KanYe West Is That Dude…

ye tudda

Let’s have a toast for the disco cavemen!

It was during the G.O.O.D. Friday leaks that I noticed something developing in the KanYe West oeuvre. I began to notice artists after they had done tracks with him. I’m no fan of Nicki Minaj or the Clipse, but I at least found myself listening to them now instead of pressing fast forward. KanYe was getting eye opening performances from these artists. The Raekwon x Justin Bieber track showed a prescience to tap into rap music’s pantheon with a pop music juggernaut. His ability to secure the RZA on the ‘So Appalled’ track was a watershed moment for my realization.

KanYe West was Quincy Jonesing rap music. Quincy Jones was the O.G. who had the audio senses to craft popular culture music from more serious, dedicated forms of music. He made jazz accessible where it was previously nuanced and specialized. He made R&B that served the millions with his collaborations with the late, great Michael Jackson. Quincy Jones was far from a superb musician himself, but he had an ear for sound that would move the masses. Quincy Jones also knew that music was a global force and he wasn’t confined by even the domestic borders of the American pop charts.

I had to invoke Quincy Jones for the way KanYe was using EVERYONE that he knew in the production of his latest album. He didn’t just feature artists like Rick Ross, Kid Cudi and Common, but producers as well. Swizz Beatz and No ID would be credited on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. MBDTF also introduced me to the vocal stylings of Bon Iver. The extraction of all this varied talent for a single cohesive project is something I thought Quincy Jones accomplished on his LP ‘The Dude’. My dad might have played this album 10 millions times. I don’t think my dad would have fuxed with the latest KanYe disk too tough.

Coincidentally enough, Quincy Jones does not fux with KanYe musically.

27 Responses to “KanYe West Is That Dude…”

  1. Mental Gymnastics says:

    This knee-jerk, “He is a massive sampler!” response permeates nearly all discussion about Ye’s production ability. The response of Jones was hardly subtle as it “orchestrated” an aura of disgust at the thought of being compared to Ye’.

    You’re right about Ye’ causing to ppl to listen to shite they never considered previously…

  2. khal says:

    yeah for all of Quincy’s “i love the rap” posturing, he comes off a such a near-sighted old man when he makes remarks like that. just because niggas didn’t grow up idolizing mobsters in the 30s to worko n shit like thriller and with frank sinatra, don’t discount what a similar-minded “new nigga” does, esp. when it parallels your shit. i imagine Quincy would’ve put Dre in his category, which makes sense – they both kinda old, and their new material sounds like shit.

  3. Khal– fuck rap. If Q is posturing about it then fuck him too, on that, but dude has seen and heard shit ya’ll can not imagine, and are unlikely to be exposed to in the Capital I Ig’nant world of what passed for “Hip Hop” “Culture”… tho’ some folks like Guru and others have been explicit in celebrating all great musics.

    Lecture over but check out this video and you tell me Quincy– even if he’s “only” using the platform to celebrate Rahsaan Roland Kirk– doesn’t KNOW some things.

    Little known McCoy Tyner of Philly is on piano here.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0JJmwq7KXQ

    What’s amazing is Q is just a cpl years short of “Off The Wall” here.

    re: Kanye: I agreed with DP about “808s,” absolutely can’t give a fuck about the new one, as I don’t care the prog or “big” stadium shit in ** ANY ** form, tho’ sure, it’s some kind of achievement for hip-hop to be the mix. Fuck the Police at Shea Stadium too. (Old heads remember.)

    Lyrically, I’ll stick to Sean Price, Rockness and Langston Hughes, thanks.

  4. p/s– Gil-Scott Heron too, of course, who even sampled steals the show on the Kanye album.

  5. Master E says:

    Sorry Dallas, Turda gets a late pass, the sugar in his coffee and his fanatical need for attention and the overriding WHINY Beatccch quality override the minimal talent (with big label big money) but folks seem to want to STAN on this herb, so in the end he will be followed and the more over the top he cruises (II) the more the STAN population will heap praise on him and the more flamboyant he will become until he walks out on the MTV award nearly naked just covered in a flaming pink fig leaf in 3D.

  6. GHK says:

    http://www.xxlmag.com/old-main/2006/07/gillie-da-kid-behind-the-music/

    XXL: Were you straight writing verses for Wayne, or was it more of a coaching thing?

    Gillie: No, Wayne had good breath control, so it was really more of a study thing.

    [Lil Wayne]
    Who would have known that this would one day turn out so hectic
    But I chose my own life, so I gradually accept it
    I’m influenced and effected by the way it became
    And I don’t play with them at all so I don’t say its a game
    And even though I grew up hard and I have gracefully changed
    I’m always street so, I’ll forever be facing the chains
    And I’ll keep this thang brutained on the waist of my pants
    And I demand respect from all if not then I’m waisting a man
    And if I want it then I get, and if I need it, I have it
    Take care of my family first, plus the liquor and weed is a habit
    And I’m so often I’m congratulated for the succeding at last
    But when they turn they back, I just have Jesus leading my path
    And I didn’t ask for you to like me, I don’t care if you hate me
    But don’t mistake me, no other man can ever make me or break me
    And I’ll be faithfully inspired by the hood until I’m gone
    And I dawg I do believe I’m grown
    so I’ll be good on my own

  7. sYk says:

    Gillie: No, Wayne had good breath control, so it was really more of a study thing.

    ^ SUPERB (II)

    I don’t care what cats say, the new ‘Ye album is a heat rock. Excuse me if I don’t pay attention to the media nonsense.

  8. jredmond says:

    MAster E…hating on Kanye cuz of his actions outside of rap is acceptable, but calling him minimal talent is just straight fabricating shit.
    Put everything aside and just listen to the music. shit bumps hard son.

  9. sYk says:

    http://www.onsmash.com/

    ^ u know about this dP?

    y’all other website cats be VERY careful…

  10. Chris A says:

    Good counterpoint to Quincy. I’ve never listened to dude’s records so I took his boasts of supremacy over Ye’s method at face value.

    How come you don’t fux with the Clipse?

  11. Saratoga N. Blake says:

    Because Clipse are boring and dumb themselves down? The way Cam destroyed them in that Obama Fried Chicken video (East Flatbush stand up) shows the big difference between decent rappers (Clipse) and true weird talents (Cam).

    Speaking of which, while I can appreciate what DP and Syk here in new Kanye– I don’t like the motherfucking white Bon Iver etc– so why do I want to hear that shit now? It was bad enough Kanye ** bragged ** he had Coldplay first not Jay… the fuck?

    Yeah, it made my Wu heart glad to see Kayne reaching out to RZA and yeah yeah, it’s vindication of sorts after asswipes missed “8 Diagrams” but still… still. I. Do. Not. Like. Yeezy’s. Taste. In. White. People.

    And I hate fucking Jay-Z AND Rick Ross too so in a wide wide world of music in which “symphonic” (not really) “rap” is but one flavor why should I care?

    APOLLO KIDS FTW!! (I hope.)

  12. Smear says:

    I’m no fan the Clipse, but I at least found myself listening to them now instead

    ^^^Good
    You’ve missed out on some serious rap tunes…. Malice and Pusha are great MC’s with a dope combination of introspection and nihilism….. no really.

    Nicki Minaj bores the fuck outta me tho

  13. Smear says:

    Nah Cam is great in hiss off-the-wall way and despite soundin lazy his charisma did steal Popeyes but go check Pusha’s verse on freedom (track 1 on Til The Casket Drops) and tell me he aint dope. Malice just gets better with age. Serious spitters on every level.

    MBDTF is and incredible album sonically…’Ye is shaping up like Hip-Hop’s version of Prince

  14. khal says:

    @Willis while most arguments that begin “fuck rap” usually don’t get read by me, I agree with your shit about Quincy. I was listening to a lot of his stuff for years, and I’m a fan of his work. I grew up on a lot of his work, from Back On The Block to Thriller. What I’m saying is, I don’t like the way he speaks on Hip-Hop production. Just hearing him in numerous interviews about Rap, he praises MCs. He will namecheck a Ludacris, or a Big Daddy Kane, or give Kanye props – as a rapper. Why discount Kanye, who is one of this generation’s best producers, as “a good rapper”? For someone who should be so full of wisdom, due to his amazing life experience – traveling to so many continents, working with some of the finest, etc. – would he call Frank Sinatra “a good singer”? Not at all – he’d big up Frank’s legend and aura and all of that.

    No matter how you feel about Kanye – just calling a nigga “a good rapper” reeks of uneducation, and coming from a man who I recently heard that he tries to learn words from languages of every foreign land he visits, it’s ignorant.

  15. sean p 4real says:

    D.I.T.B. music

  16. P!

    Khal, thanks for the reply. I said ‘fuck rap’ to get attention but I do mean it in that a rap-centric view of history, black culture or American culture, period, is foolish. And I can see why Quincy, knowing a great deal about other musics– yet proudly repping Black Music– can get irritated about the comparisons.

    Peep that video link of Quincy introducing Rahsaan Roland Kirk; the pianist, McCoy Tyner, is still alive and Kanye puts fucking Elton John on? Now Elton was alright, at his peak (lyrics by Bernie Taupin); have you seen “Dog Day Afternoon,” where Lumet used “Amoreena” as the opening music? Oh wait, here it is–

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYk2IaHxUeA

    But in Kanye-centric world, McCoy Tyner (one of Quincy’s heros, I reckon) could die today and I bet you Monday that NONE of the popular hip-hop sites would report, DP excepted, because I know his deep love (II) for John Coltrane. You might say that’s not true and I’ll give you a list of twenty (black) jazz greats who have died in last five years and got NO attention from rap clowns who will, meanwhile, talk about “knowledge” and “culture” etc.

    How about BK’s own Randy Weston, 80-something with a new album out and repping Bed-Stuy since at least ** 1960 **? (In a tune called “African Village Bedford-Stuyvestant.”)

    So that’s why I said fuck rap and since I don’t like WHITE stadium rock (Jay-Z & U2 are fucking perfect together tho’, arrogant fools both), I’m (not) sorry, I don’t like this overstuffed 2010 black version either, a few nice– and few more wack– guest spots aside.

    Superior hip-hop lyricism, flow, presence courtesy Rock “Flytime”–

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3ItqPw6D3U

  17. sean p 4real says:

    kanye has 2 duke quincy jones in the booty 2 really sell records

  18. sean p 4real says:

    by the look of kanye shirt he probably did already………………………………

  19. sean p 4real says:

    kanye west eats snicker barz

  20. sean p 4real says:

    kanye west eats 3 musketeers candy bars

  21. sean p 4real says:

    kanye west eats milky way candy barz

  22. sean p 4real says:

    kanye west eats almond joy bars
    kanye west eats mounds barzs
    sometimes he feels like a nut
    sometimes he dont

  23. DP you already know I can’t get with this Disco phase of HipHop like that…..dudes doing liquid coke in a bathroom stall with each other music…….. Listened to as much of Yeezy album as I could muster….It’s some real dim the lights and rub Olive Oil on your bare feet type anthems on there….I guess that’s the appeal, I ain’t get it. But more power to those who enjoy it.

  24. the_dallas says:

    ‘Spekt,
    Hip-Hop is like ATL’s I-85. Shit got madd lanes moving in all directions [ll].

  25. Nah D, you right……….and you you doubly right for pausing that statement. It ain’t my place to say…..but again even with more lanes we still need variety. Not just variations of the same 1. Shit is queer like multiple pairs of cats trying to be Air Yeezy(II). I pause the words Kanye and Yeezy Just In case.

  26. VEe! says:

    I’m sorry. Kanye is definitely that dude.
    HOWEVER, let’s be clear about this . . . KanYe’s body of work does not remotely compare to Quincy Jones.

  27. gstatty says:

    yeah I wasn’t paying no mind to Nicki Minaj before I heard that monster track, now I will fux with her, didn’t know she was half my peoples, big up the motherland, ye’s rapping skills seem to have fallen off slightly on this album, but his production has more musical and less generic

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