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28-564: The Dropout bear was originally designed by graphic designer Sam Hansen. Its first commercial appearance came on the cover art for West's debut single " Through the Wire " in September 2003. The character would later appear on the cover art of West's debut studio album The College Dropout in February 2004. The album's cover was handled by art director Eric Duvauchelle of Roc-A-Fella Records , which depicts

56-439: A Duo or Group . Previously, a single award was presented for Best Rap Performance . In 2003, this award was split into separate awards for Best Female Rap Solo Performance and Best Male Rap Solo Performance . In 2005, it was again presented as a single award. As of 2012, the award was permanently discontinued due to a major overhaul of Grammy categories. Since 2012, all solo and duo/group rap performances has been shifted to

84-541: A child's size and stood in the center of two large wooden doors at Princeton University . The mascot has goggle eyes, perky ears, and a collegian outfit, wearing a blazer with a school insignia. In the album booklet, Dropout Bear appears in the university, sitting alone in classrooms and reads books before exiting. This design for the Dropout bear on Late Registration was carried over onto the cover art for West's live album Late Orchestration in 2006. The second redesign of

112-423: A rapper...and I had to be on TV! My face looks crazy to me now... But I have to just thank God for the situation that I am in... "Through The Wire" is the worst thing that could've possibly happened to me, and now it's obviously the best thing. Look how it exploded! The song originally appeared on West's mixtape Get Well Soon... where his wired jaw was incredibly noticeable, before being re-recorded and released as

140-515: A supposed Kids See Ghosts Animated show was released on YouTube in June 2020, depicting the Dropout Bear and Kid Cudi's anthropomorphic fox. Through the Wire " Through the Wire " is the debut solo single by American rapper and producer Kanye West , who wrote and recorded the song with his jaw wired shut after a car crash on October 23, 2002. The song samples Chaka Khan 's 1985 single " Through

168-553: The Dropout bear came with the development of West's third studio album Graduation . West collaborated with Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami to oversee the art direction of Graduation as well as design the cover art for the album's accompanying singles. Often called "the Warhol of Japan", Murakami's surrealistic visual art is characterized by cartoonish creatures that appear friendly and cheerful at first glance, but possess dark, twisted undertones. The album's artwork of

196-426: The Dropout bear expresses colorful, pastel imagery influenced by Murakami's affiliation with Superflat , a post-modern art movement influenced by manga and anime . Murakami later reproduced the artwork designs through the use of cel-shaded animation within a three-minute animated music video for the opening track " Good Morning ". After collaborating with West on the artwork and video, Murakami later worked on

224-451: The Dropout bear in a school gymnasium, wearing a suit coat, red t-shirt, and jeans. The Dropout bear suit also made an appearance in the music video for West's " The New Workout Plan " in 2004. The first redesign of the Dropout bear came with the development of West's sophomore album Late Registration . Similar to the cover art of The College Dropout , the artwork on Late Registration features West's "Dropout Bear" mascot, showing it at

252-585: The Fire " and was released on September 30, 2003 as the lead single from his debut album The College Dropout (2004). The song was also included on West’s debut mixtape Get Well Soon…. (2002). "Through the Wire" peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received near-universal acclaim from music critics. It was certified Platinum and Gold in the United States and United Kingdom respectively. The song

280-472: The Fire ". Coodie , one of the music video 's directors, reported that Khan wouldn't initially allow the sample to be cleared until the video was shown to her son and he told Khan about it, leading to the sample being cleared about two weeks later. Khan later expressed her love for the track, calling West a "sweetheart, truly adorable" and the way he used the sample "so clever". However, in June 2019, Khan criticized West's unorthodox, highly pitchshifted use of

308-491: The Wire" the 10th best rap song from Chicago . Pitchfork included the song in The Pitchfork 500 , a 2008 guide to the 500 greatest songs from punk to the present, while Rolling Stone ranked the song at number fourteen on a list of the 100 Greatest Debut Singles of All Time in 2020. "Through the Wire" debuted at number ninety-four on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number fifteen for five weeks. It remained on

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336-406: The album's hype, and Pitchfork Media stated it was "chock-full-of-clever". Vibe magazine wrote that "West's sideways approach to music making stands out" on the track and the "raw, teeth-clenching narrative falls in line with his gutwrenching soul beats." At the 2005 Grammy Awards , the track was nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance , which was won by Jay-Z 's " 99 Problems ". The track

364-506: The album's most startling personal horror story (though it's also a song of hope and gratitude)". AllMusic 's Andy Kellman said it was "a daring way to introduce himself to the masses as an MC " and it "couldn't have forged his dual status as underdog and champion any better." Kellman described the content as "heartbreaking and hysterical" and that despite his "inevitable slur, his words ring loud and clear". The New York Times ' Kelefa Sanneh described him as "a wounded hero beating

392-426: The blue about a concept he and Kanye had for a video revolving around Polaroid snapshots. I was leaving work at 7 PM only to come back at 10 PM, work all night then go home at 7 AM". Coodie stated that "If we would have wrote a treatment" for the video, "they would have shot that down. They had to see it to understand. Otherwise they'd have said, 'No, Kanye should be rapping at a party, with lots of girls poolside'". It

420-638: The chart for twenty-one weeks. It performed better on the urban contemporary charts, reaching number eight on the Hot R&;B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and number four on the Hot Rap Tracks . In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number nine on the UK Singles Chart where it peaked for two weeks and exited the chart after nine weeks. The track charted lower in other European countries, where it reached

448-425: The cover art for West and Kid Cudi 's eponymous debut studio album, Kids See Ghosts (2018). The Dropout bear's most recent appearances came with the promotion and artwork for West's collaborative album Kids See Ghosts with Kid Cudi in 2018. Takashi Murakami had stated that West had brought forward the idea of portraying an anthropomorphized bear and fox, to reflect him and Cudi, respectively. A trailer for

476-456: The first single from The College Dropout in late 2003. Although he initially had trouble convincing Roc-A-Fella Records executives to let him make his own album as a rapper, he was able to change their minds after the song's release. "Through the Wire" was inspired by the 2002 car crash and West has provided a comedic account of his difficult recovery. West samples a pitch-shifted and sped up version of Chaka Khan 's 1985 single " Through

504-503: The lyrics to the song three days after the crash. The song's title refers to the wires used to hold his broken jaw together, as well as being a play on the song " Through the Fire ", which it samples. When asked about how the incident changed his music, West stated: Well, the only thing this accident's is saying is, "I am about to hand you the world, just know at any given time I can take it away from you." To nearly lose your life, to nearly lose your mouth, your voice, your whole face, as

532-407: The odds" and it "gave him a chance to prove that he was the exception to the rule that producers can't rap." Stylus Magazine called it "a poignant, pop-culture-packed account of Kanye’s near-fatal run-in with Chaka Khan". By rapping with his jaw sewed up, The Source noted that West used "the element of surprise to his advantage". HipHopDX listed the track as one of "the classics that created"

560-414: The sample, calling it "stupid". Khan did not receive writing credit for the song, which instead went to David Foster , Tom Keane , and Cynthia Weil , who wrote "Through the Fire". IGN described West's rapping as "a Snoop -meets- Hova flow, twisting up his words with the patented 'izz' inflection." Dave Heaton of PopMatters called it "as riveting and moving as everyone says it is" and it "may be

588-610: The studio at around 3 a.m. in his rented Lexus , he had a near-fatal crash when he had fallen asleep at the wheel. He was taken to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center , mentioned in the song as "the same hospital where Biggie Smalls died," and had his jaw wired to his face in reconstructive surgery . Two weeks after being admitted to the hospital, he recorded the song at the Record Plant Studios with his jaw still wired shut. Consequence recalls West started rapping

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616-733: The top thirty in Ireland, Sweden, and the Netherlands, the top fifty in Belgium and Switzerland, and number sixty-one in Germany. Its maximum peak time in those countries lasted one week. The single entered the New Zealand Singles Chart at number twenty-four and peaked at number sixteen. On July 14, 2017, "Through the Wire" was certified Silver in the UK, nearly fourteen years after the single's release. It

644-477: The video, conceived ideas for the clip after seeing an Adidas advertisement in BlackBook magazine. He stated, "I don't like gettin' ideas from direct shit ... I like to pull ideas from all the way over here. Sometimes my vision can't be explained in words, 'cause I couldn't have even told you in words how I envisioned that video ending up." Chike recalled the making of the clip, saying, "one day Coodie calls me out

672-571: Was awarded the Video of the Year at the 2004 Source Hip Hop Awards. CD single UK CD single Information adapted from The College Dropout liner notes. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance was awarded from 1991 to 2011, alongside the Best Rap Performance by

700-484: Was blown away by the video and it just kept building from there. Then after that show on SOBs on October 1st, he was bonafide. He was popping. It was full-on Kanye season." Consequence would say to Complex on The College Dropout 's 10th anniversary, "The accident wound up being a blessing for him. Whatever diction issues he had, he came through with a super clear voice. That was like one of those pressure bursts pipes things." In 2010 and 2013, Complex would name "Through

728-483: Was certified Gold on September 10, 2021, over 4 years later and almost 18 years after its initial release. The single was certified Platinum in the US on November 20, 2018, fifteen years after its release. The music video was directed by Coodie and Chike and it premiered on August 3, 2003. It is a slideshow of videos and pictures of West producing and his crash seen through the frames of Polaroid pictures. West, who financed

756-422: Was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance in 2005, but lost to Jay-Z 's " 99 Problems ". The music video was financed by West, who was inspired by an Adidas advertisement. It won Video of the Year at the 2004 Source Hip Hop Awards. On October 23, 2002, West was in a California recording studio producing music for Beanie Sigel , Peedi Crakk , and The Black Eyed Peas . After leaving

784-502: Was one of the Award Winning Songs at the 2005 BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards. As West's debut single, "Through the Wire" has been recognized as a jump-start for his career after the song was played on MTV . Director for the music video, Coodie , would say "The night of when he did the 'Through the Wire' premiere party at 40-40 Club , that was the night that was like, 'Oh shit.' That's when Def Jam started recognizing him. Everybody

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