KanyeOmari West, popularly known as “Kanye West” was born on June 8, 1977, in Atlanta. Kanye moved to Chicago at the age of three after his parents got divorced.
He is a 4 in 1 package in the music world; a producer, rapper, songwriter, and a record executive. Kanye West is famous for being in controversies over his song lyrics and other issues quite often. In April 2020, Forbes magazine claimed that Kanye West has now entered the Billionaire List with a net worth of $1.3 Billion.
Early Life and Education
Kanye was raised in Chicago by his mother. His parents, Ray &Donda, got divorced when he was three years old. He moved to China with his mother at the age of 10, where he studied in an exchange program at Nanjing University. His mother used to teach at the same university.
Kanye was the only foreign student in the class. He was very much interested in pursuing his hip-hop career. He came back to Chicago to pursue his career in music and became friends with No I.D who later on became his mentor. Kanye West graduated from Polaris High School and secured a scholarship to study at Chicago American Academy of Art. But his college routine was getting all disturbed because of his music career; therefore, he dropped out of college. Dropping out of the college later became his first solo album title “The College Dropout”, which was released in February 2004.
Production Career
Kanye’s music production career started in 1996. He started producing music for the local singers and artists. In 1996, he produced eight songs for a Chicago based rapper,Grav, for his album “Down To Earth”. This was the first time his name appeared on the producer’s list. After this,Kanye produced songs for many other artists, such as “Chyna Doll” for the Foxy Brown album.
Kanye West’s career took a huge leap forward when he started producing songs for the artists working for Roc-A-Fella. Kanye West’s production is one of the reasons behind the popular hip-hop music album “Blueprint”, which is still popular for its music. Kanye West is considered an important part in reinvigorating the career of famous hip-hop singer Jay-Z.
Working for Roc-A-Fella as a producer, Kanye produced songs for many other prominent singers which include songs for Freeway, Beanie Sigel, Ludacris, & Alicia Keys, etc.
Music Career
Kanye always wanted to have a career in the rapping industry. He never wanted to be just a producer or backroom guy. He tried hard to get at least one chance to sing but was always turned down. The rap music industry didn’t think of him as a gangster type guy to be a rap performer. Kanye continued to produce songs, but his mind was set to be a hip-hop singer.
In 2002, Kanye West car met an accident in California which shattered his jaw. West took the accident as an opportunity and wrote a song to share his experience. The song titled “Through the Wire” was recorded with his jaw being wired after the surgery. He wrote his first album while recovering from the injured jaw. Unfortunately, his album got leaked before its official release date. Kanye availed the opportunity to rewrite the songs again and finally released his first album “The College Dropout” in 2004.
The College Dropout proved to be a vital element for Kanye to kick start his solo singing career. His album sold out more than 2.6 million copies. In 2006, he launched his second album named “Late Registration”. Till now Kanye West has launched a total of 5 albums which includes nine studio albums, three compilation albums, two live albums & one video album.
Business Ventures
Kanye West always had an interest in the fashion and apparel industry. In 2009, in collaboration with Nike, Kanye West introduced the “Air Yeezy” shoe range. He became the first person who was not an athlete to have collaborated with Nike. He introduced different clothes and helped different brands in introducing a widerange of clothes and shoes.
In 2013, Kanye collaborated with Adidas in launching his new Yeezy shoe range. His Adidas Yeezy range was sold out in 10 minutes. In 2017, Kanye, along with his wife Kim Kardashian, introduced a kid’s clothing line named “Kids Supply”. Kanye West’s Yeezy shoes are still considered to be one of the best shoe ranges in the world.
Controversies
Controversies and Kanye West go hand in hand. Throughout Kanye’s career, controversies have never left him alone. He is always known as an outspoken person. His song lyrics, statements about political issues, and actions and critiques with fellow artists had remained in the limelight for many reasons. In 2005, he criticized President G.W. Bush’s actions against the Black People. G.W. Bush denied his claims. Later, he apologized for his comments
Kanye once did a concert in Kazakhstan, a country that was worse at that time in terms of human rights concerns. His concert sparked another controversy since many artists before refused to perform there, but he performed and was paid $3 million.
In 2018, he passed some comments about slavery which ignited anger among the masses. Kanye West later explained he was talking about mental slavery, but due to public outrage, he later apologized to the people.
Kayne once started a feud with Taylor Swift during the MTV awards when he interfered during her award acceptance speech for the Best Female Video. He interrupted in the middle and shared his concerns quoting Beyoncé should have won this award. This sparked a heated conversation between the two. Kanye West later apologized while giving an interview to the New York Times.
Both the singers came back to good terms, but in 2016,Kanye West in his song “Famous” used inappropriate words for Taylor Swift, which once again brought distance between the two artist’s relationships.
Awards
Despite being a controversial figure, Kanye West’s popularity has never been decreased. He has been nominated 69 times for the Grammy Awards for different categories and has won the Grammy Awards 21 times.
His career’s first Grammy was for his album “The College Dropout” in 2004. Kanye West is considered as one of the most decorated singers in the history of Grammy Awards.
His song “Jesus Walks” was the first song to get nominated for the Grammys.
Other than Grammys, Kanye’s career is decorated with many other awards. He’s being nominated for Billboard’s Awards and also won it multiple times. Overall in his career, he has collected many music awards for his albums and songs.
Marrying Kim Kardashian
Kanye West’s music and outspoken nature were already hitting the headlines, but in 2012, his relationship with Kim Kardashian was the biggest headline of all. Their relationship began in 2012, and they got engaged in October 2013. They tied the knot on May 24, 2014, at the historic Fort di Belvedere. Many stars from different industries attended the wedding. They now have three children.
Presidential Run
Kanye West announced in 2020 via twitter that he’ll be contesting in the next presidential elections. He held his presidential campaign rally in July 2020 where he delivered a one-hour speech. He talked about parenthood, the use of marijuana, and the topic of slavery.
The Life of Kayne West in Short
Kanye West’s career might be full of controversies, but his persona is very much influential. Through his music, he wants people to stand against the rules and want them to live on their own. Whatever career line he chooses, it became a massive hit among the people.
Kanye West is considered to be a singer who diminished the concept of gangster rap style. His struggle to reach the top is influential in many ways for all the people around the globe.