Two years later he won again in the Best Rap Song category for West’s “All of the Lights.” Bhasker snared the first of his first three Grammy Awards in 2009 for cowriting “Run This Town,” a hit collaboration for Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Rihanna.

In many ways, West served as a mentor for Bhasker, and Bhasker returned the favor by helping the rapper develop a melodic, keyboard-heavy pop sound on such songs as “Amazing” and “Love Lockdown” on his 808s & Heartbreak album. Bhasker stepped into the spotlight as West’s touring keyboardist, then became his musical director, and then went into the studio with him as a cowriter and producer. In the beginning the band was an easy target to hate for their preppy leanings but they continued to grow on future albums and looking back 10 years its fun to relish in their playful first album.Jeff Bhasker ’99Since 2008, when Jeff Bhasker ’99 began working with Kanye West, his career has been in overdrive. Ezra Koenig the bands lead singer mixed his playful nights on Cape Cod with the breezy sounds of ska. Vampire Weekend made clever lyrics about oxford commas and Lil Jon charming for the masses. Their were some lackluster songs that wouldn’t be played on current rap radio but I’ll be damned if “Let the Beat Build” doesn’t live on.Įzra Koenig and the rest of Vampire Weekend was fresh out of Columbia University, sporting Oxford cloth button downs, penny loafers, and hand-stitched cardigans all while recording an album full of cryptic lyrics about the bourgeois, bound together by afro-pop sounds. The Carter III was the culmination of all of Wayne’s effort put into a single cohesive album. It was the triathlon of raps trying to land every rhyme with same ferocity as Wayne. Every kid at my school would try to rap along to the words in his songs like we were competing for an Olympic medal.

Did 808s and heartbreak win a grammy