least tweaked those beats a bit.

Regarding the next single I believe we are spoiled for choice, Jay-Z could go with the upbeat A Star is Born featuring a sure future star J. Cole, a song where he pays homage to some of those who have made moves in hip-hop or he could go with the aforementioned New York anthem ‘Empire State of Mind’ or the Swizz Beatz produced ‘On to the next one’

One song however that would be a sure success if realised as a single has to be the final song ‘Young Forever’ featuring Mr Hudson. It is very reminiscent of the final song on Kingdom Come, Beach Chair, and in fact, both songs feature British singers with similar voices on the hook, Beach Chair featuring Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin. But while Beach Chair was drum-heavy, hard, punchy and yet dreamlike, ‘Young Forever’ has a softer and thus a more emotional feel to it, Mr Hudson’s unique voice does wonders on the hook. Jay-Z speaks on how he wants to be remembered not just after he finishes with rap, but long after he is gone. The song is about legacy, the legacy of a legend.

The Blueprint 3 is a strong album, and I think it will satisfy most Jay-Z fans, sure it could have done with a story telling song like ‘Song Cry’ ‘Allure’ or ‘I Know’, but I think its strengths far outweigh its weaknesses. For an artist who only has himself to beat Jay-Z has shown us that age is no barrier to making fresh and relevant music. Jay-Z has most importantly shown the hip-hop world that it is okay to grow up and mature, one cannot be in the streets forever, with the same breath, one should not forget the streets forever. Jay-Z, over the last few years has displayed an ability for serious self reflection and self criticism in his life and consequently in his music, and I think it is his willingness to grow and his fearlessness in the face of tradition that has propelled him to the status he has today, and if we felt uneasy when he called himself ‘The Best Rapper Alive’ in 2003, I guess with the albums he has released since then he is truly worthy of that title, if not ‘The Best Rapper Ever’

“so in summation, I don’t know who ya’ll racing, I’m already at the finish line with the flag waving”

Jay-Z “Already Home”

Signs you're in the 3rd year or Signs that Julian is going crazy

Well I'm going to be doing my dissertation in PR this year, it's due on the 30th of April, and I've upped the research to another notch, hoping to start writing mid-December. Of course, this being 3rd year there are still other essays to be done, I have one on my popular music module, where I'll be discussing the representations of African-American women in Hip-Hop music.
All these essays have profoundly changed my life, I can't walk through the library anymore without grabbing some book and searching the index to find if it has anything relevant in it regarding my essays.
Last night I went to bed with my mp3 player on, sprang up in the middle of the night, I just had a eureka moment regarding a song I could discuss in my essay. I keep on jotting down new ideas in my phone and making mental notes of discussions I have with people in which they may have said something of note.
Wow..anyway, it's 11:26 I can't have a shower yet because the maintenance guy just came in and changed the rubber lining in the shower and I have to wait for a few hours for it to set, so it's just me and the music. Well, dissertation first and then music essay, then nap, then more work.
Such is life my friend, such is life.

Oh, and the new Kanye West joint "808s & Heartbreak" is too good for words

Discussing Hip-Hop with Rob Davies

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