Kanye West
Kanye West

He’s one of the most controversial artists of all time, and today he celebrates his 35th birthday.  It’s only fitting we at Team MissMalini wish Kanye West a very happy birthday!

Kanye West is in fact one of my favorite musical artists, and I’m so proud of who he has become. Although he sometimes makes us slap our foreheads, every album he puts out always delivers! So go Kanye… it’s your birthday… : )!

1. Gold Digger

Haha, this song is awesome! In it you’ll hear Kanye refer to the movie Any Given Sunday, and he gives props to Jamie Foxx who starred in the movie.

2. Hey Mama

This song made me fall in love with Kanye as an artist. Any artist that creates such a heart felt song can literally have mine! Donda, his mother, used this song as her ring-tone *how cute* :)!!!

3. Jesus Walks

Kanye West is a sheer genius with this song! He knew the challenge he would face getting, “Jesus” on secular radio considering songs are often changed to say, “he” or “him” (recently “God” has become acceptable). Kanye challenges the status quo with, “So here go my single dawg radio needs this, They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus. That means guns, sex, lies, video tapes, but if I talk about God my record won’t get played, Huh?” This worked! He got “Jesus” on the radio and on MTV, he also won 3 Grammy Awards in 2005 as a result! Need I say, “Go Kanye” again?

4. Heard ‘Em Say

I really shouldn’t be numbering these songs because they all are my favorites, but this song is awesome. Maroon 5 re-sampled this song back in 2005 when they dropped their album and song titled, Nothing Lasts Forever.

5. Runaway

Rolling Stone put this song at #1 on their list of the Best Singles of 2010 stating, “In 2010, no other song was so crazily epic or jaw-droppingly gorgeous — not on the radio, not anywhere.”

What is your favorite Kanye West song? Post your comments below!