For my research paper I plan to examine Kanye West. Kanye West is a pop culture icon and has an overwhelming influence on everything ranging from fashion to music. Kanye has a record label, multiple multi platinum albums, a large endorsement deal with Louis Vuitton, a wildly successful blog, and a recently released Nike shoe (now selling for around $700 -$800). His first album debuted in 2004 and within 5 years he has attained an unimaginable level of success, fame, and influence.
In my paper I plan to give a brief history of Kanye’s sudden rise to fame. I will also examine the scope of his influence. There are numerous questions I would like to raise such as how does a rapper, that claims the South Side of Chicago, become an icon for high fashion? How has Kanye been able to almost effortless penetrated the world of modern art and architecture? Why is Kanye such a trendsetter nationally and internationally? How does Kanye challenge tradition conceptions of masculinity in a socially accepted and celebrated manner? I believe that Kanye West is an interesting case study in the power of popular culture. Examining and understanding his influence and how he attained it will provide valuable insight in the effects and role of popular culture. I believe that much of Kanye’s power and influence comes from his ability to expose unique art forms (such as street art, sampling music, shoe design, architecture and high fashion) and turn them into commodities for the masses. However, I don’t believe that this is the only source of his power and influence. I plan to look at Kanye West using many of the theories and theorists we have studied such as Marxist Theory, Hegemony, Feminism, Stuart Hall, Althusser.
In terms of research I plan to use information from Kanye West’s website and blog http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/ .I will also use fan websites such as http://www.kanyelive.com/ . There are also a numerous news articles on Kanye. One interesting article was done by Time Magzine entitled “Why You Can’t Ignore Kanye”. I also know a few hardcore Kanye fans that I plan to interview.
I would gladly welcome any feedback or suggestions.
I really like this topic Tahirah, and I am somewhat a Kanye fan too (I know you didn’t mention your fandom in the post, but I mean…you know what I mean!)
One doubt I have about your proposal is that it seems to be too focused on the cultural text you are studying: Kanye. If you could place in context and focus on the reasons for his success, I think your paper could be more successful. I’ll give you more feedback as we dive more into the assignment.
Keep up the good work!
This sounds like it’ll be a cool topic. I’m often fascinated by Kanye, as his unwavering ego never seems to travel without his sharp intellect. I remember the first time I heard of him, he was on a magazine cover reading: “Kanye West: Why he’s as smart as he says he is”. Since then I’ve been really interested in the idea of “smart” rap vs. “dumb” rap. It might be interesting to work that into your analysis of Kanye and his place in the hip-hop genre, if you go that route at all.
Tahirah,
This is a good topic, and certainly a rich cultural text to explore. You need to develop more focus for your research questions, guiding your analysis to highlight particular aspects of his celebrity – Ian’s suggestion of the cultural hierarchies with hip-hop seems relevant, as does his political profile around Katrina and Obama. In terms of research, you should draw upon a fair amount of scholarship on hip-hop and celebrity culture, including issues of race, masculinity and cultural politics. Good luck!
-JM