He wanted to be the headline act but initially struggled to be taken seriously as a rapper. From there, West went on to produce for other stellar talents, including the rappers Mos Def, Talib Kweli and Ludacris, and the singers Alicia Keys and Beyoncé.īut West was not content to be a backroom player. The following year he cemented his burgeoning reputation by producing four songs on Jay Z's The Blueprint, widely regarded as one of the greatest rap albums of all time. Here he got his big break handling the production for the Jay-Z track "This Can't Be Life," which appeared on the 2000 album Dynasty: Roc La Familia. Music ProducerĪfter spending time producing for local artists, West developed a signature style, dubbed "chipmunk soul," characterized by sped-up soul samples. West graduated from Polaris High School and won a scholarship to study at Chicago's American Academy of Art - but dropped out of college altogether to pursue music, an act that would inform the title of his first solo album years later. After returning to Chicago, West was drawn to the South Side's hip-hop scene, and he befriended the DJ and producer No I.D., who became his mentor. At the age of 10, West moved for a year with Donda to China, where she taught as part of a university-exchange program he was the only foreigner in his class. After that he was raised on Chicago's middle-class South Shore neighborhood by his mother, and spent summers with his father. Ray and Donda divorced amicably when West was three. Her passing would profoundly affect West musically as well as personally. West's mother, Donda, was a teacher who became a professor of English at Chicago State University, and eventually, her son's manager before she died at the age of 58 from heart disease after cosmetic surgery in 2007. His father, Ray, was a photojournalist for the Atlanta Journal newspaper and was also politically active in the Black Panthers he later became a Christian counselor. Kanye Omari West was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 8, 1977. The winner of nearly two dozen Grammy Awards, West is also known for his awards-show theatrics, forays into fashion and marriage to Kim Kardashian. He showcased his own abilities as a rapper with his 2004 debut, College Dropout, and cemented his place atop the hip hop world via such chart-topping albums as Late Registration (2005), My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), Yeezus (2013) and Ye (2018). Kanye West initially made his mark on the music industry as a producer for leading artists.
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