Kanye West

Kanye, now infamously known by many, is one of the most genre defining artists of hip hop and rap. He has conquered the music scene of the 2010s especially, and continues to achieve beyond expectations when he releases new music to this day. However, his astonishing musical career and hits aside, his personal comments on his ideologies and beliefs influenced the medias representation of him today.

Time - August 29th, 2005

Time is an American news magazine based in New York, however it is read by millions across the world. Every week over 20 million subscribers worldwide turn to Time for award winning exclusive coverage. Time aims to tell the stories that matter most, to spark conversations that drive global change, and to provide context and understanding to the issues and events that define our times. Time represents Kanye as almost 'god-like' through the exaggerated descriptions; "defying the rules of rap" reflects and reinforces his status at the time and how he was generally viewed by the public eye. He is represented as the 'smartest in pop', this prestigious title reaffirms the idea that his power in the industry and global listening figures were and still are truly immense. From this magazine, we can infer that Kanye had not shared his political and ideological beliefs at that time through how he is presented, compared to how he is presented in later years and currently. The idea of being a 'class act' suggests that his musical ability was favourited amongst critics and he was a musical role model of the time.

Time's top 100 most influential people

In 2015, Time released their top 100 picks for the most influential people of our current time in which Kanye West was on the list. The list praises his musical ability yet again similar to the descriptions seen in the 2005 cover of the magazine.