40 years from now...

[Warner2BruceTD]

Kanye is just another rapper to everyone over...lets say 26.

Yup. And there is nothing wrong with that. Huge star to young people and within his niche.

Not a world wide uber famous iconic personality. Never will be. It's harder now to achieve that and his appeal is limited because there are large segments of white people who will never embrace hip hop. Plus historically his genre of music ages badly aside from rare exceptions. In 5 or 10 or 20 years, an auto tuned Kanye song may end up being considered just as cheesy and dated as a 90's boy band song.

He's closer to being a disposable pop star than an iconic transcendent figure. He's someplace in between.

[leaffan]

Yup. And there is nothing wrong with that. Huge star to young people and within his niche.

Not a world wide uber famous iconic personality. Never will be. It's harder now to achieve that and his appeal is limited because there are large segments of white people who will never embrace hip hop. Plus historically his genre of music ages badly aside from rare exceptions. In 5 or 10 or 20 years, an auto tuned Kanye song may end up being considered just as cheesy and dated as a 90's boy band song.

He's closer to being a disposable pop star than an iconic transcendent figure. He's someplace in between.

As a white 28 year old non hip hop listener when someone says Kanye West to me I think of those stupid looking glasses and that one stronger song that got played a billion times.

I couldn't name a single other song by the dude and wouldn't even know where to begin album wise.

Dunno if this helps your arguement or not lol.

[Goober]

I couldn't name a single kanye song. 22 years old.

[Pitty]

Yup. And there is nothing wrong with that. Huge star to young people and within his niche.

Not a world wide uber famous iconic personality. Never will be. It's harder now to achieve that and his appeal is limited because there are large segments of white people who will never embrace hip hop. Plus historically his genre of music ages badly aside from rare exceptions. In 5 or 10 or 20 years, an auto tuned Kanye song may end up being considered just as cheesy and dated as a 90's boy band song.

He's closer to being a disposable pop star than an iconic transcendent figure. He's someplace in between.

And this is the argument for every genre ever. In the 20's Jazz was new and black, in the 40's and 50's Blues and rock were new and black, this is a trend, and it takes a while for a genre to enter it's prime, or the mainstream, which Rap is now doing more than ever. Kids listen to rap like they did rock 10-15 years ago. Finally, this thread is talking about 40 YEARS down the road. Most people over 26 won't be alive, or if they are, won't have shit of a say in popular memory. This bands remembered today are from the group about 40-60, those that grew up during the early years of these trends. So look at the most popular artists in kids 10-25 and you'll have your answer to the entire thread.

[Warner2BruceTD]

And this is the argument for every genre ever. In the 20's Jazz was new and black, in the 40's and 50's Blues and rock were new and black, this is a trend, and it takes a while for a genre to enter it's prime, or the mainstream, which Rap is now doing more than ever. Kids listen to rap like they did rock 10-15 years ago. Finally, this thread is talking about 40 YEARS down the road. Most people over 26 won't be alive, or if they are, won't have shit of a say in popular memory. This bands remembered today are from the group about 40-60, those that grew up during the early years of these trends. So look at the most popular artists in kids 10-25 and you'll have your answer to the entire thread.

My counter to this would be that if West was truly an icon, it would not take decades for him to get there, regardless of genre.

Michael Jackson was one of the most famous people on earth in this early 20's. Madonna was a world wide icon after one album. The Beatles were icons by the age of 25.

The reason Kanye West looked so woefully out of place on that stage last night, is because he was several notches below the level of everybody else who was there in terms of fame and his pecking order in pop culture. People over 30 were well aware of Jackson, Madonna, The Beatles, Elvis, etc when they broke in. and they all either maintained or increased that fame as the years passed. Kanye isn't even close to that level of fame, and he never will be.

And finally, to hammer home another point from earlier in the thread, you can bet your ass every single person in that arena would have known who Brittany Spears was if she took that stage.

Perhaps we are talking about two different things, here. You don't have to be a mega star to be remembered. So maybe my standards aren't fair. I just don't buy this idea that he's a legend in the making, when he's in his prime at this very moment and in the grand scheme of things isn't really all that famous and hasn't recorded a single piece of music that is instantly recognizable beyond his core genre. There are people in his genre (Eminem, for starters) well ahead of him in terms of fame and recognizability.

[Houston]

He's closer to being a disposable pop star than an iconic transcendent figure.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of a single Kanye West song.

:niggaplease:

Ok.....don't know any of his songs, but you know his music is disposable? You're clowning now.


As Pitty pointed out he has 3 albums on Rolling Stones top albums list(the highest at 118), and he's considered one of the best pop musical acts of the last 10 years. He has more than enough critical acclaim.
For all of your talk about people not knowing him, there's not a single person who clicked on this thread and didn't know who he was. He may not be huge with the apparently old people that you hang out with, but he's huge with the young crowd which is where it counts for a artist who's not even 10 years into their career.
Knock him all you want, the guy performed at the same concert as Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, Eric Clapton, and The Rolling Stones. Not bad for an artist who's in "a small bubble".

[Villain]

Knock him all you want, the guy performed at the same concert as Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, Eric Clapton, and The Rolling Stones. Not bad for an artist who's in "a small bubble".

Considering I watched that concert with my parents and my 31-year-old brother, we muted Kanye and that stupid skirt he was wearing.

[Villain]

Hey, if we're just taking data from random groups of people, then Paul McCartney is already forgotten.

Good point. They should've brought out LIL B THE BASED GOD...

[Houston]

Considering I watched that concert with my parents and my 31-year-old brother, we muted Kanye and that stupid skirt he was wearing.

I muted Madonna during the Superbowl, and wouldn't know a Bon Jovi song if it hit me in the face.

These two things should be taking into serious consideration as to why their music isn't that popular. Matter of fact, my little brother just told me he never heard of "Layla". Guess Eric Clapton isn't iconic either.

[ram29jackson]

no one will be remembered...I doont remember hardly anything from the 70s except if I leaf through youtube to find old junk...time passes, old is old.

kids today have to be told who Elvis and the Beatles were. They dont know and dont care. Stuff lasts longer when you have a brother 7 years older then you are to influence you.

Rap is trendy junk to a small black market with no shelf life, sure it makes money..but there will never be Rap reunion tours by 47 year old 50 cent types LOLOL. Its illiterate junk that doesnt last.

kids are so dumb they go see guys who do nothing but sample together music that someone else wrote and think they are talented for doing it LOLOL...no, the talented guy was the musician that wrote the tune that DJ boy ripped off....and gets to tour with repetative beats with a huge mouse mask on his head......

the computer age has made everything modern so generic and same and similiar.

the 80s were a renaissance of many different underground styles. Now its a bunch of techno junk.

Rap and rock are better when cross mingled..I mean it makes Rap a little better

will this talking heads tune be remembered forever?.. no, and its a shame because a white alternative band incorperated black culture and turned it on its head becoming the greatest pop culture cross over tune of its time !

and then of course, there was the one and only......

[DoubleDeuce]

[dope]

to those taking kanye to task, i'll say this in his defense. you can't fault him for seeming lackluster compared to acts like bruce springsteen, paul mccartney or the rest of those that performed.

rap just does not translate well live. it is best left just to a disc or being heard at a club. very few rap acts outside of jay-z can fill up the garden. most would be lucky to fill up a 500-1000 person capacity club/bar.

Also let's not forget that acts like bruce springsteen have over 30 years of experience of being on stage performing. that counts for something too.

and kanye is going to be known in the future should he continue to date the walking std kim kardashian, people might not know him for his artistic work, but they'll know him.

[leaffan]

no one will be remembered...I doont remember hardly anything from the 70s except if I leaf through youtube to find old junk...time passes, old is old.
kids today have to be told who Elvis and the Beatles were. They dont know and dont care. Stuff lasts longer when you have a brother 7 years older then you are to influence you.

Rap is trendy junk to a small black market with no shelf life, sure it makes money..but there will never be Rap reunion tours by 47 year old 50 cent types LOLOL. Its illiterate junk that doesnt last.

kids are so dumb they go see guys who do nothing but sample together music that someone else wrote and think they are talented for doing it LOLOL...no, the talented guy was the musician that wrote the tune that DJ boy ripped off....and gets to tour with repetative beats with a huge mouse mask on his head......

the computer age has made everything modern so generic and same and similiar.

the 80s were a renaissance of many different underground styles. Now its a bunch of techno junk.

Rap and rock are better when cross mingled..I mean it makes Rap a little better

will this talking heads tune be remembered forever?.. no, and its a shame because a white alternative band incorperated black culture and turned it on its head becoming the greatest pop culture cross over tune of its time !

and then of course, there was the one and only......

I could easily argue that I'm probably more aware of older bands songs from the 70s/80s compared to even the 90s/00s. Todays music is mostly junk and while the music genre I listen to has grown thanks to the internet "popularity" isn't the same thanks to the fact that there is simply more "musicians" out there now then before.

[Villain]

I muted Madonna during the Superbowl.

Good. Madonna sucks. It would be better if I never heard her music again.

[dave]

Britney Spears will be remembered 40 years from the start of her career 1998. You can comment on her talent and what-not, but she's forged out a career that will be remembered ... and Hit Me Baby One More Time is a helluva pop song.