Kanye West Dominates the Grammys

Last week, the nominees for the 54th annual Grammy Awards were finally announced. The results reflected the interests of the general population of mainstream music listeners., but an incredible buzz has arisen from some of the nominations, more specifically those concerning Kanye West. He received more Grammy nominations than did any of his colleagues this year.

After only receiving one nomination for the song “Power” in the category of Best Rap Solo Performance and taking home no awards during last year’s Grammy Awards, Kanye West has come a long way. West has received two nominations for his Jay-Z collaboration “Otis” in the categories of Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance; three nominations for “All of the Lights” in the categories of Song of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best Rap Performance; one nomination for “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” in the category of Best Rap Album; and one nomination for “Watch the Throne” in the category of Best Rap Album. With so many nominations, it’s natural to worry how the egotistical West will respond in the case that he doesn’t win any awards.

West has a track record for doing and/or saying inappropriate things in public, especially at award shows. Whether it’s the VMAs, the AMAs or even a Hurricane Katrina relief concert, West never fails to make a fool of himself. Let’s hope that Gretchen Wilson, Justice vs. Simian or–his favorite–Taylor Swift don’t try and get in the way of any of Kanye’s nominations.

-A.J. Allen

Kanye West: The Designer?

Since the beginning of his career, Kanye has made it a point to showcase a discourse of style through his personal appearances and music videos. Since 2008, he has made one of the most legitimate celebrity entrances into the fashion arena.

The most common error celebrities commit when considering a design career is the desire for another hyphen (e.g. actor-singer-fashion designer). They propagate the misconception that fashion is not a career that demands study and a particular skill set, not an industry full of vapid shallow individuals.

Kanye’s first formal step was to intern at Fendi under the tutelage of Karl Lagerfeld, which is obviously not where most begin, but definitely an incredible opportunity. From there, began his collaborations with Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton. Eventually, he released his popular sneaker, the Air Yeezy.