Ever wondered if the Yeezus artist writes his music himself?
Kanye doesn’t write most of his music himself – most of his lyrics are written through a collaboration between him and other writers. Some of his songs are completely ghostwritten, but he does have creative control over the writing process. While Kanye has no problem admitting to not writing his own music, the quality of his work has come under public fire recently.
Read on to learn more!
Some Big Names Have Ghostwritten for Kanye
While some Kanye West fans may not want to believe it, indeed, Kanye does not write most of his songs himself. He may choose the ideas because he has spoken about working around ideas rather than actual lyrics, but his songs have been written by many other people in the past – including other famous rappers.
For instance, Kanye admitted via Twitter that his song Violent Crimes was written by Pardison Fontaine, whom he said, “wrote the Violent Crimes verses. I changed 2 lines. He wrote the entire song though. Cyhi Cons Pardi. The ghost in the industry.”
CyHi aka CyHi Da Prynce, Cons aka Consequence, and Pardi aka Pardison Fontaine, are some of Kanye’s most famously employed ghostwriters. For songs that Kanye writes himself, he still has a group of people helping him – all of whom are credited in the respective album’s credits.
Kanye is no stranger to controversy though, and his lyrics are no exception. Kid Cudi attempting to ‘expose’ him, and some other rappers, for using ghostwriters before Kanye seemingly admitted to it publicly. He said, “Everyone thinks they’re [these rappers] soooo great. Talking top 5 and be having 30 people write songs for them. My tweets apply to who they apply. Ye, Drake, whoever. These ni**as don’t give a f*ck about me. And they ain’t f*ckin with me.”
Similarly, Consequence has said that Kanye hasn’t always given him proper credit for writing his lyrics. “It is true I participated in writing with Kanye. You could read it on credits on 808s and Heartbreaks, College Dropout. Every album that he’s had, I’ve been involved from a creative aspect in writing of songs,” he added, regardless. “Check the credits, I get that publishing.”
T-Pain has been speculated as one of Kanye’s ghostwriters in the past. Similarly, Chicago MC Rhymefest wrote the Grammy-winning single Jesus Walks.
Kanye Didn’t Write Down the Lyrics for His First Four Albums
An interesting fact about Kanye is that he did not write down the lyrics for the first four albums. Instead, he just rapped them from memory. Kanye has said about his writing process, “I didn’t write my raps down for my first four albums – like all, I did it from the head straight to the booth.”
This is in common with many other rappers. Jay-Z is another famous rapper who is known to rap from memory. Considering the fact that Kanye and Jay-Z have collaborated numerous times, it’s not a surprise. In fact, Kanye’s introduction to the mainstream world of music occured when he produced four of Jay-Z’s tracks on his album The Blueprint.
Kanye and His Work Have Been Under Public Fire Lately
Kanye seems to be less inclined on writing his lyrics because he works as a producer first and a songwriter second. Examples of famous songs he has produced include Lil Kim’s Don’t Mess With Me, Mariah Carey’s Stay The Night, and Alicia Key’s Unbreakable. But the public hasn’t been loving his more recent work for other reasons.
Confidence is something that Kanye has never lacked. “I’m unquestionably, undoubtedly, the greatest human artist of all time,” he has said, adding, “It’s just not even a question anymore.” But his fans seemed less inclined to agree given his recent music, and his avid support of Donald Trump.
Kanye has always been prone to tantrums and Twitter feuds, but fans were willing to ignore this given the transcendent music he was putting out. Apparently, this is no longer the case. Kanye’s support of Trump seems to disagree with fans.
After Kanye paraded around in a “Make America Great Again” hat before the last US Elections, and claimed that slavery was a “choice,” music critic and David Dennis Jr. wrote, “We don’t have to give West the benefit of the doubt based on his past brilliance. That Mr. West is gone. And we don’t have to wait for him to return.”