Kanye West’s biggest musical inspiration
Kanye West, despite the controversy that follows him every step of the way, is undoubtedly a musical pioneer who is constantly breaking boundaries. From his 2004 debut, College Dropout, to Yeezus and beyond, every project he produces ceases to amaze fans.
As a musician, West is highly versatile and has ventured into a range of different genres across the vast musical spectrum. Whether this is the EDM-inspired Graduation to the more melody-driven, distorted 808s & Heartbreak, the Chicago beatmaker is an effective musical shapeshifter.
Kanye’s music is eclectic and naturally, it has changed and evolved over time. Early in his career, Ye used a lot of 1960s and ’70s soul reference points within his arsenal. Therefore, it is safe to assume that, growing up with his mother, Donda West, in Chicago, the Yeezy founder listened to a lot of soul and gospel, which has been a musical inspiration for the icon.
That said, there are many hip-hop artists in the past who similarly grew up on a diet of African-American genres, such as jazz, funk and blues. However, Kanye has evidently been influenced by far more than this, as his music reflects more than these historical forms of music.
His initial production style was coined chipmunk-soul as he played around and integrated soul music into his hip-hop beats. Although, at first, he listened to soul solely for sampling, West grew to love the genre and, in an interview with WPWX Power 92 Chicago, Kanye unveiled his biggest musical influence and how it changed over time.
During his conversation with DJ Pharris, West was asked to name his biggest musical inspiration, to which he replied, “My favourite artist of all time is James Brown, and that’s just [through] learning. Initially, when I was 14, my favourite artist was Michael Jackson.”
He continued, “And then my favourite rapper is Jay-Z. You remember when he came down and performed at The Clique [nightclub], I opened up for him and everything, but of course, I loved Nas, Crucial Conflict and Psychodrama. But my greatest inspiration of all time musically is James Brown!”
West has sampled Brown on multiple occasions. Notably, he used his work on the Pusha T collaboration ‘Runaway’ which samples ‘Introduction To Star Time’ and the 2012 Watch The Throne song ‘That’s My Bitch’ includes snippets from ‘Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved.’