And for anyone asking who was too young to remember, Kanye’s run from 03-08 was similar to Stevie Wonder’s classic period in the 70s.
Im telling you, 2003/04 had 50, Usher, Beyonce at their peak and Kanye was right up there with them. When The College Dropout dropped, I’m telling you it was monumental. It was a breath of fresh air from all the gangster rap/crunk on the airwaves. He was “instrumental” on the music section for The Chappelle Show too. shyt, I didn’t even get to the fashion.
Kanye was the shyt. He was a guest on almost every artists’ record during that period and was killing it. Late Registration was so highly anticipated… EVERYONE knew the lyrics to GoldDigger.
And then Graduation, when he outsold 50 Cent on the first day solidified his legendary status. I take that back… calling out George Bush during Hurricane Katrina solidified it.
It’s a shame what happened to Kanye and losing his mom really fukked him up, but during that period he was that guy. Similar to Ice Cube from 1990-1994. Tupac from 95-96. Biggie in 94… Snoop Dogg and Dre from 1992… you could just feel the changing of the guard.