We all know about Kanye West in one way or another. Whether it's because of his antics and philosophies, his music, or his new line of clothing, Kanye has become a big figure in the public eye. What's interesting is that there has been an extremely noticeable change between who he is now compared to who he was just 10 years ago. Kanye concerts are known to be absolutely wild. Any videos from the concerts show everyone, jumping up and down while screaming and cheering. Kanye's more recent music has an amazing beat and can get people really pumped up; but his music didn't always have that effect.
Back in 2005, Kanye released his album "Late Registration". The album has a ton of songs that were extraordinarily popular, but the music also had a different tone. In the album more natural instruments are used like piano, string and brass instruments, but also with a mix of electronic sounds. Kanye also had a very different range of topics in this album. He raps about his grandmother being sick in the hospital, and says, "You telling me if my grandma's in the NBA, Right now she'd be okay? But since she was just a secretary, worked for the church for 35 years things 'sposed to stop right here?" As time has gone on, there is still an artistic side to Kanye, but now it feels like the music is made to be sold. Take the entire album of "Yeezus" for example. The album has a much more concert-like feel. Kanyes persona is also entirely different, this is more than clear from the title of one of the songs, "I Am A God". The change was all that sudden, as each album came out the tone and message of his songs slowly changed with each new album.
As Kanye has become increasingly famous, he has also become increasingly confident and arrogant. Another article on Huffington Post took quotes from 10 years ago and compared them to Kanye's current beliefs on the topics. The quotes are taken from songs and interviews, but it's a great peak into how drastically Kanye has changed with the growing popularity.
Do I think that this makes Kanye's music bad now? Absolutely not! Kanye still changed the entire genre so much and has amazing musical talent, but part of me does miss the Kanye that would tell a story through his skits and songs in an album. While the arrogance does make Kanye harder to take seriously since he does and says outrageous things, it doesn't make his music any amount of bad. At this point I consider the Kanye we have now and the Kanye from 10 years ago to be 2 entirely different artists with different pasts, because Kanye unfortunately fell victim to his own worst enemy; the power that came with his fame.