Early Life
Kanye West was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1977. His father was a successful photojournalist and active Black Panther. His mother was a teacher and later became a professor at Chicago State University. His parents divorced when he was three and Kanye soon moved back to Chicago with his mother and spent summers with his father.
The rest of his life, Kanye West grew up in Chicago’s middle-class South Shore neighborhood. From a young age, he had an interest in the Chicago hip-hop scene. In his teens, he met his mentor, No I.D. West attended Polaris High School and went on to Chicago State University where he dropped out after a year to pursue music.
Music Producer & Rap Career
In 2001, West moved to NYC and began to make a name for himself as a gifted music producer. He was known for his iconic sampling talents. He stirred up a relationship with Jay Z and produced 4 songs on his album The Blueprint. After this, West produced tracks for hit artists like Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, and Ludacris.
Although he experienced extreme success as a music producer, West still yearned to be the headline act. While struggling to establish his street-cred, since he grew up in a middle-class neighborhood, Kanye finally was signed to Roc-A-Fella records in 2002. West dropped his debut album The College Dropout in 2004. The album went on to sell 2.6 million copies and won 3 GRAMMYs.
Kanye has gone on to produce hit album after hit album. He’s known for sampling new beats, incorporating gospel choirs, featuring orchestras, and many more experimental tactics.
In the News
Despite his music, Kanye West is known around the world for his filterless honesty and radical views. Now known as a moment that will go down in history, in 2008, Kanye took to the MTV Video Music Awards stage during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video award claiming that Beyoncé should’ve won. This ignited a long-lasting feud between West and Swift.
West has feuded with countless celebs – from Drake to Jimmy Kimmel. It seems like every day his name is making headlines, whether it’s for his shocking views on slavery or his newest controversial song.
In 2012, West began a romantic relationship with reality TV star Kim Kardashian. The two married in 2014 in an elaborate ceremony in Italy. The two now have three children with a fourth on the way.
Make sure to stay up to date with all things Kanye and more with The Shade Room!
