Throughout hip-hop history there have been hundreds of thousands of artists that have touched the microphone and tried to establish their name in the genre. Every year, a couple dozen go viral, a handful make it big, but there are only one if any that become household names and forge a legacy that won’t ever be forgotten. Tupac, Biggie Smalls, and Ice Cube are only a few of those cherished names, and among those legendary artists are Kanye West and Eminem. They are two of the most known artists of the 21st century and have long careers that have been rivaled by few. They have plenty of similarities and differences in their childhood and adolescence, their pre-fame reputation and discovery, and first hit singles.
Kanye West …show more content…
They both had developing reputations. Eminem had previously been skipping classes to participate in a neighboring school 's freestyle rap battles and writing raps, so when school was no longer a time consumer of his he had more time to commit to "battle rap", a form of hip hop in which artists continuously insult each other, and writing more original content to record in a studio. In 1997, Eminem attended an annual battle rap competition known as the Rap Olympics. He came in second during that competition, but more importantly, it was then where he 'd be discovered by an Interscope Records employee who would ultimately send that tape to Jimmy Lovine, the CEO of Interscope Records at that time. After hearing it and playing it for hip hop legend Dr. Dre, they found Eminem, and signed him to a record deal. Kanye West reputation was built in another way. He had been producing hip-hop beats since he was thirteen and had already began selling his beats to well-known artists and groups. That trend only went upward as the years went on, eventually catching the attention of Roc-A-Fella artists. After producing for multiple artists within that label, he, much like Eminem, caught the attention of a critically acclaimed hip hop superstar: Jay-Z. And like Dr. Dre did with Eminem, Jay-Z signed Kanye West to his record …show more content…
Although fans of hip hop was enjoying an era in which Jay-Z was bound to create a never-ending legacy, they were yearning for more superstars. Eminem was up first, releasing his debut single under the Aftermath label in January, 1999. It was entitled My Name Is and it developed into a hit, reaching the top 40 of Billboard 's weekly Hot 100( the music industry standard record chart in the United States for singles) grabbing the attention of many due to it 's violent, erratic lyrics under his alter-ego known as Slim Shady. The song would turn out to be emblematic of a large portion of Eminem 's career, which was a series of egregious, vulgar statements that had never been accepted by music consumers the way they did when it came to Eminem. They not only accepted it, but eventually yearned for it, making Eminem one of the most respected hip hop artists of any era. Similarly to Eminem, Kanye started his career with a hit of own called Through the Wire, the similarities between the singles ended there. While the release of My Name Is was released as a single to promote an album that was already scheduled to be released a month afterwards, the release of Through the Wire was an attempt for Roc-A-Fella records to see the reaction of Americans to Kanye West 's first single, as they primarily saw him as a producer rather than a rapper, and it wasn 't until it 's success that they allowed him to
Kanye West …show more content…
They both had developing reputations. Eminem had previously been skipping classes to participate in a neighboring school 's freestyle rap battles and writing raps, so when school was no longer a time consumer of his he had more time to commit to "battle rap", a form of hip hop in which artists continuously insult each other, and writing more original content to record in a studio. In 1997, Eminem attended an annual battle rap competition known as the Rap Olympics. He came in second during that competition, but more importantly, it was then where he 'd be discovered by an Interscope Records employee who would ultimately send that tape to Jimmy Lovine, the CEO of Interscope Records at that time. After hearing it and playing it for hip hop legend Dr. Dre, they found Eminem, and signed him to a record deal. Kanye West reputation was built in another way. He had been producing hip-hop beats since he was thirteen and had already began selling his beats to well-known artists and groups. That trend only went upward as the years went on, eventually catching the attention of Roc-A-Fella artists. After producing for multiple artists within that label, he, much like Eminem, caught the attention of a critically acclaimed hip hop superstar: Jay-Z. And like Dr. Dre did with Eminem, Jay-Z signed Kanye West to his record …show more content…
Although fans of hip hop was enjoying an era in which Jay-Z was bound to create a never-ending legacy, they were yearning for more superstars. Eminem was up first, releasing his debut single under the Aftermath label in January, 1999. It was entitled My Name Is and it developed into a hit, reaching the top 40 of Billboard 's weekly Hot 100( the music industry standard record chart in the United States for singles) grabbing the attention of many due to it 's violent, erratic lyrics under his alter-ego known as Slim Shady. The song would turn out to be emblematic of a large portion of Eminem 's career, which was a series of egregious, vulgar statements that had never been accepted by music consumers the way they did when it came to Eminem. They not only accepted it, but eventually yearned for it, making Eminem one of the most respected hip hop artists of any era. Similarly to Eminem, Kanye started his career with a hit of own called Through the Wire, the similarities between the singles ended there. While the release of My Name Is was released as a single to promote an album that was already scheduled to be released a month afterwards, the release of Through the Wire was an attempt for Roc-A-Fella records to see the reaction of Americans to Kanye West 's first single, as they primarily saw him as a producer rather than a rapper, and it wasn 't until it 's success that they allowed him to