Kanye West

Kanye Omari West (born June 8, 1977) is an American record producer and rapper who rose to fame in the mid 2000s. His first two albums received numerous awards (including six Grammys), critical acclaim, and commercial success. West also runs his own record label GOOD Music.

While attending school, West produced for local artists. He later gained fame by producing hit singles for major hip hop/R&B artists, including Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, Cam'ron, Paul Wall, Common, Mobb Deep, Jermaine Dupri, Scarface, The Game, Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson and John Legend among others.

He also "ghost-produced" for his once mentor Deric Angelettie according to his song "Last Call" and the credits of Nas' "Poppa Was a Playa."
West's style of production often utilizes pitched-up vocal samples, usually from soul songs, with his own drums and instruments. The first major label song he produced was The Truth by Beanie Sigel, and his first major release featuring his trademark vocal sampling style was "This Can't Be Life," a track from Jay-Z’s The Dynasty: Roc La Familia.

In 2002,West was involved in a near fatal car crash while driving home from the recording studio. The crash provided inspiration for West's first single, "Through the Wire". West's faith is apparent in many of his songs, such as "Jesus Walks," which became a staple at his benefit performances, such as the Live 8 concert. These songs were featured on West's debut album, The College Dropout, which was released on Roc-A-Fella Records in February 2004, and went on to receive critical acclaim.The album went certified triple platinum. Guest appearances include Jay-Z, Ludacris, GLC, Consequence, Talib Kweli, Common, Syleena Johnson, and more.

In 2005,West released his second album Late Registration.The record earned the number one spot on the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll of 2005.The first two singles from Late Registration were "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" (which features vocals from Shirley Bassey's "Diamonds Are Forever") and "Gold Digger" featuring Jamie Foxx (which contains an interpolation of Ray Charles's "I Got a Woman") to sell over 860,000 copies in its first week, and earned him eight Grammy Award nominations including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for the song "Gold Digger."The album is certified triple platinum .

In 2007,West changed the release date of Graduation, his third album, from September 18, 2007, to the same release date as 50 Cent's album Curtis, September 11, 2007.Guest appearances included T-Pain, Mos Def, & Lil Wayne.Graduation topped the Canadian, UK, United World Chart, and US album charts, however Curtis debuted at number one on the Irish and Swiss album charts, claiming the top spot on the Billboard European Top 100 Albums chart.Graduation sold approximately 957,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, becoming the highest sales week for an album in 2007 so far (topping Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight, which sold 625,000) as well as West's highest sales week to date, topping his 860,000 opening week of his previous album Late Registration.Graduation debuted at number one on the United World Chart.On October 18, 2007, Graduation was certified 2× Platinum by RIAA.