Through the Wire

The Suffering Artist

Through the Wire by Kanye West

"You try to record a song with your mouth wired shut."

Okay. Let's be real, though: I can't even record a song when I'm at 100%, so it's not really a fair comparison.

I did a little research, and it's true that Kanye recorded this song two weeks after a terrible car accident in which he broke his jaw in 3 places (x). Somehow, he manages to...speak really freaking clearly? Like???

Y'all, I'm glad this was Kanye's big break.

It foreshadows all that drama that his we've come to associate with his public persona, and it showcases his talents.

I mean, he turned a rough accident into something positive. Don't get me wrong, he sounds good on this track and the rhymes are good and the chorus good. But the most interesting thing is that his mouth is wired shut and it's called Through the Wire.

Is it a little gimmicky? I think so. But it's also pretty clever, and it definitely suits him.

Also a high point: the use of a sample from Chaka Khan's Through the Fire.

Kanye West is a master of The Sample. I already covered Blood on the Leaves on this blog, which is another really good example of his sampling sorcery. Untouchable.

Overview:

Genre:
Hip-Hop

Favorite Lyrics:
Make music that's fire,
spit my soul through the wire

Other Info:
This is a track from The College Dropout, Kanye's debut album which won a Grammy in 2004.