The rise of Kanye West

Words such as Arrogant, Genius, Irreverent, Visionary, Influential, Outspoken could all realistically describe… Kanye West. Kanye West has been in and around the music scene since the late 90s and a lot of people would say that “I miss the old Kanye.” Even if you’re not a Kanye fan you have to admit the man’s resume is ridiculous. Kanye has 10 no.1 albums on the billboard 200. His only solo album to go no.2 was his debut album. So how did the mad genius of Kanye come to fruition?

West is a child of Chicago. His mother and he moved from Atlanta to Chicago, when Kanye was only 2 after a divorce from Kanye’s father Ray. Donda found work at Chicago State University teaching English. Kanye grew up in the South Shore neighbourhood of Chicago. A suburb that is mainly safe, but is surrounded by rougher communities in which gang culture runs rampant. Chicago during the ’90s when Kanye was just a Teenager averaged 900+ homicides a year. It was a dangerous community to be a part of but Kanye found his release from his reality through music. 

Kanye learnt the basics of producing from fellow Chicago native, No I.D. No I.D. described a young Kanye as “He was just learning how to make music, but he was the most persistent person who I've ever met.” Donda knew No I.D.’s mum and organised for Kanye to meet the young producer. Kanye released his first beat in 1990 called “Green Eggs and Ham.”

Kanye continued producing music throughout high school. He also studied art in High School. This led Kanye to get himself a 1-semester scholarship into the American Academy of Art where he studied a Bachelor of Fine Art. 5 pieces of Kanye’s Highschool's art portfolio were featured on Antiques Roadshow in 2020. The 5 pieces were valued between $16,000 to $23,000. Kanye’s tertiary studies lasted one semester as his family couldn’t afford to further his studies after his scholarship ran out. Kanye moved to Chicago State University, where Donda taught in the English Department. He would drop out in 1997, the same year he enrolled. Kanye West had officially become a college dropout

Donda gave Kanye 1 year after he dropped out of college to focus on his music. Kanye picked up a job as a telemarketer. He would work all day and as soon as he got home, he would make beats. It was common to be up until 4 am most nights, just perfecting his craft. 

Kanye’s world flipped when he produced a beat for Chicago rapper, “Gravity”, which he sold for $8000. Kanye moved to New Jersey so he could continue to push his beats to the rappers in New York. He would go on to produce for rappers including Mase, Foxy Brown, Dead Prez, Goodie Mob, Lil' Kim and Jay-Z. Kanye would produce 5 of the 13 songs on Jay-Z’s 6th studio album, “The Blueprint.” Kanye’s persistence would impress Jay-Z, who would later sign Kanye to his label as a rapper. Kanye sacrificed everything for his music and he took every opportunity that propelled his dream. If Kanye’s story is of interest to you, definitely check out the ‘Jeen-yhus’ documentary on Netflix. It gives some awesome insights into the life and beginnings of Kanye West.