His Influence on Rap and Hip Hop

Rolling Stone credited West with transforming hip hop's mainstream, "establishing a style of introspective yet glossy rap", and called him "as interesting and complicated a pop star as the 2000s produced—a rapper who mastered, upped and moved beyond the hip-hop game, a producer who created a signature sound and then abandoned it to his imitators, a flashy, free-spending sybarite with insightful things to say about college, culture and economics, an egomaniac with more than enough artistic firepower to back it up." West's middle-class background, flamboyant fashion sense and outspokenness have set him apart from other rappers. Early in his career, he was among the first rappers to publicly criticize the preponderance of homophobia in hip hop. The sales competition between rapper 50 Cent's Curtis and West's Graduation altered the direction of hip hop. Rosie Swash of The Guardian viewed the sales competition as a historical moment in hip-hop, because it "highlighted the diverging facets of hip-hop in the last decade; the former was gangsta rap for the noughties, while West was the thinking man's alternative.West helped pave the way for new rappers who did not follow the hardcore-gangster mold.

His Effect on Culture and Politics

West is among the most critically acclaimed artists of the twenty-first century, receiving praise from music critics, fans, fellow musicians, artists, and wider cultural figures for his work. AllMusic editor Jason Birchmeier writes of his impact, "As his career progressed throughout the early 21st century, West shattered certain stereotypes about rappers, becoming a superstar on his own terms without adapting his appearance, his rhetoric, or his music to fit any one musical mold." Jon Caramanica of The New York Times said that West has been "a frequent lightning rod for controversy, a bombastic figure who can count rankling two presidents among his achievements."Village Voice Media senior editor Ben Westhoff dubbed him the greatest hip hop artist of all time, writing that "he's made the best albums and changed the game the most, and his music is the most likely to endure,"[345] while Complex called him the 21st century's "most important artist of any art form, of any genre." In 2016, The Guardian compared West to David Bowie within the "modern mainstream", arguing that "there is nobody else who can sell as many records as West does while remaining so resolutely experimental and capable of stirring things up culturally and politically."

His Impact on Other Artists

A substantial number of artists and other figures have professed admiration for West's work, including hip hop artists Rakim, RZA of Wu-Tang Clan, Chuck D of Public Enemy, and DJ Premier of Gang Starr. Experimental rock pioneer and Velvet Underground founder Lou Reed said of West that "the guy really, really, really is talented. He's really trying to raise the bar. No one's near doing what he's doing, it's not even on the same planet." Musicians such as Paul McCartney and Prince have also commended West's work. Drake, Nicki Minaj, Lil Uzi Vert and Casey Veggies have acknowledged being influenced directly by West."West's 2008 album 808s & Heartbreak polarized listeners upon its release, but was commercially successful and impacted hip hop and pop stylistically, as it laid the groundwork for a new wave of artists who generally eschewed typical rap braggadocio for intimate subject matter and introspection, including Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, Drake, Future, Kid Cudi, Childish Gambino, Lil Durk, Chief Keef, and Soulja Boy. According to Ben Detrick of XXL magazine, West effectively led a new wave of artists, including Kid Cudi, Wale, Lupe Fiasco, Kidz in the Hall, and Drake, who lacked the interest or ability to rap about gunplay or drug-dealing. Non-rap artists such as English singer-songwriters Adele and Lily Allen,New Zealand artist Lorde, American electropop singer Halsey, English rock band Arctic Monkeys, Sergio Pizzorno of English rock band Kasabian and the American indie rock bands MGMT and Yeah Yeah Yeahs have cited West as an influence. Experimental and electronic artists such as James Blake Daniel Lopatin,and Tim Hecker have also cited West's work as an inspiration.