Opinions about musician Kanye West could fill libraries. From smooth samples crooning over The College Dropout to ominous beats growling throughout Yeezus, West's remarkable musical legacy seems matched only by the divisive nature of his celebrity. Like David Bowie, West proves to be a groundbreaking artist unconstrained by form or convention, inspired by music, fashion, fine art and film. The public might be split on whether he is messiah or villain, but stardom has always been part of his plan, convinced as he was from boyhood of his destiny to be the greatest rapper of all time.
Music journalist Mark Beaumont (Jay-Z: The King of America) peels back the demonized veneer and eschews mythos to present an in-depth, if sometimes chaotic, profile of Kanye West's career. Kanye West: God and Monster situates the man, his music, his relationships and his outbursts within context. Would he have co-opted Taylor Swift's Video Music Awards speech had he not been so emotionally exhausted since his mother's death? Would he appear so paranoid were his persona not continually twisted by corrosive tabloid media? Never shy about his accomplishments, would Kanye West be labeled as indefensibly arrogant if his renown had remained strictly within the halls of hip-hop fame, an art form predicated upon braggadocio?
Beaumont traces the hard-won trajectory of a passionate music maker determined to prove his worth despite pervasive skepticism. West's star initially rose in the production studio, where he created beats and warped music samples into fresh sounds that garnered interest from hip-hop pillar Jay-Z. Their collaboration would evolve into a deep, fraternal friendship, but West still had to fight for recognition as more than a revolutionary producer. When he finally released his debut, The College Dropout, audiences rejoiced, but no matter how many records he sold, his next efforts were met with industry pessimism that lightning doesn't strike twice.
Though his ego draws ongoing public ire, in context West appears more indefatigable than arrogant: "I don't see what's wrong with going in and saying, 'I'm going to sell three million records,' " Beaumont quotes the artist--using a wealth of magazine features, interviews, social media posts and Donda West's memoir, Raising Kanye. "What if someone was like, 'I'm going to finish school'...? What if it was just as hard for that person to finish school...?" Frequently West rises above naysayers and highlights social problems like racism, homophobia, economic inequality and more.
His fans and hip-hop aficionados may find Kanye West most intriguing, but Beaumont's omniscient narrative renders the man and his work accessible to the uninitiated, too. Though occasionally straying into questionable phrasing--describing West, after Kim Kardashian's divorce from basketball player Kris Humphries, as animalistically "coiled... to pounce"--Beaumont's profile demonstrates the artist's vast stores of energy, ingenuity, resilience, ambition and confidence. In the engine of West's driven creativity, ego is mere exhaust from the afterburner; his resolve has always been to make incredible music. --Dave Wheeler, associate editor, Shelf Awareness
Shelf Talker: Music journalist Mark Beaumont provides an eye-opening chronicle of the praised and notorious Kanye West, from hip-hop underdog to pop icon.