Kanye West Back in Studio Working on New Album

Kanye West is ringing in 2010 on a positive note, given his unfavorable 2009. The Chicago native is already working on the follow-up to his 2008 album '808s & Heartbreak.'

"I'm so happy to be back in the studio making new music," West wrote on his blog today (Jan. 4, 2010). "I will bring you the best I have to offer with the same dedication that Kobe has on the court." After thanking fans for their support over the last six years -- hard to believe that 'The College Dropout' only dropped in 2004 -- West noted he was taking inspiration from Maya Angelou, Gil Scott and Nina Simone for his next album. West hopes to incorporate the renown poets' ability to document present-day culture in their work by doing the same with his music.

"That is our responsibility as the modern day artists and poets, to accurately represent what is happening now," West continued, "so when the powers that be try to rewrite history you can always look at our works and find truth and sincerity in a world of processed information."

West then wax poetic. "Let us soak in positive forces and look down on upon those who masquerade as truth tellers and objective fact givers when in reality everything that is projected has an agenda of brainwashing us, the 'consumer,' the public, to believe what they want us to," he said. "Let us look past headlines and deal with just a bit of reality in this new decade." West expressed that the general public doesn't need to "believe everything anymore" citing the convention of having "our own outlets" as a vehicle of expression.

Kanye ended his positive rant saying he was hoping to find a way to make this sentiment rhyme. Looking back at Weezy's lyrics to 'Gold Digger' ("I know somebody payin' child support for one of his kids/His baby momma's car crib is bigger than his/You will see him on TV, any given Sunday ... If you ain't no punk, holla 'We want prenup!") and 'Diamonds From Sierra Leone' ("Good Morning, this ain't Vietnam still/People lose hands, legs, arms for real/Little was known of Sierra Leone/And how it connect to the diamonds we own") we think he's off to a good start. It is, afterall, the reason the public fell in love with him in the first place.