Kanye West is the embodiment of the phrase “nothing fails but a try.” The Chicago MC is hoping to strike gold at this year’s Grammy awards with his latest effort, Graduation.
West leads the pack with 8 nominations, including “Album of the Year.”
However, Graduation wasn’t released without some controversy behind it. In addition to the sales battle with 50 Cent, Ye predicted that he’d take home the “Album of the Year” award at this year’s show—several months before Graduation hit store shelves.
“This album, Graduation, I been listening to it,” he told MTV in July. “I like it a lot. I really believe I can take home that Album of the Year award at the Grammys. I’ve won my awards, but they’ve always been a category: ‘hip-hop,’ ‘rap.’ I wanna win Song of the Year, Album of the Year. I wanna deliver this album.”
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And he did just that. In an era that watched album sales decline, Graduation proved to be a commercial success, selling nearly a million copies in its first week of release.
Jermaine Dupri feels like The Louis Vuitton Don found his voice with Graduation, and also believes Ye will get a chance to take home a Grammy this year.
“It feels perfect, it feels like he hit his mark,”Dupri told MTV. “A lot of times when we see people who we feel should get a Grammy, they don’t hit their mark. You gotta understand the Grammy board and what it is. It’s a much wider array of people than just the ‘hood.“
Dupri went on to add that Kanye has become a star in all circles, not just in Hip Hop.
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“The thing to do in the music industry is make everybody look at you. That’s what [Kanye] does. People looked at him from day one — even when he lost [awards]. He put people on notice: ‘You should watch this kid. Every year, watch out for me.’ “
The 50th Annual Grammy Awards airs Feb. 10 at 7 pm.
