Kanye West.

A few things on this musical man:

Before his new CD came out, he gave so many interviews where he sounded SO cocky. He even went so far as to say that the pairing of himself and Jon Brion (producer) for this album was the best pairing since MJ and Quincy Jones for "Thriller". I don't know if even Jesus could live up to that kind of hype and patting oneself on the back. He needs to tone that down, along with his shirt collars.

His new record, "Late Registration" really is good. Maybe even as good as he was professing. Jon Brion is a great producer, having produced folks like Aimee Mann, as well as films like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Magnolia". He's very much a mood-and-soundscape kind of guy. His work is very distinct. There's a certain style and mood to it... and a space. He is to pop and soundtracks what Daniel Lanois is to U2, Dylan, Willie Nelson, and the like. The idea of getting someone so good and so different for a hip-hop album is genius. While it doesn't come off sounding like Brion's regular fare, you really can see a difference in this album vs "The College Dropout". There's more depth and simplicity, all at the same time. The sped-up samples are pretty much all gone, replaced with more organic and soulful samples, beats, strings, and voices. I also like the fact that there's some good or genuine meaning to the songs, put across with meaningful lyrics. He doesn't just waste lines by putting in things that only rhyme. I don't know if I'd give it a full 10/10 (it's not even a week old), but I think I'd definitely give it a 9.

Kanye shot off his mouth the other night, but not about himself. Have a gander at this clip (even not so bad for dial-up), right 'til the sweet ending. It shows Kanye with Mike Myers during a Katrina benefit the other night. Kanye deviated from the script and shot from the hip. He talked about the media and George Bush, mainly. It's golden, and pretty much true.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/_images/splash/kayne_west.mov