74. Kanye West – Through the Wire (2003)

We've talked about some of the great producers that worked in hip-hop in the beginning of the decade and infused it with power that conquered the world, but there is one more big name that I did not mention, and that's Kanye West, who shot to fame mainly due to his work with Jay-Z. His unique style, relying mainly on sped-up samples that create a hysterical sound effect, brought him great success, which made him think of a career as a front-man. But a serious car accident in 2002 left his face smashed and in need of reconstruction, and his jaw had to be reattached with wire. Kanye thought that his career was done and his life would never go back to what it was, but the traumatic event, eventually, turned out to be the incident responsible for the successful launching of his solo career, since it inspired this record, the record that instantly made him a star.

The production here is of course West's, and it is very typical, sampling Chaka Khan's 'Through the Fire' in double-speed. "Through the fire" means going through something that makes you stronger, and Kanye changes it to "through the wire", indicating the mouth-wires he has to sing through. But his accident was of course a "through the fire" experience as well, and Kanye dramatizes it is a way that is partly amusing, partly serious, partly scary. After such a strong opening, the horizons were opened, and in the lean years of the decade's second half, Kanye was one of the only rappers who continued to make hip-hop that was both commercial and substantial, and rightfully became a big star. Most of his records don't do it for me, but some of them were good, and this one is fantastic.