Kanye West was born on June 8, 1977, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. His father, Ray West, was a Black Panther member and one of the first black photojournalists at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Donda, his mother, was a professor of English, who later served as West’s manager until her death.
He relocated to Nanjing, China, at the age of 10, where his mother taught at the city’s university. After returning to the U.S., he befriended producer-DJ No I.D. and learned to sample and program beats after receiving his first sampler at the age of 15 from the DJ.
The rapper won a scholarship to study at Chicago’s American Academy of Art in 1997, where he took up painting. He later took up English at Chicago State University, only to drop it soon after to pursue music full time.
He began his production career in the mid-1990s by composing beats for local artists. His signature style was dubbed chipmunk soul, which was characterized by speeding up classic soul samples.
West’s big break came in 2000, when he began producing for artists on Roc-A-Fella Records. He worked on JAY-Z’s “The Blueprint” (2001) and is often credited for revitalizing the rap mogul’s career. He also produced for other artists, including Beanie Sigel, Ludacris, Alicia Keys and Janet Jackson.
He yearned to make it big as a rapper, but got rejected by many record labels for lacking the “gangsta image.” West recalls, “I’d leave meetings crying all the time.”
In October 2002, he was involved in a near-fatal accident. With his jaw still wired after a surgery, he recorded the song “Through the Wire,” which paved the way for his debut album.
“The College Dropout,” his debut album, released in February 2004 and sold 2.6 million copies, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart. It earned 10 Grammy nominations, winning three — Best Rap Song for “Jesus Walks,” Best Rap Album and Best R&B Song for “You Don’t Know My Name.”
He invested $2 million and collaborated with composer Jon Brion (who had never worked on a hip-hop record previously) for his second album, “Late Registration.” It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200, also winning him three Grammys.
West’s third album, “Graduation,” was pitted against 50 Cent’s “Curtis,” which was released on the same date – Sept. 11, 2007. The lead single, “Stronger,” became his third No. 1 hit.
His mother died in November 2007. Soon after, West announced his engagement to long-time partner Alexis Phifer. His next album – “808s & Heartbreak” (2008) – contained themes of love, loneliness and heartache.
At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, he stage-crashed and grabbed the microphone from Taylor Swift — winner of the Best Female Video award — and proclaimed that Beyoncé’s video for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” should have won instead. His on-again, off-again feud with Swift has since made news.
His fifth album, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” (2010), was a departure from his previous work, focusing on themes of celebrity and excess. The following year, he released a collaborative album with JAY-Z titled “Watch the Throne.”
His sixth album, “Yeezus,” was named Best Album of 2013 by TIME, Stereogum and Complex. It sold over 750,000 copies in the U.S. alone. Rock legend Lou Reed went on to say, “Each track is like making a movie… The guy really, really, really is talented.”
West began dating reality TV star Kim Kardashian in 2013. The couple married on May 24, 2014, and are parents to three children, North, Saint and Chicago.
In January 2015, he created history by becoming the only rapper to collaborate with Paul McCartney. They produced the single “FourFive Seconds,” along with Rihanna.
The rapper’s interest in fashion led him to launch his first apparel collection Yeezy Season 1 in 2015. He also collaborated with French label APC for a capsule collection in 2013.
Leading up to the release of his album “The Life of Pablo” (2016), he was involved in various Twitter controversies, including an assertion Bill Cosby’s innocence and a short-lived feud with rapper Wiz Khalifa. The album went on to be certified Platinum solely from streams, making West the first artist to achieve the feat.
In May 2017, West and Kim launched a clothing line for children called Kids Supply.
On March 24, 2018, West came out with his wife and daughter North West to show support against gun violence in schools at the March for our Lives demonstration in Washington, D.C., U.S.
In April 2018, during an interview with Hollywood Reporter, West announced he was writing a philosophy book titled “Break the Simulation.” He said, “I’ve got this philosophy — or let’s say it’s just a concept because sometimes philosophy sounds too heavy-handed.”
He also said the book would be driven by photographs, adding, “It takes you out of the now and transports you into the past or transports you into the future. It can be used to document, but a lot of times it overtakes (people). People dwell too much in the memories. People always wanna hear the history of something, which is important, but I think it (sic) there’s too much of an importance put on history.”
On April 25, 2018, West took to Twitter to show his support for U.S. President Donald Trump and criticize former head of state Barack Obama. Commenting on Obama’s term, he said, “Obama was in office for eight years and nothing in Chicago changed.”
He also tweeted, “You don’t have to agree with trump but the mob can’t make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone. I don’t agree with everything anyone does. That’s what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought.” He also posted a photo of himself wearing Trump’s iconic “Make America Great Again” red cap.
Trump responded to his tweets, saying, “Thank you Kanye, very cool!”
On May 1, 2018, in an interview with TMZ, West courted controversy when he said, “When you hear about slavery for 400 years … For 400 years? That sounds like a choice. You were there for 400 years and it’s all of y’all. It’s like we’re mentally imprisoned.”
When the statement drew ire from TMZ employees as well as people on Twitter, West issued this clarification: “[T]o make myself clear. Of course I know that slaves did not get shackled and put on a boat by free will. My point is for us to have stayed in that position even though the numbers were on our side means that we were mentally enslaved…[T]he reason why I brought up the 400 years point is because we can’t be mentally imprisoned for another 400 years. We need free thought now. Even the statement was an example of free thought. It was just an idea. [O]nce again I am being attacked for presenting new ideas.”
On May 31, 2018, West released his highly anticipated album “Ye,” which touches upon his personal life, including his battle with substance abuse. A Wyoming landscape with the words “I hate being Bi-Polar, its awesome” is depicted on the cover.
On Sept. 29, 2018, the rapper announced that he has changed his name to Ye. “The being formally [sic] known as Kanye West. I am YE,” he tweeted. “Ye” has occasionally been his nickname and was used as the title of his previous album as well.
On Nov. 7, 2019, West revealed his plans of running for the U.S. presidential post in 2024. “When I run for president in 2024, we would’ve created so many jobs that, in fact, I’m going to walk,” he said during his appearance at the Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York City. “What I’m saying is, when y’all read the headlines, ‘Kanye’s crazy,’ this and that, this and that, it’s like one in three African Americans are in jail and all of the celebrities are in jail also because they can’t say nothing! They’ve got no opinion! They’re so scared!,” he added. The rapper is an ardent supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump.
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Kanye West whisked his wife Kim Kardashian West off to Mexico for a “surprise” Valentine’s Day vacation.
The 42-year-old rap star – who married Kim in 2014 – treated the brunette beauty to a romantic trip to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, where Kim captured various video clips of their romantic break for her Instagram account.
She captioned a photo of their view: “Little slice of heaven for Valentine’s Day.”
In her second Instagram Story, the reality TV star – who has kids North, six, Saint, four, Chicago, two, and nine-month-old Psalm with Kanye – posted a clip of an infinity pool that fed into the ocean.
Meanwhile, Kim recently revealed that her children’s playroom has its own stage.
The ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ star gave her fans an insight into her kids’ playroom and revealed what kinds of toys her four children can enjoy.
Taking to Instagram, she referenced previous comments about her house before sharing: “You guys always say my house is so minimal – well, you guys haven’t seen my playroom.”
Showing off the room, Kim first pointed out the concert-like stage where her kids “often have band”, with a drum set placed on it as well as a number of microphones.
Nearby is a selection of Takashi Murakami Flower Cushions, which can cost anything between $600 and $6,000 each. There is also a Kaws Companion Figure, which costs at least $5,000.
The room also features horses, a ball pit with a slide attached a variety of dollhouses and baby carriages for the kids to play with. What’s more, there is a projector for watching movies or cartoons on.
In a separate video, Kim showed off the area where they do their homework.
She said: “This is where they do their homework. All in here is organised educational stuff.”
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