Kanye West

Kanye West
Birth name	Kanye Omari West
Also known as	Yeezy, Ye
Born	8 June 1977 (age 38) Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, record producer, director, fashion designer, entrepreneur
Years active	1996-present
Labels	GOOD Music, Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam
Associated acts	Child Rebel Soldier, Common, Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Lil Wayne, Mike Dean, Mos Def, No I.D., Talib Kweli

Kanye Omari West (born 8 June 1977) is an American rapper, record producer, film director, entrepreneur, and fashion designer. West first gained prominence as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records; he achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's 2001 album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris and Janet Jackson. His style of production originally used high-pitched vocal samples from soul songs incorporated with his own drums and instruments. He later broadened his infleunces to include 1970s R&B, baroque pop, trip hop, arena rock, folk, alternative, electronica, synthpop, industrial and classical music.

West was raised in a middle-class household in Chicago, Illinois, and began rapping in the third grade, becoming involved in the city's hip hop scene. West attended art school for one semester before dropping out to pursue music entirely in the late 1990s. Although his real desire was to become a rapper, record executives did not take his ambitions seriously and viewed him as a producer first and foremost. After being signed to Roc-A-Fella in 2002, West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004 to commercial and critical acclaim. West's background and style used on his debut album deviated from the then-dominent "gangsta" persona in hip hop, and he would later alter the genre stylistically as rappers adopted the alternative aesthetic. The baroque-inspired Late Registration followed in 2005, and Graduation in 2007. West switched rapping for singing on his emotive 2008 effort 808s & Heartbreak, and embraced maximalism on 2010's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Following several collaborations with other musicians, West released his sixth album, Yeezus, in 2013.

West is one of the best-selling musicians of all time, having sold more than 21 million albums and 66 million digital downloads. He has won a total of twenty-one Grammy Awards, making him one of the most awarded artists of all-time and the most Grammy-awarded artists of his age. An outspoken and controversial celebrity, West has often been the source of incidents involving paparazzi and at award shows. His interest in fashion has also attracted media attention and differentiates West from other musicians. West runs his own record label, GOOD Music, and has directed several short films.

Discography

Main articles: Kanye West discography and Kanye West production discography

• 2004: The College Dropout
• 2005: Late Registration
• 2007: Graduation
• 2008: 808s & Heartbreak
• 2010: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
• 2011: Watch the Throne (with Jay-Z)
• 2013: Yeezus
• 2016: The Life of Pablo