Jay-Z performed in Chicago on Tuesday night to promote his new album, The Blueprint 3, and delved into a new freestyle praising native son Kanye West while also firing off a lyrical salvo at friend-turned-foe R. Kelly. Jay then reminded fans of his ties to Chi greats like President Obama and talk-show host Oprah Winfrey before comparing himself to Bulls legend Michael Jordan.
"The blueprint that 'Ye followed/ Too hard a pill for R. Kelly to swallow," Jay rapped. "But I helped your other man/ Now the whole world gotta listen to Chicago/ Obama,air jordans, O. Winfrey,kanye west shoes, ask them about me/ They'll tell you the boy's windy/ That boy Hov so cold/ That when you come to my shows, it's like it just snowed 10 feet/ I got my hat broke off/ I report to the ghetto, I'm the black Brokaw/ No, I'm the rap 2-3/ So any championships must go through me."
Last month, Jay-Z brought Winfrey to Brooklyn, where the media mogul interviewed the rapper for her magazine and talk show. A few days after their discussion, Winfrey doted over Jay-Z on her friend Gayle King's radio show. She remarked how good the rapper smelled and called Jay her new best friend.
In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday (September 9), it was Jay-Z who was full of praise as he talked up West. The producer manned the boards for the majority of The Blueprint 3, including the first two singles: "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)," which he co-produced with No ID, and "Run This Town," featuring West and Rihanna. Eight years ago, with the original Blueprint album, West was only a rising producer until he landed the lead track on that project, "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)."
Jay-Z said he's taken notice as West has evolved from upstart to superproducer. The outspoken younger artist was more of a quite protégé during the recording of 2001's The Blueprint. Now, however, Jay said being in the studio with West is more of a collaborative effort, particularly on this latest project.
"The most interesting thing in the studio was Kanye, because of Kanye's growth," he explained. "You got to figure on the first Blueprint, he was a new producer, so he was just putting in the beats and moving out the way. On this one, he had an opinion about how the songs should sound, and it was just great energy that we had in the studio."
Thursday, September 10, 2009
easier,kanye west shoes
he brought us Jesus Walks; then college dropout Kanye West courted controversy by appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine as Jesus Christ himself. Now he is apparently claiming that he should be a character in The Bible. Is Kanye making a valid point by portraying himself as a black Jesus?
Covered in blood, Kanye West is shown wearing a crown of thorns on his head in the deliberately provocative picture by photographer David LaChapelle. Amazingly, Kanye claims that his life is similar to Christ's, saying that he has had to fight for recognition and suffer for success. "If I was more complacent and started to let things slide, my life would be easier,kanye west shoes, but you all wouldn't be as entertained. My misery is your pleasure", he is quoted as saying.The Boston Globe sums up the views of many when it says: ",air jordans;The idea that West, a 27-year-old rapper who's a millionaire many times over, is somehow persecuted is preposterous. Rolling Stone is trying to sell a few more mags by posing Kanye West as Christ on the cover... Here's hoping it doesn't work."The Baltimore Sun says: "Perhaps he meant it as a symbol of personal suffering. Maybe he wanted to present young hip-hop heads with an updated image of the Son of God. Whatever his motives, Kanye West again has accomplished what he set out to do: Get people to talk." In his interview with Rolling Stone, Kanye confesses that he suffers from an addiction to porn. He remembers first seeing his father's Playboy magazine when he was five years old. "It was like, 'Houston, we have a problem.'"
Kanye West by David LaChapelle
Kanye West thinks he should be in The Bible. "I bring up historical subjects in a way that makes kids want to learn about them. I'm an inspirational speaker. I changed the sound of music more than one time… For all those reasons, I'd be a part of the Bible" claims Kanye. However, if you read Numbers 22:28-30 you'll see The Bible already has a talking ass — does it need another?
Covered in blood, Kanye West is shown wearing a crown of thorns on his head in the deliberately provocative picture by photographer David LaChapelle. Amazingly, Kanye claims that his life is similar to Christ's, saying that he has had to fight for recognition and suffer for success. "If I was more complacent and started to let things slide, my life would be easier,kanye west shoes, but you all wouldn't be as entertained. My misery is your pleasure", he is quoted as saying.The Boston Globe sums up the views of many when it says: ",air jordans;The idea that West, a 27-year-old rapper who's a millionaire many times over, is somehow persecuted is preposterous. Rolling Stone is trying to sell a few more mags by posing Kanye West as Christ on the cover... Here's hoping it doesn't work."The Baltimore Sun says: "Perhaps he meant it as a symbol of personal suffering. Maybe he wanted to present young hip-hop heads with an updated image of the Son of God. Whatever his motives, Kanye West again has accomplished what he set out to do: Get people to talk." In his interview with Rolling Stone, Kanye confesses that he suffers from an addiction to porn. He remembers first seeing his father's Playboy magazine when he was five years old. "It was like, 'Houston, we have a problem.'"
Kanye West by David LaChapelle
Kanye West thinks he should be in The Bible. "I bring up historical subjects in a way that makes kids want to learn about them. I'm an inspirational speaker. I changed the sound of music more than one time… For all those reasons, I'd be a part of the Bible" claims Kanye. However, if you read Numbers 22:28-30 you'll see The Bible already has a talking ass — does it need another?
album,kanye west shoes
Kanye WesT
",air jordans;The College Dropout" (Roc-A-Fella)
On his debut album,kanye west shoes, Chicagoan West emerges as a formidable 1-2 musical punch, as his skills as a rapper rival his production prowess. Inspired by a near-fatal car crash, his current single "Through the Wire" highlights many of West's lyrical strengths: witty wordplay, ability to weave political statements into clever punchlines and his likable personality in the face of peril. The stirring "Jesus Walks" is the album's highlight; its pulsating drums serve as the perfect backing for West's reflections on his own mistakes as well as hip-hop's tendency to focus on negative subject matter. West does tend to overextend his songs, as he does on the sly "The New Workout Plan." But it's a forgivable sin for a man whose music and message is so powerful.
",air jordans;The College Dropout" (Roc-A-Fella)
On his debut album,kanye west shoes, Chicagoan West emerges as a formidable 1-2 musical punch, as his skills as a rapper rival his production prowess. Inspired by a near-fatal car crash, his current single "Through the Wire" highlights many of West's lyrical strengths: witty wordplay, ability to weave political statements into clever punchlines and his likable personality in the face of peril. The stirring "Jesus Walks" is the album's highlight; its pulsating drums serve as the perfect backing for West's reflections on his own mistakes as well as hip-hop's tendency to focus on negative subject matter. West does tend to overextend his songs, as he does on the sly "The New Workout Plan." But it's a forgivable sin for a man whose music and message is so powerful.
Background and recording
Background and recording
Upon its release,kanye west shoes, many surmised that West conceived "Gold Digger",air jordans; after watching Jamie Foxx's Oscar-winning portrayal of Ray Charles in the biographical film Ray, however he had actually recorded the song long before the movie was even developed.[3] West originally produced and recorded the song in Ludacris's home in Atlanta, Georgia for Shawnna's 2004 debut album Worth Tha Weight and had written the chorus from a female first-person viewpoint. However, for reasons unknown, Shawnna passed on the beat. Not wanting to let it go to waste, West decided to write the two verses for the song himself, this time from a male's point-of-view. About a year later, right before "Gold Digger" was set to be released, West decided to add a third verse and in a week the new song was recorded and mastered at Sony Music Studios in New York.[3] The idea of employing Jamie Foxx specifically to sing an interpolation of Ray Charles' "I Got a Woman" in place of its initial sample did in fact arise from West seeing Ray with his friend John Mayer.[3] Foxx's vocals were recorded over many takes; one version, he sang from start to finish, but the track was retracted as his performance didn't coincide well with the song's instrumentation. After recording another version, Jamie decided to re-record it once more as he felt it contained too many explicit lyrics.[3] Once the track was in place, it was layered with additional instruments provided by Brion and individually selected by West.[3] By the end of their very first studio session together, the pair had completed the basic tracks for final version of "Gold Digger".[4]
Upon its release,kanye west shoes, many surmised that West conceived "Gold Digger",air jordans; after watching Jamie Foxx's Oscar-winning portrayal of Ray Charles in the biographical film Ray, however he had actually recorded the song long before the movie was even developed.[3] West originally produced and recorded the song in Ludacris's home in Atlanta, Georgia for Shawnna's 2004 debut album Worth Tha Weight and had written the chorus from a female first-person viewpoint. However, for reasons unknown, Shawnna passed on the beat. Not wanting to let it go to waste, West decided to write the two verses for the song himself, this time from a male's point-of-view. About a year later, right before "Gold Digger" was set to be released, West decided to add a third verse and in a week the new song was recorded and mastered at Sony Music Studios in New York.[3] The idea of employing Jamie Foxx specifically to sing an interpolation of Ray Charles' "I Got a Woman" in place of its initial sample did in fact arise from West seeing Ray with his friend John Mayer.[3] Foxx's vocals were recorded over many takes; one version, he sang from start to finish, but the track was retracted as his performance didn't coincide well with the song's instrumentation. After recording another version, Jamie decided to re-record it once more as he felt it contained too many explicit lyrics.[3] Once the track was in place, it was layered with additional instruments provided by Brion and individually selected by West.[3] By the end of their very first studio session together, the pair had completed the basic tracks for final version of "Gold Digger".[4]
air jordans Following the chart performance
Following the chart performance of "Diamonds from Sierra Leone", which failed to crack the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, West's label became concerned with how a follow up single would perform. Their concerns were unfounded as "Gold Digger",air jordans; became a success, hitting number one on the Hot 100, Pop 100,kanye west shoes, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and the Hot Rap Tracks charts.
When Late Registration was released, the album version of "Gold Digger" was first made available for download. Approximately 80,000 digital downloads of "Gold Digger" were sold through legal music services such as iTunes and Napster in that first week, making it the most successful digital sales debut ever. The song broke the record for the most digital downloads sold in one week, and the record for the fastest selling digital single of all time, both previously held by Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl". "Gold Digger" sold over 1,000,000 downloads during its seven weeks of release. This makes "Gold Digger" one of the first songs in history to sell over 1,000,000 downloads in the United States.
The high digital download sales helped propel the song from number nineteen to number one in one week, the fifth highest jump ever to that position on the Hot 100. The jump ended the fourteen-week (and ten consecutive week) run of Carey's "We Belong Together" at number one, and kept Carey's "Shake It Off" from replacing "We Belong Together" as the number one single. The song spent ten weeks at the top of the Hot 100 until rising R&B star Chris Brown's hit "Run It!" shot up to the pole position for the week of November 19.
"Gold Digger" also became West's first Top 10 single on the Mainstream Top 40 chart, peaking at number-two. On the Pop 100, "Gold Digger" also broke a record by jumping from number ninety-four to number two, giving West the record for the biggest ever jump on that chart.
By reaching number-one, "Gold Digger" gave Charles his first Hot 100 chart-topper as a songwriter, credited as a result of the "I Got a Woman" sample. As an artist, Charles topped the Hot 100 three times in the 1960s, but always with other writers' songs.
"Gold Digger" is Kanye West's second highest charting single in the UK, only behind his number one single "Stronger". It was only held of the top spot by the Pussycat Doll's "Don't Cha". It is by far West's longest charting single in the UK having amassed an impressive 48 weeks inside th top 100 songs. 295,000 copies of "Gold Digger" have been sold in the UK as stated by the Official UK Charts Company.[7]
When Late Registration was released, the album version of "Gold Digger" was first made available for download. Approximately 80,000 digital downloads of "Gold Digger" were sold through legal music services such as iTunes and Napster in that first week, making it the most successful digital sales debut ever. The song broke the record for the most digital downloads sold in one week, and the record for the fastest selling digital single of all time, both previously held by Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl". "Gold Digger" sold over 1,000,000 downloads during its seven weeks of release. This makes "Gold Digger" one of the first songs in history to sell over 1,000,000 downloads in the United States.
The high digital download sales helped propel the song from number nineteen to number one in one week, the fifth highest jump ever to that position on the Hot 100. The jump ended the fourteen-week (and ten consecutive week) run of Carey's "We Belong Together" at number one, and kept Carey's "Shake It Off" from replacing "We Belong Together" as the number one single. The song spent ten weeks at the top of the Hot 100 until rising R&B star Chris Brown's hit "Run It!" shot up to the pole position for the week of November 19.
"Gold Digger" also became West's first Top 10 single on the Mainstream Top 40 chart, peaking at number-two. On the Pop 100, "Gold Digger" also broke a record by jumping from number ninety-four to number two, giving West the record for the biggest ever jump on that chart.
By reaching number-one, "Gold Digger" gave Charles his first Hot 100 chart-topper as a songwriter, credited as a result of the "I Got a Woman" sample. As an artist, Charles topped the Hot 100 three times in the 1960s, but always with other writers' songs.
"Gold Digger" is Kanye West's second highest charting single in the UK, only behind his number one single "Stronger". It was only held of the top spot by the Pussycat Doll's "Don't Cha". It is by far West's longest charting single in the UK having amassed an impressive 48 weeks inside th top 100 songs. 295,000 copies of "Gold Digger" have been sold in the UK as stated by the Official UK Charts Company.[7]
A remix was made featuring Jay-Z
A remix was made featuring Jay-Z. It was titled "Gold Digger (Jay-Z Remix) featuring Jamie Foxx." It had the same beat and still had Jamie Foxx in the background and Kanye West on the first verse, but it switches to Jay-Z on the second. In 2006 a drum and bass remix was released by High Contrast.
In 2005 American DJ and Producer Diplo remixed the track, he edited the songs chorus to resemble the voice of Ray Charles. The electronic track was titled "Gold Digger (Diplo Mix)" and was never officially released.
A politically charged mash-up of the song titled "George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People" circulated following Hurricane Katrina, incorporating audio of Kanye West's own assertion that "George Bush doesn't care about black people" on a televised benefit concert.[1] The song criticized George W. Bush for his slow reaction to the plight of New Orleans. Titled simply "George Bush Don't Like Black People" and written by Houston hip-hop duo The Legendary K.O. also known as K-Otix,kanye west shoes, the single became widespread on the Internet for several weeks after the catastrophe, in some cases backing video mash-ups with photo montages from the hurricane.
The refrain of the song asserts that "George Bush ain't a gold digger, but he ain't messin with no broke niggas", and implores, "come down, Bush, come on, come down" to New Orleans. Similar themes, including the characterization of black victims of the hurricane as looters, were covered by Public Enemy in a contemporaneous single,air jordans, "Hell No We Ain't All Right!"
Welsh indie rock band The Automatic recorded a cover version of the song, which features on Radio 1's Live Lounge CD, as well as later being featured on their final single Raoul.During Leeds Festival 2006 they performed it live with Adequate Seven and the lead singer and saxophonist of Capdown. They also performed it live at the 2007 Reading festival, with fellow Welshmen, Goldie Lookin' Chain and at the 2007 Get Loaded In The Park. At the Newquay Boardmasters Festival in 2006, they performed it live with The Mystery Jets, Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly and My Elvis Blackout.
All Time Low has covered "Gold Digger" in the past.
The song was also later sung by the Oceanian Hip-Hop duo Noozfa & Izzei, and they made a crunk remix featuring White Dawg, and Lil' Jon. In addition, it was also sung in Kingston, Jamaica by various other artists like Lil' Bow Wow, C-Murder and Beenie Man.
"Gold Digger", done in a polka beat, is the last segment of "Polkarama!", the polka medley on "Weird Al" Yankovic's album Straight Outta Lynwood. This version substitutes a second "broke" instead of "nigga", like the edited music video.
English solo artist Dear Landlord also performed an acoustic version of "Gold Digger".
Vitamin String Quartet recorded a string quartet version of the song for one of their Unstrung albums.
Comedian Carlos Mencia created a version of this song for a sketch on his show Mind of Mencia also featuring fellow comedian Aries Spears playing Jamie Foxx's role.
Maria Kanellis used Gold Digger as her theme in OVW
In the episode "Showmance" of Glee, the cast of Glee covered the song.
In 2005 American DJ and Producer Diplo remixed the track, he edited the songs chorus to resemble the voice of Ray Charles. The electronic track was titled "Gold Digger (Diplo Mix)" and was never officially released.
A politically charged mash-up of the song titled "George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People" circulated following Hurricane Katrina, incorporating audio of Kanye West's own assertion that "George Bush doesn't care about black people" on a televised benefit concert.[1] The song criticized George W. Bush for his slow reaction to the plight of New Orleans. Titled simply "George Bush Don't Like Black People" and written by Houston hip-hop duo The Legendary K.O. also known as K-Otix,kanye west shoes, the single became widespread on the Internet for several weeks after the catastrophe, in some cases backing video mash-ups with photo montages from the hurricane.
The refrain of the song asserts that "George Bush ain't a gold digger, but he ain't messin with no broke niggas", and implores, "come down, Bush, come on, come down" to New Orleans. Similar themes, including the characterization of black victims of the hurricane as looters, were covered by Public Enemy in a contemporaneous single,air jordans, "Hell No We Ain't All Right!"
Welsh indie rock band The Automatic recorded a cover version of the song, which features on Radio 1's Live Lounge CD, as well as later being featured on their final single Raoul.During Leeds Festival 2006 they performed it live with Adequate Seven and the lead singer and saxophonist of Capdown. They also performed it live at the 2007 Reading festival, with fellow Welshmen, Goldie Lookin' Chain and at the 2007 Get Loaded In The Park. At the Newquay Boardmasters Festival in 2006, they performed it live with The Mystery Jets, Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly and My Elvis Blackout.
All Time Low has covered "Gold Digger" in the past.
The song was also later sung by the Oceanian Hip-Hop duo Noozfa & Izzei, and they made a crunk remix featuring White Dawg, and Lil' Jon. In addition, it was also sung in Kingston, Jamaica by various other artists like Lil' Bow Wow, C-Murder and Beenie Man.
"Gold Digger", done in a polka beat, is the last segment of "Polkarama!", the polka medley on "Weird Al" Yankovic's album Straight Outta Lynwood. This version substitutes a second "broke" instead of "nigga", like the edited music video.
English solo artist Dear Landlord also performed an acoustic version of "Gold Digger".
Vitamin String Quartet recorded a string quartet version of the song for one of their Unstrung albums.
Comedian Carlos Mencia created a version of this song for a sketch on his show Mind of Mencia also featuring fellow comedian Aries Spears playing Jamie Foxx's role.
Maria Kanellis used Gold Digger as her theme in OVW
In the episode "Showmance" of Glee, the cast of Glee covered the song.
who is Kanye Omari West
Kanye Omari West (pronounced /ˈkɑːnjeɪ/; born June 8, 1977)[1] is an American rapper, record producer, author, and singer. He released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004,air jordans, his second album Late Registration in 2005, his third album Graduation in 2007,kanye west shoes, and his fourth album 808s & Heartbreak in 2008. His first three albums (and his fourth to a lesser extent) have received numerous awards[2][3][4] and critical acclaim.[5] All have been very commercially successful, with 808s & Heartbreak becoming his third consecutive #1 album in the U.S. upon release. West also runs his own record label GOOD Music.[6] West's mascot and trademark is "Dropout Bear," a teddy bear which has appeared on the covers of three of his four albums as well as various single covers and music videos.[7]
West gained fame by producing for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album, The Blueprint as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and Janet Jackson. His style of production originally utilized pitched-up vocal samples from soul songs incorporated with his own drums and instruments. However, subsequent albums saw him broadening his musical palette and expressing influences ranging from '70s R&B, to synth-pop, and classical music.
About.com ranked Kanye West #8 on their "Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers" list.[8] On May 16, 2008, Kanye West was crowned by MTV as the year's #1 "Hottest MC in the Game."[9]
West gained fame by producing for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album, The Blueprint as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and Janet Jackson. His style of production originally utilized pitched-up vocal samples from soul songs incorporated with his own drums and instruments. However, subsequent albums saw him broadening his musical palette and expressing influences ranging from '70s R&B, to synth-pop, and classical music.
About.com ranked Kanye West #8 on their "Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers" list.[8] On May 16, 2008, Kanye West was crowned by MTV as the year's #1 "Hottest MC in the Game."[9]
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