Kanye West Albums & Singles

Kanye West Biography

Ye ( YAY; born Kanye Omari West KAHN-yay, June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time and one of the most prominent figures in hip-hop.

His music is characterized by frequent stylistic shifts and has been credited with paving the way for rappers who did not conform to traditional gangster conventions. He is also known for his controversial public persona, which includes his polarizing cultural and political commentary and expressing antisemitic views.

West was born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago. After dropping out of college to pursue a music career, West began producing for Chicago artists and became a producer for Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records before signing with the label as a recording artist.

His debut studio album, The College Dropout (2004), received acclaim, and his second album, Late Registration (2005), began a streak of consecutive US Billboard 200 number-one albums. He has five US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles―"Slow Jamz" (2003), "Gold Digger" (2005), "Stronger" (2007), "E.

T. " (2011, as a featured artist), and "Carnival" (2024)―and was the first rapper to top the chart across three decades.

Beyond his musical career, he has collaborated with Nike, Inc. , Louis Vuitton, and Gap Inc.

on clothing and footwear, and led the Yeezy collaboration with Adidas. West's life has been the subject of significant media coverage.

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

politics, race, and slavery. His Christian faith, relationships, feuds with Taylor Swift and with Drake, and mental health have also been topics of media attention.

From 2014 to 2022, he was married to Kim Kardashian, with whom he has four children. In 2020, West ran an unsuccessful independent presidential campaign.

Starting in 2022, West has drawn widespread condemnation—and lost sponsors and partnerships—for expressing antisemitic views; he has self-identified as a Nazi, praised Adolf Hitler, used swastika imagery, and denied the Holocaust. One of the best-selling music artists with 160 million records sold, West has won 24 Grammy Awards; he is the 12th-most awarded artist.

Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005 and 2015. Rolling Stone listed six of West's albums―The College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation (2007), 808s & Heartbreak (2008), My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), and Yeezus (2013)—in its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list and named him one of the "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time".