Everything I Am (Kanye West song)

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"Everything I Am"
Song

"Everything I Am" is a song by American rap musician Kanye West that features DJ Premier, from West's third studio album Graduation (2007). American singer Solange sampled the song in her 2010 single "Fuck the Industry", which Kanye himself produced. The line "Everything I'm not made me everything I am" from it was quoted by rapper Mwana FA in his 2009 track "Naongea Na Wewe", which features fellow rapper A.Y., and G-Eazy in his 2011 track "Endless Summer".[1][2] The same line, along with the line "Common passed on this beat, I made it to a jam", that comes before it, was sampled but changed slightly in rapper Novel's 2014 track "There Are No Words".[3]

Background

The track's chorus includes Kanye rapping the lyrics: "Common passed on this beat, I made it to a jam", which is a true quote because he originally planned on giving this song's beat to Common, but the offer was met with rejection and West decided to rap on the beat himself.[4]

Composition

Multiple samples from the track "If We Can't Be Lovers" by Prince Phillip Mitchell are used throughout the song.[5] There was controversy over this sample apparently being used without Mitchell's permission, with a lawsuit being fired against Kanye and Solange for it.[6] It also samples vocals from Public Enemy's 1987 single "Bring the Noise".[7] A third sample is used in "Everything I Am" of 1987 single "Jimbrowski" by Jungle Brothers.[8] DJ Premier's feature on the track has him merely contributing scratches on the chorus.[9]

Lyrical content

The verses feature West acknowledging that there's things he'll never be like, with quotes such as: "I'll never be as laid back as this beat was" and "Goodbye to the Indie Arie Award". These are shown as not being negative aspects of him and what actually make up West's true self, due to him rapping in the chorus: "Everything I'm not made me everything I am". In an XXL list of 20 times the rap star showed Chicago love via lyrics, the lines: "You see how I creeped up?/You see how I played a big role in Chicago like Queen Latifah?" made the list.[10]

Critical reception

Louis Pattison of NME gave a rather deep, but positive reception towards the track, described it as: 'starting on a war tack, but slowly softening, compassion slipping through the seams'[11] Complex felt positively towards the song, placing it in their list of Kanye's top 100 songs.[12]

Live performances

On 29th September 2007, just over two weeks after the album featuring it had been released, West gave a freestyle over an orchestral version of the beat from "Everything I Am" live on SNL along with a live performance of fellow Graduation track "Champion".[13]

References

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External links

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