Kanye West

Ye (born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, record producer, singer, songwriter, and fashion designer.

One of the world's best-selling music artists with 160 million records sold, West has won 24 Grammy Awards, the joint tenth-most of all time and most awarded for any hip hop artist jointly with Jay-Z.

His other accolades include a Billboard Artist Achievement Award, a joint-record three Brit Awards for Best International Male Solo Artist and the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.

West was born on June 8, 1977, in Atlanta, Georgia.

After his parents divorced when he was three years old, he moved with his mother to Chicago, Illinois.

His father, Ray West, is a former Black Panther and was one of the first black photojournalists at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

West began his early production career in the mid-1990s, creating beats primarily for burgeoning local artists in the Chicago area.

West spent much of the late 1990s further producing for several musical acts.

He received his first official production credits at age nineteen, when he produced eight tracks on Down to Earth, the 1996 debut album of Chicago-based underground rapper Grav.

After graduating from high school, West received a scholarship to attend Chicago's American Academy of Art in 1997 and began taking painting classes.

Shortly after, he transferred to Chicago State University to study English.

At age 20, he dropped out to pursue his musical career.

This greatly displeased his mother, who was also a professor at the university, although she would later accept the decision.

In 1998, West was the first producer signed to the management-production company Hip Hop Since 1978, founded by Gee Roberson and Kyambo "Hip-Hop" Joshua.

For a time, West acted as a ghost producer for Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie.

Due to his association with Angelettie, West was not able to release a solo album, so he formed the Go-Getters, a hip hop group composed of him and fellow Chicago natives GLC, Timmy G, Really Doe, and Arrowstar.

The Go-Getters independently released their first and only studio album, World Record Holders in 1999 through West's company, Konman Productions.

He produced the third track on Foxy Brown's second studio album Chyna Doll (1999), which became the second hip-hop album by a female rapper to peak atop the US Billboard 200 chart.

In 2000, West began producing for artists on Roc-A-Fella Records as an in-house producer.

West is often credited with revitalizing Jay-Z's career with extensive contributions to his 2001 album The Blueprint, which Rolling Stone ranked among their list of greatest hip-hop albums.

West produced songs for label cohorts such as Beanie Sigel and Freeway, but also produced beats which were used by artists on other labels including Ludacris, Alicia Keys, and Janet Jackson.

West's first six solo albums—The College Dropout (2004), Late Registration (2005), Graduation (2007), 808s & Heartbreak (2008), My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), and Yeezus (2013)—were included on Rolling Stone's 2020 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, with the same publication naming him one of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.

Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005 and 2015.

As a fashion designer, he has collaborated with Nike, Inc., Louis Vuitton, Gap Inc., and A.P.C. on clothing and footwear and led the Yeezy collaboration with Adidas.

West's outspoken views have received significant media coverage.

He has been a frequent source of controversy due to his conduct on social media and at awards shows and public settings, as well as his comments on the music and fashion industries, U.S. politics, race, and slavery.

His Christian faith, high-profile marriage to Kim Kardashian, and mental health have also been topics of media attention.

Ray later became a Christian counselor, and in 2006, opened the Good Water Store and Café in Lexington Park, Maryland, with startup capital from his son.

West's mother, Donda C. West (née Williams), was a professor of English at Clark Atlanta University and the Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University before retiring to serve as his manager.

West was raised in a middle-class environment, attending Polaris School for Individual Education in suburban Oak Lawn, Illinois, after living in Chicago.

At the age of 10, West moved with his mother to Nanjing, China, where she was teaching at Nanjing University as a Fulbright Scholar.

According to his mother, West was the only foreigner in his class, but he settled in well and quickly picked up the language, although he has since forgotten most of it.

When asked about his grades in high school, West replied, "I got A's and B's."

West demonstrated an affinity for the arts at an early age; he began writing poetry when he was five years old.

West started rapping in the third grade and began making musical compositions in the seventh grade, eventually selling them to other artists.

West crossed paths with producer No I.D., who became West's friend and mentor.

He also released the collaborative albums Watch the Throne (2011) with Jay-Z, Kids See Ghosts (2018) with Kid Cudi, and Vultures 1 (2024) with Ty Dolla Sign.

West holds the joint record (with Bob Dylan) for most albums (4) topping the annual Pazz & Jop critic poll.

In 2020, West launched an unsuccessful independent presidential campaign that advocated for a consistent life ethic.

In October 2022, he was widely condemned and lost many sponsors and partnershipsincluding his collaborations with Adidas, Gap, and Balenciagaafter making a series of antisemitic statements, including praising Adolf Hitler and denying the Holocaust.