Shantazia Gunnoe

UWRT 1101

Literary Narrative of Team Topic

There are many artists in todays society who communicate their ideas of beauty
and truth through their music. When artist write their own music their genuine
personalities are displayed. Songwriters are analogous because they usually tell a story
and what makes their songs enjoyable is that people can connect with them personally.
The music that certain songwriters make are songs that reflect things they may have
happened in their life thats what makes their fans connect with them. John Legend and
Kanye West are both great artist because they are able to connect with their fans and
audiences both mentally and emotionally.
John Roger Stephens commonly known as John Legend is an American singersongwriter. Legend attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied English
with an emphasis on African American Literature. In college he served as president and
musical director of a Jazz and a pop a cappella group called Counterparts. Also while in
college Legend was introduced to Lauryn Hill who hired him to play piano in one of her
songs, which jump-started his career. Many artists portrayed him as having an oldschool sound which helped him get his stage name John Legend.
John Legend creates an immersive experience about romance, love, hope,
commitment and optimism. He expresses a rich, melodic sound accentuated by
compelling interludes that fully incorporate the artists gospel and pop influences,

classical training and soulful feel. Legend says I get inspiration from a lot of things. Part
of my inspiration is just the desire to make something special, and being inspired by
special music that Ive heard before from people like Marvin Gaye, or Jeff Buckley, or
Nina Simone, or the Beatles, or Stevie Wonder, people that Ive looked up to for years.
He feels that the following people know what greatness sounds like and he aspire to that
every time he creates a piece. He expresses in many interviews that he is content with
who he is as voiced in one of his songs ordinary people. He is considered good
proficient at his craft because of the way he is capable of getting through to people and
their inner feelings. Many people react with awe at his music, especially wife Chrissy
Teigen who loves his music. When she first heard his lyrics without piano just him
whispering it in her ear "What would I do without your smart mouth, drawing me in
and you kicking me out." from song All of Me she cried because she loved it so much.
Shows how much power just his writing holds.
Kanye Omari West also known as Kanye West is an American rapper, songwriter,
and record producer. He has worked with many other famous artists such as Jay-Z, Alicia
Keys, and Janet Jackson. West started rapping young and attended art school for a
semester before dropping out to pursue his music career. Some of his album names are
inspired by his life events The College Dropout, 808s & Heartbreaks, and My
Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The College Dropout was an album he created a little
after he dropped out of college when he wanted people to accept him as a rapper. 808s &
Heartbreaks was issued after the death of his mother and he ended the engagement
between him and his ex-wife Alexis Phifer. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was

created a few after his highly publicized incident; he felt in this album that he could
overcome any and all controversy.
Kanye West sound is created through an arrangement of many different sounds
and pretty much a bit of everything. One of the Wests first influences was his parents
introducing them to their record collection at a young age. He has a great appreciation for
classic R&B and soul records. His creativity exceeds expectation with every fresh idea.
West said for his first couple of albums he did not write anything down he just went did
everything straight from his head but when doing My Dark Twisted Fantasy he wrote the
lyrics down for the first time hoping that with these lyrics although people hate him they
will have respect and a love for his music. And that album was said to be one of his
greatest. West verbalizes that his lyrics are written in a psychological way; in his song
like Power No one man should have all that power he says he opens it up for everyone
and although he uses first person in many of his songs it is always for everyone. Many of
songs are uplifting like Stronger and Good Life, allowing people to receive a positive
vibe from his music. West believes that people are inspired by his writings.
Social Networking reveals how people feel about certain topics and enables
people to express themselves quickly. The following artist both have twitters which they
use daily to display their music, events, and thoughts. Both of these artists are different in
the way they express themselves. Kanye West is more of an extrovert and in your face
with his passion about art, culture, and creativity. John Legend is more modest when
expressing his feelings of romance and relationships.
I went about this research by thinking who impacted me most through their music
and I feel that these two people do a great job at what they do. I helped my teammates by

introducing them to the following artists and giving them ideas on powerful artists. My
teammates helped me by also giving me ideas. I learned some new things about these
people, which allowed my love for them to grow. The new insights can apply to my daily
life and my writings. I will now put more passion into what I write. This knowledge is
important because it helps me see that writing is not only boring essays but can be an
expression of how you truly feel about anything. This paper allows others to see that
artists are also writers too. They have to go through the revision process and they want to
make their writings meaningful so that others want to hear them.