Kanye’s chipmunk-soul sampling style emerged from Chicago apprenticeships before Jay-Z

Evidence

As a young teen, West told his mother he wanted to make hip-hop, so she set him up in unofficial apprenticeships with producers in Chicago’s fledgling rap scene. By fifteen, he’d learned enough to provide beats for local groups. After a few semesters at the American Academy of Art and Chicago State University, he dropped out and moved to New York to pursue music full time. His signature production style, which sped up and pitched soul samples into “chipmunk” hooks, quickly caught the attention of industry insiders. Like Pharrell and the Neptunes, Kanye first went big alongside Jay-Z, producing key tracks for the rapper’s The Blueprint, released on September 11, 2001. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 105

Categorization

• XREF: The Blueprint released on 9/11 is a striking date juxtaposition worth flagging — cultural shifts and geopolitical rupture occurred simultaneously.