Kanye West: God and Monster

by Mark Beaumont

The ultimate profile of the legendary pop culture titan Kanye West is undoubtedly one of pop culture’s most divisive and fascinating characters. Alongside his multimillion selling albums, Kanye has also launched record labels and clothing lines and in the process, become one of the most respected, creative and influential artists in music today.

The most in-depth look at West’s life and career to date, Mark Beaumont’s new book lifts the mask to expose the man behind the endless myths. Featuring quotes from all of the major players in West’s life, Kanye God and Monster traces his life from the suburbs of Chicago through art school and rap apprenticeships to recording in the coolest studios of New York and Hawaii with the biggest names in music, revolutionizing hip-hop at every step of the way. Beaumont documents every rumor and revelation, details the wildest extravagances and biggest ego blow-ups of this true rap original. Two 8-page color inserts

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published April 13, 2015

About the author

A contributor to such titles as The Times, Shortlist, The Guardian and Uncut, Beaumont's writings have predominantly appeared in the NME where he has written numerous reviews and interviews since 1995 and has also functioned as the magazine's letters and singles page editor. Considered by NME editor Conor McNicholas one of the title's "star" writers, Beaumont has frequently been assigned the task of reviewing latest releases and gigs from high-profile artists Arctic Monkeys, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Coldplay and Muse.

Reviews

[Owlseyes]

"I think words are one of our lowest forms of communication. Music, sound, food, dancing are nonverbal forms of communication. We get so wrapped up into words. We got to make things that are speechless. We got to make things that leave people speechless. We have to make things to the level where no one can say anything". In Yeezy, season 8

"God is funny. Drake lives four blocks down the street from me. So that shows you that God has a sense of humour."

Maybe no God,...nor a monster. Just a 2020 presidential candidate now. [Electoral] Things are meant to be shaken up. Biden won't like it.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This was a good book to read and gave me a better understanding of Kanye and his character. He is undoubtedly talented but has incredible belief in himself and his abilities that some would say is sheer arrogance. On one hand I can really see how belief in yourself and your ability is a great thing but reading about some of his rants and some if his behaviour makes you question him.

[Donna Lyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book aptly title "god and monster". Kanye is one of those artists who is ahead of his time....way ahead...the only difference is he actually knows it and is verbal about it (which may be why so many people are put off). I think anyone who judges him on the surface needs to read this book and see the method behind the madness.

[Brennan Woodle · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2009, after Kanye West belligerently interrupted Taylor Swift's Grammy acceptance speech, the public and the media shunned Kanye from the stage. Today, West has won 21 Grammys throughout his music career, making him one of the most awarded hip hop artists of all time. Mark Beaumont’s Kanye West: God & Monster shows how Kanye has overcome adversity from his background and the media to become one of the most popular hip hop artists of all time. Many other readers noticed that although Kanye can be different from other artists, he always finds a way to elevate his talent to a higher level than most. One reader commented, “This was a good book to read and gave me a better understanding of Kanye and his character. He is undoubtedly talented but has incredible belief in himself and his abilities that some would say is sheer arrogance.” I agree with this comment because I also believe that sometimes Kanye is just arrogant, but that is how he has become such a talented artist.
I really enjoyed the parts of the book where Beaumont went into detail on specific lyrics from Kanye’s songs. I thought that this was a very cool way to incorporate the music into the information about Kanye’s life. This made the book more enjoyable to read. The only slow parts for me were when Beaumont discussed some of Kanye’s agents and other lesser known artists, only because I was not very familiar with who they were. I think any reader who enjoys learning about how artists have built their career would enjoy this book. I would also recommend this book to anyone that doesn’t like Kanye solely because of his public persona. I think that Beaumont presents the information about Kanye’s career in a way that makes every detail seem so incredible so that any reader would enjoy reading.
One of my discussion questions for this book was, “Kanye faced a lot of hate after he interrupted Taylor Swift's speech. After taking a long break from the media and music, Kanye released his most detailed and refined album. Do you think that the negative experience Kanye had actually helped him become a better musician?”. I think that the negative experience did help Kanye. I think that because he understood that being caught up in the media only hurt him, he was able to focus on making music. One example of this was Kanye’s rules that he had in Hawaii that included “NO TWEETING”. I think that other readers would also agree that this hardship that Kanye was able to overcome helped his career in the long run. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book, and I learned so much about Kanye that I did not know before.

[Jaroslaw Krecidupa · Rating 4 out of 5]

to jedna z tych książek które powinno się czytać po angielsku bo tłumaczenie tekstów albo wypowiedzi tak mega dosłownie jest 🥴🥴

[Reverend Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gives you much more information on Kanye West then you ever wanted or knew you wanted to know
This book is massive and I just bought it because i wanted to know the man behind my Yeezys
Unfortunately even with its massive length, it only goes up to Kids See Ghost so the best parts of Kanye lore are left off
Wouldn’t reread this book but props to the author for making it
I find it funny that the author is just some white dude who likes biking 🚵‍♀️🚵‍♀️🚵‍♀️

[LaShana Claude]

From the suburbs of Chicago through Art school, rap apprenticeships, and a life changing car crash to a very 21st century kind of global fame, Kanye West has recorded in the coolest studios with the biggest names in music, revolutionizing hip-hop every step of the way. He has also ruined Taylor Swift's night at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, told national TV audiences that "George Bush does not care about black people," and seems to have found a soul mate in socialite, Kim Kardashian.

Exploring his music and polemical rants like never before, Kanye West: God & Monster features quotes from all of the major players in his extraordinary life.

-Mark Beaumont is a music journalist whose work has appeared in numerous publications including NME, The Guardian, Classic Rock, The Times, Uncut, Melody Maker, and the Modern Review. He is the author of Out of this World: The Story of Muse, Jay-Z: King of America, Bon Iver: Good Winter, and The Killers: Days and Ages

Overlook Omnibus

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the book God And Monster, the author Mark Beaumont talked about Kanye West. He talked about West's life before fame and after the frame. He also talked about all the work he has done. In the first chapter he mentions that west played in his middle school's basketball team. He actually didn't make the team till his 8th-grade year. One other topic they talked about that stood out was that he actually tried to go to college but he knew that wasn’t for him. He dropped out of the school “ The American Academy” his mother wanted a good future. This is a great book, I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn more about Kanye West. Because he was once a normal colonizer. Just like you.

[Selectivesocietalsanity · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a Kanye fan before he went absolute insane: while a good, brief look at his history (and when I mean brief, I mean literally goes up until his second major album), it fails to capture the tragic, and more arrogant traits of his person that made him so controversial. A horribly white-washed and lacking major nuances. Oddly enough, as narccistic as Kanye is, he'd probably hate this book.

[Oingo B.]

Expecting a straightforward biography, I found this book unfortunately hard to read. It seems the author sourced a lot of his biographical information from Kanye West's lyrics, which are frequently quoted without clear attribution. While super-fans might find that interesting, I was expecting a deeper look at the artist's life beyond what's shared in his lyrics.

[Ben jesus · Rating 5 out of 5]

great

[Bo Belanger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some cool backstories to Kanye’s album making. As always with Kanye, the musical parts are better than the parts about his public persona.

[Ietrio · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book of gossip from a journalist who has to pay his rent.

[Silas · Rating 5 out of 5]

kanye LOL

[Anthony Lebedev · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book = super super super god god 🙏🏻💩

[Zayn Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

kanye west is only a god this book is really god but if u say he’s monster ur not god 💯💯

[Zach Egeland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kanye is a god. I mean I don’t care what he says he made Graduation.
🤑🤑 🤑🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪🤷😏😏🔥🔥🔥

[swagmalwina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bardzo mi się podobała, zawiera wiele ciekawych faktów z życia Ye. Na pewno wrócę.

[Victor Salau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very intresting and absolute cinema and very sigma Kanye is just going through a phase rn

[Kelly Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me a much better insight into Kanye's life. I understand him more as a person, and respect him even more than I already had as an artist. His innovations in the music industry were amazing, and he paved the way for a more diverse rap scene. This man has a work ethic I wish I had.

The book was a little slow at points and biased in Kanye's favor. Even still, it addressed his failings (like the infamous "imma let you finish...) and didn't only focus on the good. I would recommend this to people wanting to read more about rap history, Kanye, pop culture type books.

[Alosha Englender · Rating 5 out of 5]

YEEZY IS A GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jackson Brewster · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only reason this book was half decent was that is was on Kanye West. Anyone else this would have been a one star review. Boring book but filled with lots of real facts.