– 01
WEST
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– 02
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– 03
H O W D I D K A N Y E W E S T P R O G R E S S I N T O C O N T E M P O R A RY A RT S P R A C T I C E S U C E S S F U L LY ? A N D T H E M E T H O D S H E U S E D TO GAIN HIS PRESTIGIOUS POSITION.
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INTRODUCTION
PA G E S 0 7 - 0 9
Chapter I is an overview of the subject matter that will be talked about within the book and a brief background on why the topic is of significance.
THE INCEPTION / 2002 - 2007
PA G E S 0 1 1 - 0 2 9
C h a p t e r I I t a l k s a b o u t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f We t s l i f e a n d c a r e e r s t a r t i n g w i t h h i s c a r a c c i d e n t i n 2002 and then moving on to his first solo album and looks into how he used music to convey his opinions.
NEW MAN / 2008 - 2010
PA G E S 0 3 1 - 0 3 7
C h a p t e r I I I Ta l k s a b o u t We s t s r e l e a s e o f ‘ M y B e a u t i f u l D a r k Tw i s t e d F a n t a s y ’ a n d h i s p e r f o r m a n c e o f h i s s o n g ‘ P i n o c c h i o S t o r y ’ w h i c h e x p r e s s e s h o w We s t h a s r e a l i z e d s o m e o f his actions were unnecessary and how he has become a ‘new man’.
R U N AWAY / 2 0 0 8 - 2 0 1 0
PA G E S 0 3 9 - 0 4 5
C h a p t e r I V Ta l k s a b o u t We s t s r e l e a s e o f ‘ M y B e a u t i f u l D a r k Tw i s t e d F a n t a s y ’ a n d h i s m o s t well received product within the film industry ‘Runaway’ written by Kanye and directed by H y p e Wi l l a m s .
D O N D A C R E AT E / 2 0 1 1 - 2 0 1 2
PA G E S 0 4 7 - 0 8 1
C h a p t e r V g o e s i n t o d e t a i l a b o u t K a n y e We s t s c r e a t i v e c o m p a n y D o n d a w h i c h s i m p l y a i m s t o ‘ h e l p p e o p l e ’ . T h i s s e c t i o n a l s o l o o k s i n t o w h e n We s t a n n o u n c e d t h e c o m p a n y a n d w h a t i m p a c t i t h a d o n h i s c a r e e r.
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– 05
YEEZUS / 2013 - 2014
PA G E S 0 8 3 - 0 8 7
C h a p t e r V I e x p l a i n s t h e c h a n g e i n p a c e o f m u s i c r e g a r d i n g We s t s a l b u m ‘ Ye e z u s ’ a n d l o o k s i n t o t h e i m p a c t o f t h e Ye e z u s To u r p a r t i c u l l a r l y f o c u s i n g o n t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f t h e v i s u a l s f o r We s t .
SEASON / 2015 -
PA G E S 0 8 9 - 0 9 3
C h a p t e r V I I t a l k s a b o u t We s t s b i g g e s t b r e a k t h r o u g h i n t h e f a s h i o n i n d u s t r y a n d l o o k s i n t o h o w t h e p a r t n e r s h i p / c o l l a b e r a t i o n w i t h A d i d a s m a d e i t e a s y f o r We s t t o p e r s u e h i s p a s s i o n w i t h i n t h e f a s h i o n i n d u s t r y,
CONCLUSION
PA G E S 0 9 7 - 0 9 9
C h a p t e r V I I I a n o v e r v i e w o f t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e o f a l l t h e e v e n t s a n d d e v e l o p m e n t i n We s t s c a r e e r t h a t h a v e b e e n t a l k e d a b o u t a n d u l t i m a t e l y s u m m i n g u p w h e t h e r We s t h a s a c h i e v e d h i s goals and what impact he has had on the industry of contemporary arts.
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INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I
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INTRODUCTION
2016 – January
Within the industry of contemporary arts practice designers of different products usually fall into separate categories. There are, for example: fashion designers, product designers, architects, fine artists, musicians and film producers. Some designers are known, on occasion, to cross the borders of some of these boundaries as exemplified by a fine artist producing a film. Before 2002 these boundaries were just accepted with everyone keeping to their own section of contemporary arts practice. There had been attempts for designers to try to break down these boundaries. Some of the attempts were seen almost as failed ‘revolutionary’ concepts.
Kanye West: perceived, arguably, as the most
controversial pop culture figure universally in the 21st century. When asking for people’s personal opinions on Kanye West responses are always polarised. People either love and support Kanye and his movement or they have very profound dislike for his actions and persona. Either way, both opinions seem to only be projecting him to becoming one of the world’s most influential people (Time, 2015).
West’s career path has undoubtedly been one of the
platforms used and adapted by him to form a channel for his opinions and theories.
His target is usually the music industry
and big corporations. With his career being such an extensive M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
– 09
INTRODUCTION
2016 – January
part of his journey to dominance my aim is to explain and analyse how his life decisions have helped him evolve as an artist and then as a voice of influence. Kanye West created the most significant breakthrough within contemporary arts practice by challenging previous norms.
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THE INCEPTION CHAPTER II 2002 - 2007
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THROUGH THE WIRE
2002 – January
– 012
2002 marked a significant step in West’s personal development. In this year West was involved in a car crash in Los Angeles which left him in hospital with a fractured jaw. This was seen by some as a defining moment for West. It was the first point where he truly wanted to vent his emotion and pain and the chosen expression for this was to be through his music. The only work he had done with music prior to the accident was within production. He had produced albums for Jay-Z, Scarface and Mos Def (MTV, 2002) who were all highly reputable musicians at the time. At this point, however, he had not had any success in the vocal aspect of music. During his time recovering from the crash he recorded his first official mixtape titled ‘Get Well Soon’ which contained a song named ‘Through The Wire’ (kanyetothe.com, 2013). The song was recorded whilst his jaw was still wired shut, hence the title. This song peaked at number 15 in Billboards Hot 100 and was also nominated for ‘Best Rap Solo Performance’ (Wikipedia, 2003). At this juncture West realised that music was a very relevant and personal medium that he could use to share his own story and personal vision. West began to pursue music as his primary career path with the help of his past business partner Jay-Z.
In 2003 West formed a charitable organisation alongside
his music path. The organisation was named the ‘Kanye West Foundation’ and was aimed at reducing the number of high school M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
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COLLEGE DROP OUT
2003 – February
drop-outs. West had previously himself dropped out of school to pursue his passion for music and production. The charity impacted positively upon people’s opinions of him. This work set him apart from other musicians from the hip-hop genre and demonstrated that he wanted to use his music-related popularity to impact the world positively. Not long after this West released his debut album ‘College Drop Out’.This album documented his experiences with dropping out of Chicago State University and included a song which was essentially a spiritual exultation named ‘Jesus Walks’. This was West’s first song where he tackled such a sensitive subject matter as religion. It also provided a channel to express his critical opinion on how the media tends to avoid songs whose subject matter addresses faith issues (Wikipedia 2003). The song was actually received very positively and became the highest debut on Billboards Hot 100 for the first week of its appearance (Whitmire, 2003). ‘Jesus Walks’ became one of West’s biggest hits. The song also received acclaim universally for its open embracing of faith in the face of the oft secular music industry. Many commentators expressed their astonishment that such an overtly religious song was embraced by radio (Emereo, 2015). The single was also described negatively by ‘The Village Voice’ as a “desperate masterpiece” thus demonstrating his capacity to polarize opinion (Hsu, 2004). Having people discussing and debating a M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
J E S U S WA L K S
2004 – May
– 014
subject matter that he has brought into the spotlight was exactly the response that West had sought. For West the song had aired an issue of substance that grabbed people’s attention and prompted debate. Additionally every time someone discussed the subject West’s name cropped up. He was highlighting a subject which was important to him through the vehicle of music. This song caused West to realize that his opinions could resonate with his listeners but with this would come a greater sense of responsibility about what future issues were to be raised.
Later in 2003 (June) West released three music videos for
his single ‘Jesus Walks’. Although West had tackled videography previously this project was, arguably, the inception of West being inspired by film as well as by music. This is the point where he began to devote equal time and effort composing the visuals for a song to further convey the message that he was trying to get across. West found that film was just another medium upon which he could capitalize. He became interested in how a creative mind could use film to attract the audience’s attention from a whole other perspective. For the initial ‘Jesus Walks’ video West had wanted Hype Williams to be the director. West, however, changed his mind when he heard that Jay-Z was contemplating enlisting the same director for his video for his single ‘99 Problems’ (Shaheem, 2004). West eventually chose Michael Haussman to direct the first M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
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J E S U S WA L K S
2004 – June
version budgeted for $650,000 (John, 2004). The fact that this was the most expensive video that West had ever planned demonstrates his new-found interest in this medium. As noted before, the song has very strong religious aspects which was evidently transferred to the video which portrays West as a preacher reciting lyrics to a congregation. The video follows three characters denoted as a prostitute, an alcoholic and a drug dealer as they are guided by angels to West’s Baptist church. Unsurprisingly, this video received just as much criticism as the song when it was initially released due, primarily, to the intense religious theme. The second video was commissioned for a similar budget. This, however, was directed by Chris Milk and was said to be one of his most complex narratives. Milk describes the concept of the film thus ; “take various deplorable characters and merge them with biblical iconography in order to convey the message that God is with them. The secondary objective was to display the duality of man.” (Hanson, 2006). Of pertinence is that West had witnessed personally how much criticism the religious themes had attracted when the song was released. He chose to create not one film to accompany the song but three. This demonstrates West’s approach that there is no such thing as ‘bad publicity’. His primary intention was to tell the story of his song and get his name heard by as many people as possible.
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‘ G e t We l l S o o n . . . ’ 1st solo album. 2003
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‘College Dropout’ 2nd solo album. 2004 The College Dropout was under the label Roc-A-Fella Records. The album went platinum in Canada, Gold in New Zealand and three times platinum in the United States of American and The United Kingdom.
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THE GRAMMY’S
– 018
2005 – February
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– 019
L AT E R E G I S T R AT I O N
2005 – August
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out or he’s going to do something crazy’ Everybody wanted
to know what I would do if I didn’t win… [West holds up
Grammy] I guess we’ll never know.”
– Kanye West
This quote in itself signifies that West knows exactly how people portray him and exactly how to capitalise on it. Users have even commented on video recordings of the speech and stated that they are not fans of Kanye but they can’t deny that it was a great speech. (youtube.com, 2013)
August 2005, Wests sophomore album releases entitled
“Late Registration” and reached 860,000 copies sold at the end of September however, in between these two significant events West took part in “A Concert for Hurricane Relief” which was a charity set up to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The producers had gathered up a group of celebrities who were willing to help out the cause and live streamed a M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
GEORGE BUSH
2005 – September
– 020
show that was asking for people to help out the charity and do what they could to help each other. West was included in this group of celebrities and was put on air with Mike Myers to address the audience. Before the cameras were rolling Kanye said “Yo, I’m going to ad-lib a little bit.” (Strachan, 2015) He went on to talk about how the majority of the people left in the devastation were black and that if they see a white family looting then the media describes it as “looking for food” but if it is a black family then it is described as “looting” this left the production team and producers shocked at what west was proclaiming on live television. The worst was yet to come however, as Wests segment was coming to a close he waited for Myers to finish his well rehearsed lines and announced “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” (Rothchild, 2012)
The repercussions of this event included upset
from the producers, the complaints from viewers and also the Red Cross who was a major recipient of the concerts donations were particularly furious about West’s comments and were apprehensive that donors would pull their money as a result. (Strachan 2015). One of the producers had warned his colleagues that West was known for “making everything about himself” before the M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
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GEORGE BUSH
2005 – September
telecast. This shows that the people who had asked him to come on the show fully knew what Wests behaviour was like but they were willing to take the chance in exchanged for how much attention he would bring onto the charity due to his fame. At this point in his career he was no longer just a music artist or a performer but he was also promoter for anything that he became connected with. Companies that contacted West to come onto their shows were almost hoping that he would do something controversial as it would generate immediate interest which would act as advertisement for their show.
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Aw a r d s - 2005
B y t h e y e a r o f 2 0 0 5 We s t h a d w o n 1 9 l i s t e d a w a r d s f o r h i s w o r k . T h e s e a w a r d s i n c l u d e d t w o M O B O a w a r d s a n d t h r e e G r a m m y ’s .
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‘Late Registration’ 3rd solo album. 2005 L a t e R e g i s t r a t i o n w a s We s t s s e c o n d a l b u m m a d e w i t h i n a s t u d i o . T h e a l b u m w e n t D o u b l e platinum in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and The United Kingdom. The album also reached triple platinum in The United States of America.
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‘A Concert For Hurrican Relief ’ “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” 2005 T h i s Q R c o d e w i l l d i r e c t y o u t o a v i d e o c l i p o f t h e m o m e n t We s t m a d e t h e q u o t e “ G e o r g e Bush doesn’t care about black people” on live television. ( To s c a n t h i s c o d e s e a r c h y o u r m o b i l e a p p s t o r e f o r ‘ Q R S c a n n e r ’ a n d o n c e d o w n l o a d e d however over the code with the camera scanner to be redirected to the video.
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PA S T E L L E
2005 – September
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After the TV incident West decided to capitalize on all the attention from the media by announcing his debut in the fashion industry. Fashion was another industry that West had always been interested in during his career as a musician. It became the norm to see West arrive at a Red Carpet event wearing eccentric outfits. Following the success West had received with the ‘Jesus Walks’ set of music videos, his vision had adjusted. Now, instead of just wanting to be the best rapper, he wanted to develop himself as a brand through venturing into other associated industries and gaining a name for himself in these other areas. In September 2005, not long after the ‘Late Registration’ album had sold 860,000 copies, West announced, in the spring of 2006, that he would be releasing a fashion line entitled ‘Pastelle’ (kanyetothe.com, 2013). It had become somewhat of a norm for rappers to sell millions of records and then start selling clothes. Undoubtedly, a lot of these clothing lines frequently failed but people expected differently from West’s line given his well documented passion for fashion (complex.com 2009). ‘Pastelle’ was then silently marketed in early January 2007 by fellow rapper ‘The Game’ being exhibited in his music video ‘Wouldn’t Get Far’. The next appearance of his clothing line was in the music video for West’s single ‘Stronger’. By this stage in his career West was no stranger to marketing strategy. His attempts, however, to promote his fashion line were M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
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STRONGER
2007 – June
not getting the attention he was hoping for. A contributory factor could have been that West’s third solo album was released soon after his sortie into the fashion industry and the success of the album completely eclipsed people’s attention towards the fashion line. A stream of successes and milestones were achieved by West in the ensuing few months. West’s music achievements included his single ‘Stronger’ hitting number one on Billboards Hot 100 and his solo album achieving 957,000 copies sold. West had once again hit a pinnacle in music career.
All of this success, however, was overshadowed by
the death of West’s mother Donda West who passed away in November 2007 following surgery complications. West resumed his ‘Graduation Tour’ in Paris five days later in memory of his mother.
In the period 2002 to 2007 West had secured his platform
as a musician. With all of his success globally he had gained the respect that his dedication had merited. As mentioned previously, West’s path doesn’t exclusively consist of his career in music. He had started to venture into film and fashion in the early years. West knew that if he suddenly brought out a full fashion brand people would think he was just trying to cynically financially exploit all the attention that he had hitherto been receiving. This was not his motivation. West realised that he had to convey his history of a genuine interest in the arts. He wanted, for example, to distinguish M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
EXPERIENCE
2007 – June
– 028
himself from the other musicians who had brought out clothing lines of their own. He wished to show that he was willing to put as much time and effort into these other mediums of expression as he has with his music. The drive to pursue this was, arguably, most pronounced at the closure of 2007. This was when West could look back and realise how many people he had been able to communicate with and speak to through his music. Through his artistry in music West could express himself based on profound personal experiences which included, for example his accident, the loss of his mother and his views on the ‘absurdity’ of gender binary. Additionally, he managed, through film, to communicate his views on the role religion should have within pop culture. This was only the first segment of West’s progression. He was not afraid to make mistakes which he utilised as learning and to inform his further future development. After his mother’s death he was more motivated than ever to get himself to a position where he would be content. Contentment for West meant using his platform to be able to reach as many people as possible in order to “make a difference”.
The next major stage in West’s rise to prominence
came in the years between 2008 and 2011. This time M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
PA PA R A Z Z I
2008 – September
– 029
period was when West’s determination to design fashion became the most pronounced and when some primary milestones were achieved for West as a fashion designer. In tandem he continually succeeded in developing his music career further.
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NEW MAN CHAPTER III 2 0 0 8 - 2 0 11
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W E W E R E O N C E A FA I RY TA L E
2008 – September
– 032
In November 2008, West released a video for a new single entitled ‘Heartless’. Soon afterwards, still in the month of November, his fourth solo album was released entitled ‘808’s & Heartbreak’. The new album sold 450,00 copies by the end of December 2008. Sales were fuelled by the recent media attention. This album release was accompanied by a short film directed by Spike Jones entitled ‘We Were Once a Fairytale’ (Artsbeat, 2009). In the film, West plays himself as a character in a busy club. The film plays on the fact that some people see him as arrogant and self-absorbed. The film’s primary topical focus is on West’s personal demons. Though the film doesn’t go into specifics about what habits West is referring to in the film, a metaphor is used to represent West overcoming these issues.
As mentioned earlier, 2009 was a good year for West
in terms of his fashion career. In January shoes designed by West for Louis Vuitton were showcased and were well received in the ‘Sneaker Head’ community. With the branding came a high price tag which meant that the shoes were not readily accessible. Nevertheless, this marked a stepping stone for West’s fashion career. This was the recovery that he needed after his previous fashion brand ‘Pastelle’ hadn’t been so well received. He capitalized on this progress and soon afterwards entered a partnership with Nike where he designed the first, non-athletic, M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
NIKE AIR YEEZY
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2009 – April
full collaboration trainer that Nike had ever agreed to producing. Prior to this, Nike had always been known for collaborating with major sports stars. For example, one of the more successful ones had been with Michael Jordan. The fact that West was the first nonathletic full collaboration was a very significant achievement in itself but West knew the scale of Nike as a corporation. He realised what kind of opportunities this partnership could open for him. Unsurprisingly, the shoe, which was released in three ‘colourways’, sold out almost instantly each time a different colour was released (Roberts, 2009). The release of each colour was staggered (April 4th, May 2nd and June 1st 2009) (Nicekicks, 2013). The shoes were originally retailed at $215 but can now be seen at a re-sale value of anywhere above $1,100. These figures show the volume of interest this collaboration had generated and was seen as a fresh start for West’s career in the fashion industry.
In June 2009 West’s initial clothing brand ‘Pastelle’
officially folded (Vibe, 2009). Whether this was related to West’s success with Nike is uncertain. Some people, however, believe that West wanted to allow his vision as a fashion designer to be open to new opportunities and ideas.
August 2010 West performed at ‘Singfest’ including a
rendition of his song ‘Pinocchio Story’ He had, however, altered the lyrics transforming the song into a rant about how he had become a M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
NEW MAN
2010 – August
– 034
‘new man’. The new version was West’s attempt to explains how he had come to realise some of his actions, after his mother’s passing, were ‘unnecessary and childish’ (Aisyah, 2016). The lyrics also included statements explaining how West thought that he had let the power he had gained from his fame go to his head and suggested that this was some of the reasoning behind his actions. This more humble projection of his personality was well received by some of his fans but also left others disappointed that they may not get to see anymore of the wild antics in the news or at award ceremonies.
To end 2010 West’s new album ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted
Fantasy’ was released which included some of West’s best work that would form a statement on both his music and film career. Also he earned himself the title of MTV’s ‘Man of the Year’ (Montgoery, 2010)
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‘ 8 0 8 ’s & H e a r t b re a k ’ 4th solo album. 2008 8 0 8 ’s & H e a r t b r e a k r e a c h P l a t i n u m i n C a n a d a , I r e l a n d , T h e U n i t e d K i n g d o m a n d T h e United States. Seen above is the original album art from 2008.
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W h e r e a s t h e a r t s h o w n h e r e i s t h e r e - e n v i s i o n e d a l b u m a r t f o r s o m e s o n g s t h a t We s t r e recorded in 2015.
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R U N AWAY CHAPTER IV 2 0 0 8 - 2 0 11
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R U N AWAY
2011 – October
– 040
2011 marked the year that West achieved his biggest success in film to date. The film, entitled ‘Runaway’, was made to accompany his afore-mentioned album ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’. The film is a compilation of songs from the album. The short film was written by Hype Williams and produced by Jonathan Lia. Everything else was conceived and organised by West himself. West, arguably, has not got the credit he deserves from the media when these films are made. The focus has usually been on the person who West has chosen to produce his film. The reasoning for this may be explained by people finding it difficult to perceive West as anything other than a musician. This aspect of people’s mind-sets was one that West wanted to alter. The story of the film was thought up by West and consists of a creature, presented as half woman and half phoenix, falling to earth in the middle of a forest. This leads to Griffin (played by West) crashing his car whilst he was driving through the same forest. According to GQ Magazine the opening scene echoes West’s car crash in 2002. Some critical response that the film received included praise by Ken Tucker (Entertainment Weekly), Jozen Cummings (Wall Street Journal) and Will Dean (The Guardian). The film was referred to as:
“A carefully modulated art-film made by a man on a
mission.” – Ken Tucker M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
R U N AWAY
– 041
2009 – October
“A cross between an epic music video and a charming
indie-house flick which brought West’s music to life”
– Jozen Cummings
“Ridiculous, ostentatious and egotistical” (citing that it fit
West’s aesthetic perfectly)
– Will Dean The film was also praised for its creative use of dominant colours and the imagery. Others said that West had created a ‘creative promotional tool’. Gaining all of this praise in a creative field that has such a substantial amount of very harsh critics was an achievement in itself for West. Even after all of the positive feedback, however, West still hoped that he had sufficiently proved himself to the fans for them to regard him as more than just a musician.
Within the new album West continued to facilitate
contributions from various other artists from contrasting genres of music. Such artists as Bon Iver, Charlie Wilson and Justin Vernon were featured. West had not given up trying to advance music as an art form and bringing all genres and styles of music together. Due to how popular he had become at this stage, West had both the necessary funds and networking capabilities to be able to reach out to practically any artist that he wanted to collaborate with. M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
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‘ M y B e a u t i f u l D a r k Tw i s t e d F a n t a s y ’ 5th solo album. 2010 M y B e a u t i f u l D a r k Tw i s t e d F a n t a s y w e n t p l a t i n u m i n A u s t r a l i a a n d T h e U n i t e d S t a t e s . I t also reached Gold in both Denmark and The United Kingdom. Seen above is the original artwork which was said to be too graphic to be sold at certain retailers.
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This is the ‘clean’ artwork which was used in the reatilers which refused to sell the album with the original artwork.
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‘Runawau’ Film 2010 This is the artwork often used when referring to the Runaway single or film. The artwork i s m i m i c k i n g t h e s t y l e o f t h e a r t w o r k f o r ‘ M t B e a u t i f u l D a r k Tw i s t e d F a n t a s y ’ a s t h e y a r e related projects.
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‘Runaway’ Full film 2010 This QR code will direct you to the complete Runaway film. ( To s c a n t h i s c o d e s e a r c h y o u r m o b i l e a p p s t o r e f o r ‘ Q R S c a n n e r ’ a n d o n c e d o w n l o a d e d however over the code with the camera scanner to be redirected to the video.
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DONDA T H E C O M PA N Y CHAPTER V 2 0 11 - 2 0 1 2
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D I AT R I B E
2012 – January
– 048
In January 2012 West had an impromptu ‘rant’ through the social media website ‘Twitter’. His monologue, which consisted of over 1,600 words, began by talking about his experiences in the fashion industry. He explains that he spent some time in Japan where he began designing. He describes also that he had been offered opportunities as a fashion intern at both ‘Fendi’ and ‘Versace’ which he couldn’t accept due to a two year contract linked to his ‘sneaker’ design with Louis Vuitton. He then goes on to explain how he moved to Rome to work on ideas with ‘Adidas’ for a menswear collection. At this point West reflects on some issues that he had faced whilst working with Nike. He explains how he was only “allowed” to design one pair of shoes every two years. He had, however, a lot more ideas that he wanted to create and develop (West, 2012). West goes on to comment regarding award shows sometimes having found them completely illogical but acknowledging the fact that he wouldn’t have the prestige that he has if it wasn’t for the ‘Grammy’s’ validation.
The significance of this diatribe, however, revealed itself
when West announced that he had started a new company named ‘Donda’. The mission of the company was simply to ‘help people’ and West said that he was going to do this in the way that he knew best and that was to create. He then goes on to explain in depth that ‘Donda’ is a ‘design company which will galvanise amazing M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
D I AT R I B E
– 049
2012 – January
thinkers and put them in a creative space to bounce their dreams and ideas.’ (West 2012). He states that the company will consist of a team of architects, graphic designers, directors, musicians, producers, writers, publicists, social media experts, doctors, scientists and teachers.
“Donda will be comprised of over 22 divisions with a goal
to make products that people want and can afford’
– Kanye Wesr This statement opened a whole new level of West’s journey within contemporary arts practice. With this company he opened the spectrum of his work to levels which people may have thought were impossible for a pop culture figure. This was the stage in West’s career where, arguably, he took on the commitment that he had been seeking since approximately 2004. He now had access to the necessary resources, funds and contacts to enable these to be devoted to a company with the intention of leaving a positive impact on the world. With the spectrum of his proposal being so wide, people were understandably were very cynical about West’s stated aims. This view on West, however, quickly turned into a minority when the work from West’s company began to emanate. M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
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RANT T H E N E X T 7 PA G E S C O N S I S T O F T H E F U L L TRAIN OF THOUGHT WRITTEN BY WEST ON TWITTER. A N A LY S I S C O N T I N U E S O N PA G E : 0 6 1 Please note all of the text on the next 7 pages are d i r e c t l y q u o t e d f r o m K a n y e We s t .
2 0 11 - 2 0 1 2
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KANYE WEST TWITTER RANT
2012 – January
– 052
I appreciate everyone’s support for my clothing line but I wanted to clarify a few things. The name of the line is Kanye West not DW. The Dw was a design element placed on the invite in homage to my Mom. I really appreciate the fake DW twitter page but since it’s not official I can’t co sign any information on it. “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo Da Vinci More clarity… I have no agency representing me currently… William Morris was fired after Cara Lewis quit. I love Cara Lewis. I love being back at my fashion office learning and creating. It’s so challenging and fun and I’m surrounded by amazing people. They say you only live once but every time I come to work I feel like I’m starting a second life.
You guys might think I have some type of backing for my
line but I don’t. I did the first fashion show out of my own pocket and used the money I made touring to follow my passion. I’ve been working at this for 8 years now… from the first offers to do urban clothing lines that I turned down… To begging Bape to do my line and never making any real headway… To having an office in LA that was shut down after the “MTV” moment along with my tour with GAGA. I moved to Japan for one month after that and designed every night in my room. I had this opportunity to intern at Fendi M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
KANYE WEST TWITTER RANT
– 053
2012 – January
and was also offered a position to at Versace wich I could not take due to my contract with LV which was for 2 years… I moved to Rome after I left Japan and worked at Fendi for 4 months under cover. I was there to give ideas for the men’s collection. I snuck to Giuseppe Zanotti Factory still under contract and learned to design woman’s shoes for 2 years before my first show in Paris. After doing the first LV collection I was sure I would get a second shot to create but was never given the opportunity. I designed a sneaker called the YEEZY with Nike. I’m “allowed” to design 1 pair of sneakers every 2 years. I have more ideas. Early 2011 I moved to Paris and opened a small design studio. The language barrier was quite difficult. I still don’t have a Paris VAT number to this day. I don’t know what VAT is but every time I asked why we didn’t have fabrics they said it was because of the VAT. In Paris I met many great people in design including the master Azzedine Alaia. Azzedine even came by my studio one day. This was the greatest feeling to stand in his presence in my embarrassingly small Paris studio in a courtyard opposite Collate.
I remember being 5 years old picking and my mother
taking me with her shopping at the discount fur spots. She said I would always point to the most expensive furs even as a child. It’s something about making clothing that always brings me back to that point. For the first 16 or 17 years of my life the only thing… M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
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KANYE WEST TWITTER RANT
2012 – January
– 054
I knew about my woman’s clothing was what my Mom would wear. I guess some critics would joke that I still don’t know anything. My Mom would wear blue jeans with a fur and an embellished “Cosby Show” sweater to pick me up from school. the teachers said I couldn’t focus I used to get kicked out of class for bringing dirty mags and drawing Nikeys in 4th grade. Being a celebrity has afforded me many opportunities but has also boxed me in creatively. I was just discussing becoming the creative director for the Jetson movie and someone on the call yelled out “you should do a Jetsons tour!” This just happened a few hours ago. I was very insulted of course becuase for anyone that’s seen the Watch the Throne Tour or Coachella or Glow in the Dark or Runaway you know I have real ideas. I appreciate having the most nominations at the Grammies but I feel so conflicted by the fact that award shows sometimes are completely… illogical. Good logic tells me smile Kanye… the world likes you again… red or blue pill? … aaaaand Swallow. I wouldn’t have the prestige I have if it wasn’t partially for the Grammies validation and I honor that. Hmmmmm what to wear? here I go again. Yeezy the trend setter or complete fucking fashion victim. The verdict is still out.
What good is fame and prestige if you can’t use
it to help people… I want to help by doing what I know how to do best .. create. M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
KANYE WEST TWITTER RANT
– 055
2012 – January
I have started a new company and I’m so excited about the
name. it’s got the best name ever of all companies of all time. The name of the company is DONDA DONDA is a design company which will galvanize amazing thinkers and put them in a creative space to bounce there dreams and ideas. I used to blog all the time an fit was a way to get my opinion out. Dr Dre redesigned headphones and made more impact off of one product. I am assembling a team of architects, graphic designers, directors musicians, producers, AnRs, writers, publicist, social media experts… doctors, scientist, teachers. DONDA will be comprised of over 22 divisions with a goal to make products and experiences that people want and can afford. I want to put creatives in a room together with like minds that are all waaaay doper than me. We want to help simplify and aesthetically improve everything we see hear, touch, taste and feel. To dream of, create, advertise and produce products driven equally by emotional want and utilitarian need. To marry our wants and needs. DONDA. This will all take time but I wanted everyones to know what I really care about. I care about people. I care about my fans. I care about people who have never heard of me. There are over 7 billion people on the planet now. It’s something about coming from music that M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
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KANYE WEST TWITTER RANT
2012 – January
– 056
makes me so optimistic. Music travels and is not limited to only the wealthy. Sometimes my grammar is wrong but my thinking is right. My mom was an English teacher so I know she sends an SMDH from heaven. 5:18 am in London. My dreams keep me woke. The Watch the Throne tour was a small example of what a Donda Experience can be.
I’m currently working on a new 7 screen experience.
This one of our projects to be released this year called 2016 OLYMPIC’s. It’s a semi sci-fi since 2016 is only 4 years away. We would also like’ to design the MTV awards. We’re taking everything 10 steps at a time. I wanted to put this in the world in hopes that the people who can actually make a difference will stand up and reach out. We need as many amazing powerful smart talented wealthy people to be involved. Come get on board don’t just sit there reach out. We can collectively effect the world trough design. We need to pick up where steve jobs left off. When I said wealthy I wanted to point out there are so many billionaires in the world that can come together and help to redesign it. Help education. School systems were designed to turn people into factory workers. Schools should be designed to prep M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
KANYE WEST TWITTER RANT
– 057
2012 – January
human beings for real life. Spike Jonze and I want to do a Summer school that tries new forms of cuuriculim. Math classes should teach addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, accounting and money management aaaaaand cut. UNLESS YOU’RE A MATH MAJOR! Kids you should be able to take majors starting in grammar school like how it is at performing art schools Instead of kicking kids out of schools for using there iPhones why not promote it? Allow kids to use search engines to do test… like the real world. Give kids the amount of test they would have in a year in one day but they have to get everything perfect.
We need to take what Michael Jackson felt and Mcqueen
and Steve Jobs and we need make things better. When me and Jay toured ever night I peered into the audience astonished by the different walks of life that came to support us. The adrenaline is running I don’t know if I can even get to sleep now. From Wall street to the London riots to Chicago murders. I sit everyday and ask what can I do to make a difference. I know this is not a very rapper thing to say but I haven’t bought a new car or piece of jewelry in about 2 years. I invest every dime back into creativity hiring amazing creatives paying for flights, offices etc. My area of expertise is in music, my passion is in music design film and products. My strength is connectivity. There are so many broken systems from the economy to school systems jail systems we need M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
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KANYE WEST TWITTER RANT
2012 – January
– 058
experts for this. We need scientist and top world designers to directly affect governments. If anyone would like to reach out email us at CONTACTDONDA@GMAIL.COM I just wanted to share what’s been on my mind. “If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.” – George Bernard Shaw - Kanye West
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DONDA THE TEAM C H A P T E R V. I 2 0 11 - 2 0 1 2 This section includes a short biography of some of the most significant and consistently active members of Donda.
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JOE PEREZ DESIGN DIRECTOR A RT D I R E C T O R Joe Perez seems to be allocated to designing album artwork for clients of Donda, he has produced a whole list of album art for some of the most well known modern musicians in the h i p h o p g e n r e s u c h a s : 2 C h a i n z , P u s h a T, Vi c M e n s a a n d N i k k i M i n a j .
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B e e n Tr i l l 2 0 1 3 P a s c u n # 1 L o o k b o o k / D e s i g n e d b y J o e P e r e z
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N AT E B R O W N C R E AT I V E D I R E C T O R Nate Brown has been listed in the credits of a number of Donda productions. He has a very good portfolio of clients that he had previously worked with including: Calvin Klien, Beyonce, G u c c i , D i o r a n d a l s o d i r e c t e d o n e o f K a n y e ’s s e t s a t G l a s t o n b u r y w h i c h m a y b e h o w h e gained the networking to become a part of Donda.
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John Elliot Spring Summer 2016 / Inspiration gathered by Nate Brown
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J E R RY L O R E N Z O FA S H I O N D E S I G N E R Jerry Lorenzo is usually working with Donda producing and designing fashion pieces. He owns a high fashion brand named Fear Of God that is worn by the likes of David Beckham, J u s t i n B i e b e r a n d K a n y e We s t h i m s e l f .
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Fear Of God Collection Four / Designed by Jerry Lorenzo
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Fear Of God Collection Four / Designed by Jerry Lorenzo M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
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Fear Of God Collection Four / Designed by Jerry Lorenzo M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
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Fear Of God Collection Four / Designed by Jerry Lorenzo
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– 072
VIRGIL ABLOH FA S H I O N D E S I G N E R C R E AT I V E D I R E C T O R Vi r g i l A b l o h i s l i s t e d a s t h e c r e a t i v e d i r e c t o r i n t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e w o r k p r o d u c e d b y D o n d a . H e i s k n o w f o r m u l t i p l e s u c c e s s f u l c l o t h i n g l i n e s i n c l u d i n g : P y r e x Vi s i o n a n d O f f - W h i t e . A b l o h also has full input when it comes to the design of everything that revolves around his f a s h i o n c o m p a n y. H e d e s i g n s a l l o f h i s p r o m o t i o n a l m a t e r i a l , s h o w i n v i t e s , s h o w r o o m design and layout. He is also involved in the music industry and does DJ sets usually at exclusive parties.
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O f f - W h i t e M e n s S S 1 6 / D e s i g n e d b y Vi r g i l A b l o h
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O f f - W h i t e M e n s S S 1 6 / D e s i g n e d b y Vi r g i l A b l o h M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
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O f f - W h i t e M e n s S S 1 6 / D e s i g n e d b y Vi r g i l A b l o h
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– 077
DONDA THE WORK C H A P T E R V. I I 2 0 11 - 2 0 1 2
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DONDA PROJECTS
– 078
2012 - March
‘Donda’ started off on an optimistic note. West worked with architecture company ‘OMA’ to create a revolutionary cinema ‘experience’. West and his team went forth and made their film in the Gulf State of Qatar using a unique seven-camera rig in order for separate segments of the same film to be projected onto seven screens simultaneously (Dezeen 2012). West had to fund this project out of his own pocket because he believed that the idea was too abstract for anyone to risk investing their own money. This new venue was called ‘The Pavilion’ where the aim was to screen the specially made films. West released a film in this special format to alongside his next album ‘Cruel Summer’. The film debuted in Cannes and was a seven-screen experience that was enclosed within a pyramid-like structure where the audience were also contained. To achieve this West’s team of architects had collaborated to build the structure and create the temporary seven-screen experience for the public to enjoy. The Pavilion was created to try to capture and retain the attention of the audience in a new way. This project demonstrated the lengths that West wanted to go to with his new company and abstract level of some of West’s
showcased the
exciting and refreshing
ideas. With this particular project West approached ‘Disney’ and ‘Universal Studios’ to pitch his idea and try to stimulate M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
DONDA PROJECTS
– 079
2012 – March
investment of their time and money. Both companies thought the idea was too abstract for them to feel safe with investing. This didn’t deter West from continuing with his work. He began to pitch for clients that wanted more mainstream work being produced for them. For example, musicians such as Pusha T, 2 Chainz and Nikki Minaj who were mostly good friends with West wanted album artwork designed by West’s team. During 2013 ‘Donda’ designed a handful of artwork which turned out very successfully. Some of these albums include; John Legend’s ‘Love In The Future’, Pusha T’s ‘My Name’. Most importantly, West and his team pooled their resources and produced the album art work for his own sixth studio album entitled ‘Yeezus’.
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REM Interview Full video 2015 T h i s Q R c o d e w i l l d i r e c t y o u t o a n i n t e r v i e w c o n d u c t e d b y To m a s K o o l h a s s w h o w a s t h e son of Rem who owned the architecture company that Donda had collaborated with on the P a v i l i o n p r o j e c t . I n t h e i n t e r v i e w We s t t a l k s a b o u t h i s c o m p a n y a n d t h e o p p o r t u n i t i e s i t opens for him. ( To s c a n t h i s c o d e s e a r c h y o u r m o b i l e a p p s t o r e f o r ‘ Q R S c a n n e r ’ a n d o n c e d o w n l o a d e d however over the code with the camera scanner to be redirected to the video.
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YEEZUS CHAPTER VI 2013 - 2014
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YEEZUS
2013 – June
– 084
West’s career as a design director and as a visionary arguably hit its peak in the period end of 2012 until the present day (2016). West’s new album, released in June 2013, was marketed on a whole new level. The album art, the tour and the promotional material appeared impeccable and were critically acclaimed. Critics were taken aback at the level of detail that had been put into this album. The fact that West had produced something so contemporary, but daring, was viewed as “exciting” (Brown, 2013).
The album’s promotion was minimal to say the least. West
began the promotion with releasing the previously unheard song ‘New Slaves’, simultaneously projecting a film onto the side of buildings within 66 assorted locations. This was seen as almost a ‘guerrilla marketing’ campaign which was almost unheard of from musicians. West debuted two more songs on ‘SNL’ performing them live. This was when the ‘West watchers’ began to see the new harsh, aggressive, dark sound that would be evident in the new album. After this, however, West kept things quiet about the upcoming album and then announced that the album would not be able for pre-order. He also said that there was going to be no radio single released before the release of the album. This left people confused and shocked. West was continuing to break down the norms within the music industry and do things his way. M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
The album was released on June 18th 2013 and was labelled
YEEZUS
– 085
2013 – June
by critics as sounding ‘punk-rock’. Some of the positive comments about the album were:
“Noisy, gripping, maddening, potent”
– Alexis Petridis of The Guardian
“Brilliant, obsessive-compulsive career auto-correct”
– Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone
Like every other West album, however, there was a lot of criticism regarding the persevered “distasteful lyrics and subject matter” (Pareles, 2013). Another critic also stated:
“Yeezus was as bold as Public Enemy’s music during the
1980’s, but I found West’s lyrics grotesquely off-putting”
– Robert Christgau of The Barnes & Noble Review
West transferred his previously acquired film directing and production skills into producing some innovative short films to accompany some of the singles from his album. He was building upon his success achieved in the film ‘Runaway’. A much more M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
TOUR
2013 – October
– 086
important progression in West’s career due to this album came in the form of a tour.
The ‘Yeezus’ tour commenced in Seattle in October 2013
and was West’s first solo tour in 5 years. This tour presented some of the most ‘next level’ aesthetics ever used in a musician’s tour. The show was more comparable to a theatre performance. Numerous actors were used to accompany West on stage and a whole set design had been built by West’s creative team. The stage set consisted of a mountain taking up the majority of the main stage and a triangular peninsular which extended out into the crowd standing area. There was a sixty-foot wide LED screen above the stage and a custom-made sound system created by ‘Donda’. It was seen later on in the performance that the peninsular would raise up to an almost vertical position with West standing on it. This enabled him to perform approximately twenty feet above the standing audience. During West’s performance of ‘Jesus Walks’ the mountain on the main stage opens down the centre with a high-powered spotlight shining through from inside creating a very cinematic effect. This breakthrough for West as a live performer did not come without its set backs. On October 30th 2013, whilst on the way to the Vancouver performance, a truck carrying some of the stage equipment was involved in an accident which left the equipment beyond repair. ‘Def Jam’ issued a statement on the issue: M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
TOUR
– 087
2013 – October
“This gear is central to the staging of The Yeezus Tour,
and central to the creative vision put forth by Kanye West and his design team at DONDA. As a result of this event, it is impossible to put on the show and The Yeezus Tour will be postponed until these essential pieces can be re-engineered and refabricated. Kanye West will not compromise on bringing the show, as it was originally envisioned and designed, to his fans. The Vancouver, Denver and Minneapolis dates have been postponed.” This demonstrated the importance of the visuals to West. He knew the positive impact that a well planned, well constructed and well executed show would have on his fans. He also knew the positive effect it may have on his critics. West was evolving as an artist. He demonstrated that he had a vision beyond just the music. By this stage West made it very clear that the making of money was not the priority for him. The profits for West on this tour would have taken a buffeting due to how much of his own money he would have had to invest. Now that he had the ‘Donda’ team as a structure for his ideas he was able to put his full effort into these projects. He now had a very sustainable platform to be able to convey his vision and make the products that he believed would lead to making the world a better place.
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SEASON CHAPTER VII 2015 -
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YEEZY SEASON
2015 – July
– 090
The ascent seemed like it could end right there for West after all this success. It seemed like he was right where he wanted to be. There was, however, one last medium where West still had not fully explored. That leads us back to his fashion ventures. Not long after the critically acclaimed success of the ‘Yeezus’ tour West confirmed a deal with ‘Adidas’. This was his second sportswear collaboration. From lyrics taken from the songs on the ‘Yeezus’ album it is evident that West had not been too pleased with the treatment that he had received from the people at Nike. He mentions in multiple interviews that they mocked him and treated him just as a celebrity and not a designer. He felt that they purely wanted his publicity for their own benefit. This ‘Adidas’ deal gave him another chance to prove exactly what he was capable of without the restrictions put upon him from Nike. Initially, West released the ‘Yeezy Boosts’ which were a sneaker limited to 9000 pairs only available in New York. West’s ultimate goal was to get rid of this exclusivity so that his fashion could be available for the masses.
“Currently the most amazing designers get very few
opportunities to connect with the masses. The most amazing designers have been programmed to create inside of a luxury M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
YEEZY SEASON
2015 – July
– 091
context. It’s a simple equation it isn’t E=MC squared. Its like duh just go get dope niggas to do dope shit for mass.”
- Kanye West
West’s fashion show for his new line, ‘Yeezy Season 1’, was received so much better than his last fashion ventures. Even though the price range for the line was still not where West wanted it the structure and the interest was definitely more apparent. More importantly, people were undoubtedly interested in what West had created. The vision of Adidas was much more comparable to what West had been envisioning for so long. It would, however, still take some time for Adidas to be able to overcome the exclusiveness of clothing designed by someone of such stature.
“Adidas Originals Yeezy Season 1 Presentation streamed
to 42 locations and you saw that front row. The juxtaposition of the people in the front and second rows to where the people standing in the show had come from is the fusion. It is the glass shattering of the class system which is the new racism.”
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Ye e z y S e a s o n 1 / D e s i g n e d b y K a n y e We s r M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
– 093
Ye e z y S e a s o n 1 / D e s i g n e d b y K a n y e We s r
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– 094
Ye e z y S e a s o n 1 / D e s i g n e d b y K a n y e We s r M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
– 095
Ye e z y S e a s o n 1 / D e s i g n e d b y K a n y e We s r
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– 097
CONCLUSION CHAPTER VIII
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CONCLUSION
– 098
2016 – January
‘West’ is
now
a
West
person.
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M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
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he
the
he
produced,
the
across
methods be
rather
musical
be
which
through
cult
to
because
impact
that
need
always
number
The
musicians success.
The
songs.
substantial
a
brand
in
himself
would
was
goals
that most
for
popularity
whether
lyrics
he
will
as easy
that
these
just
defied
way
a
mould
culture
a
wanted.
as
art
such
he
many
the
regarded embrace
what
by
where
West’s
brand
consumers has
set.
in
who
CONCLUSION
– 099
2016 – January
his
With deal
stream of not
West’s
with
of
abating,
Adidas
West’s we
soon-to-be still
creative can
be
released
active ideas,
sure
that
and which he
album the
‘Swish’,
continuous
show will
no
sign
continue
to
disappoint.
M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2016
– 0100
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STUDIO INSTITUTE, (2015) John Elliott - STUDIO INSTITUTE. Available at: http://studio.institute/ johnelliottss16/ (Accessed: 29 November 2015).
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A design research study designed and written by Luke Roberts
Portfolio: lukeerobertss.wix.com/lukeerobertss Tu m b l r : s k i p s c h o o l s k a t e p o o l Redbubble: redbubble.com/people/lukeerobertss LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/lukeerobertss
M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
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M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
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M K 0 11 9 0 11 6
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H o w d i d K a n y e We s t p r o g r e s s i n t o c o n t e m p o r a r y a r t s p r a c t i c e s u c c e s s f u l l y ? a n d t h e methods he used to gain his prestigious position. MK A d e0 s1i1g9n0 1r e1s6e a r c h s t u d y d e s i g n e d a n d w r i t t e n b y L u k e R o b e r t s