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Comment by ctide | Hacker News Reader

Do you think he was born with a few hundred million in the bank? He eschewed all the standard hip hop trappings and didn't go all 'gangsta' when that's how people made money. When he produced The Blueprint (one of the greatest hip hop albums ever made) it was backed by soul beats which just weren't a thing in ~2000. He's always done his own thing, his latest album is a prime example of that. He's still just putting out shit he wants to listen to, not necessarily putting out what's successful at any given time in the industry.

It's easy to look back and say, you're filthy rich now so you aren't actually taking risks, but taking risks is how he got there.

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For the record there were 'soul beats' long before Kanye. Ghostface has been using that style since the 90s. In fact Kanye has been biting off Ghost since the beginning and has been called out for such.

Lots of artists didn't 'go all gangsta' to make it. He isn't the first or the last.

The Blueprint being one of the greatest hip hop albums ever made is also highly debatable.

His newest album is an example of this as well. Ghostface has had a cult following but limited wide appeal. Death Grips gained a cult following in the past 1.5 years, and much of Yeezus sounds like a bad Death Grips album.

Claiming that soul beats weren't a thing in 2000 hip-hop is silly. Released in '99: Mos Def's Black on Both Sides, the Roots' Things Fall Apart. Hip hop started with soul beats, and soul has always been a part of hip-hop.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_music

Mos Def is also a great example of someone who 'didn't go all gangsta' to make it. The statement that 'going all gangsta when thats how people made money' is really illustrative of a certain ignorance about hip hop and sadly one that is widely held. It was one route yes but many artists did not follow it.

Edit: Removed part of comment that may have sounded overly negative.

+1. He could have churned out album after album in his trademark 'soul' style but he places it all on the line with each album just to mix it up and push boundaries. He's a great artist.

When you have more it is more scary to take a risk as you are risking everything you have. How I relate to it is this way, I have a fairly good paying job (equivalent to Kanye releasing albums what's popular) versus I solve a hard problem and quit my day job to build it (similar to Kanye sticks to what he believes in). Now you do the math who has more to loose?

Having said that, I'm going through a stage in my life where I am getting to see the real character of people in terms of their risk appetite. Everybody wants to be an entrepreneur but when it really comes to doing it people chicken out. May be it's my circle but again that's my experience.

It is mere coincidence, however, that the music he wanted to make was also the music people wanted to hear. It's hardly laudable to do something you enjoy...

Also... Media Hype Machine. He's made himself into a symbol. For all most people (who follow his antics) care his next album could be 'Pip farting on a snare drum' to take a line from Air Heads.

I don't think thats really true at all. His music is looked at very critically, because he pushes a lot of boundaries and he is such an outspoken character. People love to hate him, so the fact that his music is so acclaimed is evidence of just how good it is, that many people like it despite his antics.

I think you're counting a vocal minority and discounting a large pop music buying populace.

Also his music is pretty derivative if you've heard the music he is 'biting' or 'paying homage to' or what have you. I'd hesitate to call it pushing boundries as much as it is introducing it into the pop music lexicon.

Also people like The Kardashians despite their antics does that make them good... What is it they do again?

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