Research
The Rhetoric of Kanye West
A research-based argument I wrote and presented for Stanford’s Program in Writing and Rhetoric on how Kanye West turned hip-hop’s tradition of bearing witness inward, and how that shift reshaped the artists who came after him.
The argument
The paper’s thesis, in its own words.
Kanye catalyzes a shift by expanding the genre’s tone from outward masculinity to inward reflection and introspection, forever changing hip hop by redefining its masculinity, vocality, and storytelling.
Read the full research paper and presentation
Pick one to read it here, or open it in its own tab.
Sources
Eight scholarly and press sources, plus 23 albums and songs.
Scholarship and journalism
- Cambridge University Press
- Media, Culture & Society
- Nursing Philosophy
- Stanford University
- Highsnobiety
- NME
- Vulture
Artists studied
- N.W.A.
- Tupac Shakur
- Eric B. & Rakim
- Kanye West
- Kid Cudi
- Drake
- Kendrick Lamar
- Travis Scott
- Future
- Juice WRLD