Kanye West was born in Georgia but raised in Chicago. He pursued a music career after only one year of art college. Jay-Z hired him as a producer, which led to a record deal. West has produced six successful studio albums and won several awards. He is known for his charity work to reduce dropout rates. Common assumptions about his audience include that they are mostly male, urban-dwelling teens who get in trouble and use drugs. However, survey results found the assumptions about urban living and trouble were false, and family backgrounds were mixed.

1. Audience Research

2. Kanye West
Introduction to the artist:
• Kanye west was born in Georgia but was raised in Chicago
• After completing high school he went on to do art at the Chicago State University
but only stayed on for a year due to West wanting to peruse a music career
• After moving to New York, Jay-Z hired Kanye West to produce songs for his album
The Blueprint. This album went on to sell 420,000 copies in the first week
• Kanye West then produced various music for well known artists
• He then signed a deal with Jay-z’s label – Roc-A-Fella Records in 2002
• He has 6 studio albums (The college drop out (2004) Late Registration (2005)
Graduation (2007) My beautiful dark twisted fantasy (2010) Yeezus (2013) and the
up coming SWISH (2015)
• The College Drop Out sold 2.6 million copies and won the Best Rap Album. Late
Registration and Graduation also won the Best Rap Album in 2005 and 2007
• West collaborated with famous rap artist Jay-Z to produce ‘Watch The Throne’
which was a top selling album
• Kanye West does a lot of charity work and after the death of his mother has
supported ‘the Kanye West Foundation’ which helps reduce the number of high
school dropouts
.

3. Peoples assumptions about audience
• Mostly male
• Lives in urban areas
• Mostly teenagers
• Gets angry a lot
• Gets in a lot of trouble with the authorities
• Are drug users
• Broken family
• Very materialistic
• Cares a lot about their image and how they are
portrayed

4. Evidence for the assumptions
Broken families: Kanye West had a broken family, with his
parents divorcing when he was just 3 years old. He and his
mother then moved to Chicago
Mostly male: The rap genre is dominated by men, so the songs
are mostly relatable to males
Lives in urban areas: A lot of rappers and hip hop artists live in
urban areas making it more appealing to people who also come
from urban areas because they can look up to the artists who
came from a similar background
Mostly teenagers: A lot of the music Kanye West has created is
about his life as a youth which makes the listeners link their lives
and feelings to his making the experience more personal

5. Gets angry a lot: A lot of his music uses harsh beats and
instruments making people feel the anger emotion
Gets in trouble with the authorities: Kanye West has been in the
press for attacking a paparazzi and getting charged due for it. This
could give the people the wrong image of Kanye therefore people
listening to him to look ‘cooler’
Are drug users: Kanye West is quite open about taking drugs, such
as weed. This makes the fans see it as acceptable, making them
follow in his footsteps
Are very materialistic: Kanye West appreciates the more expensive
things in life and has stated it in his music.
Care a lot about their image and how they are portrayed: Kanye
West has produced a clothing line and likes to keep up to date or
create fashion and trends

6. Evidence using Kanye West’s image
Trouble with
the authorities
Materialistic
Urban Up to date image

7. Survey results
I created a survey on survey monkey and
uploaded it to a Kanye West forum.

16. Describe what you like about Kanye
West’s music

17. Describe how Kanye West’s music makes
you feel

18. How true were the assumptions
• Mostly male TRUE
• Lives in urban areas FALSE
• Teens TRUE
• Gets in a lot of trouble with the authorities
FALSE
• Broken family HALF TRUE HALF FALSE