Kanye West - Jesus Walks

Kanye Omari West (born June 8, 1977)[1] is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and Janet Jackson. His style of production originally used pitched-up vocal samples from soul songs incorporated with his own drums and instruments.

However, subsequent productions saw him broadening his musical palette and expressing influences encompassing '70s R&B, baroque pop, trip hop, arena rock, folk, alternative, electronica, synth-pop, and classical music.

West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004, his second album Late Registration in 2005, his third album Graduation in 2007, his fourth album 808s & Heartbreak in 2008, and his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010.

His five albums, all of which have gone platinum, have received numerous awards, including a cumulative fourteen Grammys and critical acclaim. All have been very commercially successful, with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy becoming his fourth consecutive #1 album in the U.S. upon release. West also runs his own record label GOOD Music, home to artists such as John Legend, Common and Kid Cudi.West's mascot and trademark is "Dropout Bear," a teddy bear which has appeared on the covers of three of his five albums as well as various single covers and music videos.

About.com ranked Kanye West #8 on their "Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers" list.On May 16, 2008, Kanye West was crowned by MTV as the year's #1 "Hottest MC in the Game."On 17 December 2010, Kanye West was voted as the MTV Man of the Year by MTV.

"Jesus Walks" is a hip hop song by American rap artist Kanye West. It was released on May 25, 2004 as the third single from his debut album, The College Dropout. The song is built around a sample of "Walk with Me" as performed by the ARC Choir. "Jesus Walks" was well-received by music critics, who praised its compelling sonic atmosphere and boldness in its open embrace of faith. It was met by widespread commercial recognition, peaking at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming West's fourth consecutive top twenty hit in the United States.

The single was accompanied by three separate music videos, each of which visually interpreted a portion of its multifaceted context in different ways. "Jesus Walks" continues to be a crowd favorite and stands as one of the most-performed songs by West, who has included it within all of his headlining tours. At the 47th Grammy Awards, "Jesus Walks" was awarded the Grammy for Best Rap Song. Rolling Stone named the song #19 on their list of 100 Best Songs of the 2000s decade. It was also added on the 2010 updated list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", coming in at #273.

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