KANYE WEST

Biography

Born on June 8, 1977, in Atlanta, Georgia, to an award-winning photojournalist father and an English-teaching mother, Kanye West realized his destiny at an early age. As a child, the future "college dropout" was a gifted visual artist who, above all, had an affinity for poetry. With these natural talents, it was only a matter of time before Kanye's talents crossed paths with his appreciation for hip-hop music.
kanye west finds no i.d.

At 15, while attending high school, Kanye struck up an acquaintance with his soon-to-be mentor and close friend, budding producer NO I.D. At the time, NO I.D. was making a name for himself while working with Chicago native/modern day hip-hop star Common (formerly known as Common Sense).

While learning the tricks of the music producer trade in NO I.D.'s basement studio during his teenage years, Kanye eventually acquired his first sampling keyboard and began honing his skills as a budding producer.

Persistence combined with passion found Kanye dabbling with beats and crafting rhymes in his bedroom with dreams of one day finding his home in the world of hip-hop.

kanye west wants college degree

Although this journey to superstardom was anything but easy, Kanye stuck with his vision and pursued his dreams while supporting himself with what he now describes as "dead-end" jobs, including a stint working as a sales clerk at the Gap.

At the same time, Kanye also enrolled in college in an effort to further develop his skills in the arts. Little did he know that this ill-fated pursuit of a college degree would soon become the core inspiration for his debut album -- The College Dropout.

kanye west meets jermaine dupri

In 1998, Kanye caught his first big break when Atlanta producer/hip-hop mogul Jermaine Dupri bought a beat from him for his Life in 1472 album. Once the hip-hop community caught wind of one of the Windy City's finest prodigies, the gifted producer began supplying beats to a number of artists in the hip-hop game, while achieving more and more credibility for his production skills.

In 2001, Kanye took the next big step in his career, packed his bags and headed for the East Coast. It wasn't long before he started supplying beats to some of the biggest names in hip-hop, including Jay-Z, who, among other influential decision makers, assisted Kanye in landing a deal at Roc-A-Fella Records.

Once Roc-A-Fella co-founder Damon Dash was presented with a demo tape of Kanye's solo songs in 2002, he immediately signed the multi-talented producer/artist to his label. Although Kanye had already been responsible for producing a number of hits on the Roc-A-Fella label (including production work on Jay-Z's classic 2001 Blueprint album), it was his signing to Roc-A-Fella that inevitably launched his career into superstardom.

kanye in fatal car accident

Even though West's highly anticipated solo debut was in the works, a hectic schedule combined with a tragic near fatal car accident in October of 2002 (in which he sustained major injuries that left his jaw fractured in three places) pushed the release back even further.

But Kanye's persistence, positive outlook and a newfound appreciation for life instilled an even deeper persistence within to showcase his talents to the world. In an effort to prove that absolutely nothing could hold him back from achieving his dreams, Kanye recorded the vocals for his first release, "Through the Wire," just two weeks after his accident, with his mouth literally wired shut.

kanye west debuts with college dropout

Backed by an intensified hunger to achieve his lifelong goals, Kanye's highly anticipated debut album The College Dropout was released on Roc-A-Fella Records in early 2004, to a resounding response from hip-hop enthusiasts across the board.

The debut was well-received, as it reminded fans that there was much more to hip-hop music than the recently re-glorified lifestyle of guns, drugs, sex, violence, and gangster life. Kanye rhymed about real-life situations that almost everyone could relate to including dead-end jobs, school, personal roadblocks, religion, and peace of mind; backed by masterful beats and infectious hooks.

Mainstream success ensued as the name Kanye West was seemingly attached to everything hot in the hip-hop world at around the same time his debut dropped. The big bang took place in early 2004, when his video for "Through the Wire" found itself saturating both radio and music video stations, alongside the release of "Slow Jamz," a hit track that West not only produced, but also performed on alongside fellow Chicago native Twista.

kanye west shows how jesus walks

Most recently, in addition to producing hit singles for a number of artists in the hip-hop community, as well as promoting his debut album, Kanye has been receiving a great deal of attention in the news, media and throughout the music industry in general. Currently, he has released not one -- but three -- different video versions of his latest hit "Jesus Walks."

Next up, Kanye is scheduled to release The College Dropout DVD, followed by the remix of his next single "The New Workout Plan," featuring Lil' Jon and Farnsworth Bentley. After this, he plans on changing his focus from The College Dropout to working on his new label, Very Good Music, alongside veteran Common, as well as up-and-comers John Legend, GLC and Consequence.