CAREER ARTISTS (CONTRAST)

By Victor Cliff and Joel Monk

KANYE WEST

Kanye West is famous American Rapper/Songwriter who was born in June 8, 1977. He started producing his music in 1996 and is still currently producing music. Kanye West is one of the best selling music artist of all time. He has sold more than 20 million album copies and roughly 100 million digital downloads thus making him one of the best selling music artists. Furthermore, he has won 21 Grammy Awards making him have the most Grammy Awards of an artist his age.

KANYE WEST EVOLUTION

Kanye West has evolved a lot since the beginning of his career. For example, he has changed his fashion style dramatically from a classic rapper to a high end fashion designer.

KANYE WEST EVOLUTION

According to fans, the majority believe that Kanye’s music has deteriorated over the past 10 years. The diehard Kayne West fans are more interested and listen to his older albums such as Get Well Soon… and Freshman Adjustment. These albums have a much more distinctive sound to them as he is a classic rap artist in these albums and he decides to go down the path of deep and meaningful lyrics as well as simple and less complicated beats. However, his new music, as seen in his albums My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy shows Kanye’s more productive side as he layers on more synthesizers and different effects to make a more modern style of music to suit the tastes of modern day music consumers.

KANYE WEST STAR IMAGE (PARADOX ONE)

As mentioned in the theories of Richard Dyer, a star must be both present and absent from their fans. In the picture to the right, Kanye is seen signing one of his brand’s shoes for a fan, showing he is present to the fans, appearing to be easy and happy to meet when in actual fact he does not appear in public often for fear of being harassed.

In the picture on the right, Kanye is seen in the studio, showing his star image, beyond the reach of ordinary fans. He has frequently referred to himself as a ‘God’ on live television and radio, thus adding to his image of stardom.

‘The Star must be both ordinary and extraordinary.’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4C3ijlWcHMIn this link, Kanye is seen walking into a sign.

This is funny to fans as it shows Kanye as a normal person who is capable of making

mistakes and having flaws, this proving he is certainly not the ‘God’ he refers to himself as.

At the bottom, one can see a picture of Kanye taken in a studio. It shows him in a black and white tone, adding to a superstar image. He is shown to be ‘untouchable’ and ‘flawless’ in this

image, not facing the camera as to not make eye contact with the person viewing the picture,

allowing them to idolise him, without him looking at them, thus giving him a superstar image, conforming to the theories of Richard Dyer.

KANYE WEST (PARADOX TWO)

The band “Limp Bizkit” was formed in 1994, it an an American Nu Metal and Rap Metal band. Their band consist of:

• Fred Durst (Lead Vocals)• John Otto (Drums)• Wes Borland (Guitar and Backing Vocals)• Sam Rivers (Bass Guitar and Backing Vocals)

The band has achieved a lot since their founding such as being nominated for 3 Grammy Awards and they have sold 40 million records worldwide.

LIMP BIZKIT

LIMP BIZKIT

Durst, the founder of Limp of Limp Bizkit created the name in order to repel some listeners.

He said “The name is there to turn people’s heads away. A lot of people pick up the disc and go, ‘Limp Bizkit, oh, they must suck.’ Those are the people we don’t even want listening to our music”

During the naming process, Durst thought up of:

• Gimp Disco• Split Dickslit• Bitch Piglet• Blood Fart

LIMP BIZKIT EVOLUTION

Firstly, many aspects of the band have changed/evolved since they began playing in 1994.. For example, the guitarist, Wes Borland now wears a costume. He didn’t wear this costume before.

LIMP BIZKIT EVOLUTION

In comparison, the lead singer of the band, Durst, has not changes a lot since the start of the band. For example, he still wears similar clothing although he has aged.

LIMP BIZKIT EVOLUTION

Limp Bizkit, on the other hand, have also evolved since their early days in both sense of fashion and musically. Fred Durst, the lead singer, still dresses like he did back in the day, with his signature baggy jeans and a New Era baseball cap. Wes Boreland the guitarist started off as a regular performer, but has since changed his style to wear masks, painted faces, leather gimp masks and full latex outfits. This does not match the rest of the band or the music they produce; however it gives them an interesting aesthetic when on stage. Musically, Limp Bizkit has toned down slightly. They are still producing music to this day over their long career. They had a distinctively organic sounds with the, all playing their own instruments and with little to none auto tune on their recorded tracks. They still are an organic band, but have tweaked their sound slightly to meet the demands of the new age audience.

‘The Star must be both present and absent from the lives of the fans’

LIMP BIZKIT PARADOX ONE

Limp Bizkit also conforms to Richard Dyer’s theories. On the left, lead singer Fred Durst can be seen signing autographs for his band outside his hotel in Los Angeles. Thus allowing him to be shown as present in the fan’s lives. Underneath this text, one can see a studio picture of Limp Bizkit. A sepia tone has been added to the image to make it seem less lifelike, adding to a superstar image. Only one member is making eye contact with the camera, making the others seem like they are unaware of it’s existence, showing they are absent from the lives of fans.

‘The Star must be shown to be both ordinary and extraordinary’

LIMP BIZKIT PARADOX 2

Fred Durst, lead singer of Limp Bizkit is shown in these images to be both Ordinary and Extraordinary. In the photo on the left, he is shown with his spouse, in a suit with no outrageous outfit or anything of the sort. In the image underneath, Fred is shown in a dark twisted way, the image has been manipulated to make him a different colour and his eyes are dark.

This makes him seem like he is ‘other worldly’ and thus a superstar. Hugely contrasting the image taken on the left, where he is shown to be completely ordinary.

Both performers have changed over the years in order to make their sound and styles mix with the new age

audiences. Kanye has changed much more than Limp Bizkit and this is a great example of a synthetic artist as they are

ultimately very commercial and aim to make as much money as possible as their music is more marketable to the

vast majority of the public and is played on the radio far more often and so makes more money in royalties. Kayne’s

music has gone from hardcore rap to a more synthetic, synthesized sound, which fits with today’s EDM fads. He

has made a transition from rapper to rapper/fashion designer/producer, meaning he is focusing less on his

musical career and more on other aspects of his life, like his new spouse Kim Kardashian and his child North West.

CONCLUSION