Kanye West

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Kanye West emerged from a middle-class Chicago upbringing to become one of the biggest stars in hip-hop. He is internationally renowned for his three solo releases, his production work for other artists, and for his outspoken personality.

Known more often by his first name than his last, Kanye initially came to fame after being a named producer on Jay-Z's masterpiece album The Blueprint. An album that resurrected soul sampling in hip-hop, it directly led to Kanye earning a record contract with Roc-A-Fella. But before he could release a debut album, he was involved in a near-fatal car crash. As his jaw had to be wired together, he wrote (and rapped through his braces) what would become his debut single - "Through the Wire" - which showcased his trademark style of speeding-up soul samples so they played at a higher pitch. In 2004 he finally released his debut album The College Dropout, to widespread critical acclaim, huge commercial success and a Grammy for Best Rap Album. It spawned three hit singles and established Kanye as the biggest new star in hip-hop. Meanwhile, he established a new label for hip-hop (called G.O.O.D. Music), signing up and producing soulful albums for Common and young singer John Legend.

He followed up that debut success with Late Registration in 2005. Again it was met with enthusiastic reviews and chart-topping sales, and was nominated for eight Grammys - winning three, including Best Rap Album for a second time. Around the same time of its release, Kanye spoke out on MTV against homophobia in hip-hop. The following week, while co-presenting a televised fundraiser for victims of Hurricane Katrina, Kanye deviated from the script to criticise aspects of the reaction to the disaster, claiming it was lacking because so many victims were poor and black. He famously concluded his interjection by calmly stating - "George Bush doesn't care about black people".

In September 2007, Kanye released his third solo album - Graduation - to highly positive reviews and almost a million sales in its first week. When the Grammys came around again, Graduation was the obvious choice to win its third successive Best Rap Album award.

Kanye released his fourth album 808s and Heartbreak in 2008.