Curtis Mayfield & Kanye West

Unfortunately, Kanye West who is one of the most influential hip-hop artists of all time, has ruined his career by spreading hate speech and lies over the past few years, especially in the past six months. Kanye West is a household name, and he has held an extensive career as a rapper and producer. He has won 24 Grammys out of his 75 nominations and is one of the highest selling artists of all time, especially from the 2000s. Although he has been so successful as an artist, and has truly changed the hip-hop/rap genre by influencing so many new artists, his recent actions cannot be ignored. In 2022 he made a chain of public antisemitic social media posts and statements. He even went as far as identifying as a nazi, praising Adolf Hitler, and posting a swastika on social media. This has caused an in-flux of antisemitism within the United States, and has only spread false and hateful antisemitic rhetoric. It is sad to see someone who creates such amazing music spread his bigotry in this country towards a group of people that have struggled enough. I am not sure what his intentions were with his statements, and he has since tried to backtrack what he said, but that does nothing. It does not take back the damage that has already been done. 

This brings me to a larger question that I want to ask you all. Do you feel comfortable listening to an artist or composer who's views you greatly disagree with? I struggle with this. Kanye West is a great example of this. Before he said any of this, I listened to a lot of his music. His production style is so unique, it is so great and he creates music that you KNOW is his. From the way a sample is chopped to the heavy kick drum, you can tell its Kanye West. I will still listen to some of his music, but what he is said his always is the back of my mind. I feel that I can disassociate him from the music, but I still feel slightly bad for listening to it even though I really enjoy it. A classical music example would be someone like Wagner. He is a known antisemite, so to those of you who enjoy listening to and playing his music, how does it make you feel? Do you feel bad, or are you able to disassociate his views from the music because you enjoy it? 

Anyways, Touch the Sky by Kanye West, featuring Lupe Fiasco is a very well known song. The beat is incredible, and like I mentioned, the kick drum in this is heavy which is reminiscent of his early production style. He samples Curtis Mayfield's Move On Up, using the horns that appear before the first verse, and between the next verses. The sample is heard throughout, West just slowed it down and took it exactly from the song, then added his own drums.

Here is Touch the Sky:

Curtis Mayfield held an extensive career, and is well known for being one of the most famous guitarist, singer-songwriters, and producers of all time. He began his career as part of a band called The Impressions in 1956, but in 1970 he began his solo career. His first solo album self entitled Curtis ended up reaching the top 20. He released a total of 22 albums throughout his career, and even starred in four films. He received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and Legend Award in 1995 and 1994 respectively, and was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artists and with the Impressions, the Vocal Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Unfortunately in 1990, stage lighting equipment fell on him during a show, which caused him to become paralyzed from the neck down. Even still, he recorded vocals in the studio lying down on his back, unable to play the guitar. He passed away just 9 years later. 

It goes without saying that Move On Up is an incredible song. It is so well written and everything just feels so thought out. I love this song, it has such a great groove, and such a great meaning as well. The horns on the song are great, and he used both trumpets and trombones too. The sample happens throughout the song, but the first time it appears is at 0:06. 

Here is Move On Up: