He may think of himself as some kind of skinny jean wearing hip-hop deity. He may whole-heartedly believe that he's the greatest creative visionary mind of this generation. He may even have married Kim Kardashian....but we shouldn't hold any of those things against him. Simply put Kanye is one of the most forward-thinking musicians of our time. Sure, he's egocentric, brash, arrogant and possibly a little bit insane, but we wouldn't want it any other way. As the number one mainstream act that 'real music fans' should instantly become acquainted with, West occupies a completely unique position in modern music. As proven with the industrially rigid blasphemy of 'Yeezus', he's an uncompromising and challenging force that shouldn't really be anywhere near the charts. Long gone are the days of 'Gold Digger', the home cooked jams of 'The College Dropout' and the summer sing-alongs of 'Good Life'. In their places are egotistical, ugly and chaotic exercises in frustration, pain and anger, which require work, time and effort to fully appreciate. West no longer panders to pop and hip-hop clichés. He doesn't really write choruses anymore, instead he wilfully experiments whenever possible. Within the confines of 2014's musical mainstream, there aren't many people that express themselves better than Yeezy. But to be honest, Kanye hasn't really released anything that could be classed as bad. Since 2004, he's ensured that emotion is at the forefront of everything he does. 'The College Dropout' and 'Late Registration' are both classic hip-hop albums that deal in straight-to-the-point reality, whereas 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' was one of the more critically acclaimed releases of the past decade overall, rooted rigidly in a veiled, metaphorical deeper meaning. Then of course there's the divisive '808's & Heartbreak' that despite not necessarily being that good at face value is unquestionably one of the most influential albums of the noughties, spawning dozens of imitators that've now gone on to become some of the most successful artists in the world. He's stated before in interviews that he knows how to 'make perfect', but in his duty as Kanye West, that's not what he's here to do. Rather, as he's emphatically screamed time and time again, his job is to "f**k s**t up". That's exactly what he's doing now, and despite the fact that it'll probably be about ten years before people fully understand how important it is that he did 'real music fans' should get a head start. Wherever you are, do yourself a favour and delve into the back catalogue of one of the most fascinating musicians in the world today. There were too many great mainstream artists to fit in this list, so as always comment below to give your opinions on who else should be included, or alternatively; who really shouldn't have.
