Kanye arrives on GQ's Man of the Year cover
It's been the best and the worst of years for Kanye West. Sales figures triumphs and terrific reviews accompanied his latest album, Graduation. He has a new book on the way. He appeared on several magazine covers, including Paste's. But all of that was negated with the loss of his mother two weeks ago. Another mag cover seems tiny consolation, but it does bring with it a prestigious title: GQ Magazine's Man of the Year. West will share the honor with Bill Clinton and Daniel Craig, who will also appear on different versions of the cover. GQ has a short... read more
Found in: Music, NewsKanye, Interpol, TVotR design lunchboxes for charity
Lunch usually became a competitive sport in elementary school. The battle took place in two separate fields: tastiest dessert and coolest lunchbox. You always felt bad for the kid who was stuck with a lame design on his box - but hey, at least he had food to eat. The Lunchbox Auction, which we last heard from in 2005, is starting up again in '07 to address more important concerns than just having a fly snack carrier. With one in five children in New York City relying on emergency food to eat, just giving kids snacks to carry is priority... read more
Found in: Music, NewsFinally: a book of Kanye-isms!
Is your Sunday book club stuck in the doldrums right now? Do the dark romantics seem just a bit too brooding, the neo-classicists too stodgy, the existentialists too pretentious? Well then, it sounds like you need a reinvigorating dose of Kanye West in your whack little association. Up until now, West's searing "wit, playful irony, and piercing insight" were only available in hip-hop form. But with the arrival of West's new book, Thank You and You're Welcome!, the philosophy of Kanye has become available to those country-club types who, you know, still read books. West calls the book a collection... read more
Found in: Music, NewsKanye West collaborates with Steve Albini, Cheap Trick
That's right. Unfortunately, if the sensational headline had you wondering what it would sound like to hear our issue 36 cover artist rapping over a live rendition of "Surrender" with Albini on the board (answer: it would sound like your head exploding), you're out of luck. Rather, thanks to those never-resting interweb-slingers over at The Daily Swarm, the above Grammy photo (squint hard!) is the actual result. Oh, and there are some other folks there as well, including president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Neil Portnow, Chicago-based DJ duo, Flosstradamus, dude from the Plain White T's... read more
Found in: Music, NewsLosing to Kanye, 50 Cent postpones tour
Curtis? Curtis? Has Kanye West’s Graduation ended 50 Cent’s solo career? The BBC reports that Fiddy has postponed his European tour, and has cancelled appearances at the Mobo Awards and Vodafone Live Music Awards in London this week, as well as an MTV show in Germany next week. The moves make it easier to imagine that the rapper will make good on his a promise to retire from solo work. In the build up to last Tuesday’s simultaneous release of West’s Graduation and his own new album, Curtis, Fiddy vowed that if West’s album outsold his own, he’d hang up... read more
Found in: Music, NewsBET Hip-Hop Awards honor T.I., Kanye, 50 Cent
It's time for Black Entertainment Television's hip-hop awards once again, and the breakout of the year comes in T.I., as he tops the nomination list with nine different category nods, including CD of the year and lyricist of the year. Following closely behind are Lil' Wayne and Kanye West with seven nominations apiece, along with Jay-Z's four and Ludacris with three. Also scoring three is 50 Cent, paralleling initial Curtis sales compared to West's Graduation. Rounding out the list of multiple nomination artists are Diddy and UGK, picking up two nominations apiece. Related links: BET.com KanyeWest.com YouTube video of T.I.P.'s... read more
Found in: Music, NewsKanye, Pumpkins, and mystery at Bang! Festival
[Above: Kanye West] Gotta love it when a major music festival plays coy with its lineup. Tickets for the Bang! Music Festival in Miami are already on sale, sponsors are in place, the stage is probably half-erected, and yet, most of the lineup still remains a point of conjecture. The two-day event, which kicks off Nov. 10 at the Bayfront Park Amphitheater, does have its headliners in place: Kanye West (performing on the 10th) and the Smashing Pumpkins (the 11th). Clearly, the promoters have mad love for Chi-Town, as these two artists represent both the new and the old guard... read more
Found in: Music, NewsKanye West
Kanye West flies commercial. Sure, he may seem like the collar-popping embodiment of hip-hop glamour, but West endures air-travel indignity just like everyone else. A recent flight down the East Coast, for example, proved fatal to his Japanese backpack, the casualty of a faulty lavatory that leaked into the first-class cabin. It would be nice to avoid hassles like this. It would be nice if a man with property in Beverly Hills didn’t have to carry his valuables in a plastic sack with an airline logo on the side, after having his nice Asian luggage suffer death by toilet. Unfortunately,... read more
Found in: Music, FeaturesKanye's moody Blues performance
Greg Kot of the Chicago Times wrote a telling review of Kanye West's recent benefit concert at the city's House of Blues, where said rapper's moods were the only thing in full swing as he stopped and started certain songs and interrupted others to shout directions at sound and lighting technicians. After an interminable opening set by a variety of West proteges, the curtain parted and the band began to perform one of West's new songs, "I Wonder." West entered to huge applause in untucked white shirt, purple cardigan, jeans and sunglasses and began to rap. All seemed fine, except... read more
Found in: Music, NewsKanye, Pharrell, and Lupe Fiasco plan supergroup
Kanye West has been on our minds lately. Then again, when you're one of the biggest MCs in the game and you put Daft Punk and Peter, Bjorn and John on your mixtape, it's hard for us to not pay attention. The Can’t Tell Me Nothing mixtape also included a song from something called CRS (Child Rebel Soldiers), which features Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell Williams doing their things over a Thom Yorke sample. Now, Lupe Fiasco is telling Billboard.com that he, Kanye and Williams are looking to do an entire album as CRS. The word "supergroup" gets tossed around liberally... read more
Found in: Music, News
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