Less than two years after he traded the production booth for a microphone stand, Kanye West’s star as grown to unimaginable levels.
He already has three Grammys sitting on a mantle and was recently named to Time magazine’s list of 100 most influential people in the world.
| With Keyshia Cole and Fantasia, 8 p.m. Saturday, Everett Events Center, 200 Hewitt Ave., Everett. $33 and $44, 866-332-8499. |
West is bringing that influence to Snohomish County for a show at the Everett Events Center at 8 p.m. Saturday.
R&B singer Keyshia Cole and Fantasia, winner of the third season of “American Idol,” will open the show. It will be Fantasia’s second visit to Everett. She was the headliner when the “American Idols Live” tour rolled through town for the first time in July 2004.
West’s August release, “Late Registration,” has already been certified double-platinum, and that follows his triple-platinum debut, “The College Dropout,” which came out in February 2004.
West’s follow-up album came relatively quickly, but it wasn’t an easy process.
“It’s hard when people are depending on you to have an album that’s not just good, but inspired,” West said in a bio provided by his record company. “I mean, my music isn’t just music – it’s medicine.
“I want my songs to touch people, to give them what they need. Every time I make an album, I’m trying to make a cure for cancer, musically. That stresses me out!”
That could be overstating it a little, but the 28-year-old Chicagoan’s impact has certainly been a shot in the arm for hip-hop.
West exploded onto the scene after already having made his mark on music by producing hits for Jay-Z, Ludacris and Alicia Keys.
With his preppy outfits and seven-piece string orchestra, West doesn’t match the rap profile, but his smooth lyrics over sampled tracks from the 1960s and ’70s have landed him his own place in the genre.
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