Kanye West

Kanye West is a popular hip-hop producer, rapper and record label head whose first three albums have received a great deal of critical praise and commercial success. 

He has won nine Grammy Awards and has produced a number of hit singles - both for himself and a variety of other hip-hop/R&B artists such as Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson and John Legend.

West was born in Atlanta, Georgia but moved to suburban Chicago with his mother at the age of three after his parents divorced. 

West briefly attended classes at the American Academy of Art before dropping out to spend more time working on music. During that time, West started producing music for local artists and eventually went on to produce records for more established acts—most notably Roc-a-Fella executive Jay-Z.

Although initially reluctant to embrace West as a rapper, Jay-Z's Roc-a-Fella records eventually released West's debut album The College Dropout in 2004. The album, which included the religiously themed single "Jesus Walks", went on to sell over 3 million albums and established West as a new voice in the world of Hip-Hop.

His second album, Late Registration, received eight Grammy Nominations including Album of the Year and was one of the best reviewed records of the year. His collaboration with Jamie Foxx, the single "Gold Digger", became one of his most popular songs to date and eventually hit #1 on the U.S. Charts.

Kayne West's third album, Graduation, was released on September 11, 2007. The original release date was changed in order to coincide with the release of the 50 Cent album Curtis. 50 Cent stated he would end his career as a rapper if his sales did not beat those of Graduation. 50 Cent later recanted his statement when Graduation outsold Curtis. Graduation sold 957,000 units in its first week while Curtis sold 691,000 units. Besides the high sales, West earned himself another 4 Grammy Awards for the album.

808s & Heartbreak was be released November 25, 2008. Songs on the album include "Coldest Winter," "Robocop," "Anyway," and "Heartless." The album's first single, "Love Lockdown", was premiered by West at the 2008 Video Music Awards.

Kayne West performed at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards which were held on September 12, 2010. West performed a new song, called Runaway. The new song comes a year after West dissed Taylor Swift on stage at the previous year's VMAs. Swift also performed a song at the awards show, with rumors circulating that the song had to do with the previous year's incident, with Swift referring to West as innocent in the song.c