70 Fun Facts About Kanye West

In which US city was Kanye West born?

West was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 8, 1977; after his parents divorced when he was three, he moved with his mother to Chicago, the city he is usually associated with.

West spent a year at age 10 in which country, where his mother was a Fulbright Scholar?

Donda West took a Fulbright post at Nanjing University in China in 1987; ten-year-old Kanye attended a local school as reportedly the only foreigner in his class and picked up Mandarin quickly.

West dropped out at age 20 from which school, where his own mother chaired the English department?

Donda West chaired the English department at Chicago State University, where Kanye enrolled after a painting scholarship at the American Academy of Art; he dropped out at 20 to pursue music.

Which Chicago producer became West's early friend and mentor?

No I.D. later co-produced tracks such as Heartless and worked on 808s & Heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

West's 2001 production work is credited with revitalizing Jay-Z's career on which album?

On The Blueprint, West produced four of the thirteen tracks, including Izzo (H.O.V.A.) and the Nas diss Takeover, built on sped-up soul samples; the album arrived on September 11, 2001.

Which Roc-A-Fella executive reluctantly signed West as an artist to stop him defecting?

Damon Dash signed West to Roc-A-Fella in 2002 mainly to keep his hit-making producer from leaving; labels including Capitol had passed on him as a rapper because he lacked a gangsta image.

What happened to West in October 2002 that inspired his debut single?

A car crash shattered his jaw on October 23, 2002; he recorded Through the Wire at the Record Plant two weeks later with the jaw wired shut.

Through the Wire samples, and puns on the title of, a 1985 song by which singer?

The sped-up sample is Chaka Khan's Through the Fire, a 1985 single from her album I Feel for You; its writers David Foster, Cynthia Weil and Tom Keane share credit on Through the Wire.

According to the account of the crash, what caused West's near-fatal accident?

West fell asleep at the wheel after leaving a Los Angeles studio session around 3 a.m. on October 23, 2002; his rented Lexus hit another car and he was taken to Cedars-Sinai.

What was the title of West's debut mixtape, released in December 2002 while he recovered?

Get Well Soon..., released in December 2002 as West recuperated from the surgery that wired his jaw shut, carried the first version of Through the Wire, the single that launched him as a rapper.

Which album kept The College Dropout from debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 in February 2004?

Norah Jones's Feels Like Home sold over a million copies that week, holding The College Dropout to number two despite its 441,000 first-week sales; every West solo album through Donda then opened at number one.

Slow Jamz, West's first Hot 100 number one, was also the lead single from which rapper's album Kamikaze?

Slow Jamz led Twista's 2004 album Kamikaze; the song, with Jamie Foxx, was the first Hot 100 number one for all three performers and samples Luther Vandross's A House Is Not a Home.

Which College Dropout single won Best Rap Song at the 47th Grammys despite fears it was too openly about faith?

Jesus Walks won Best Rap Song at the February 2005 ceremony and was also nominated for Song of the Year; West released it with three separate music videos.

How many Grammy nominations did The College Dropout earn West at the 47th Grammy Awards?

West received 10 nominations at the 47th Grammys in February 2005, the most of any artist that year, and won Best Rap Album for The College Dropout and Best Rap Song.

Which film composer co-executive produced Kanye West's Late Registration, adding strings and harpsichord?

Jon Brion, composer of the scores for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Punch-Drunk Love, co-executive produced Late Registration, layering strings, harpsichord and other live instruments over West's beats during more than a year of sessions.

Gold Digger, which topped the Hot 100 in 2005, samples a 1954 recording by which artist?

Gold Digger samples Ray Charles's 1954 hit I Got a Woman; Jamie Foxx, who sings the hook, had just won an Oscar for playing Charles in the biopic Ray.

At the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards, West stormed the stage when Touch the Sky lost to which act?

Justice and Simian (billed as Justice vs Simian) won Best Video for We Are Your Friends; West climbed on stage to complain that his Touch the Sky clip 'cost a million dollars' and had Pamela Anderson in it.

Graduation shared its September 11, 2007 release date with which rapper's album Curtis?

50 Cent had vowed to quit solo music if Curtis lost the sales battle; Graduation sold 957,000 first-week copies to Curtis's 691,000, a win widely read as a turning point away from gangsta rap.

Which Japanese artist designed the cartoon Dropout Bear artwork for Graduation?

Takashi Murakami, known for his 'Superflat' style and Louis Vuitton collaborations, drew Graduation's Dropout Bear being launched into the sky over a neon 'Universe City'; he later designed the Kids See Ghosts cover.

Stronger built its hook on a sample of Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by which French duo?

Daft Punk's Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (2001) supplies the vocoder hook; the duo later joined West on stage at the 2008 Grammys, where Stronger won Best Rap Solo Performance.

Which milestone did West reach with Stronger in 2021, a first for one of his singles?

It has since gone fourteen-times platinum and was ranked number 493 on Rolling Stone's 2024 500 Greatest Songs list.

Which drum machine gives 808s & Heartbreak its name?

The Roland TR-808 drum machine, released in 1980, supplies the album's booming, distorted beats beneath Auto-Tuned singing; West recorded it in about three weeks in late 2008, after his mother's death and a broken engagement.

Heartless was originally intended for which artist's album before West kept it for 808s & Heartbreak?

It peaked at number two on the Hot 100 and its animated video pays tribute to Ralph Bakshi's 1981 film American Pop.

Whose acceptance speech did West interrupt at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards?

Taylor Swift had just won Best Female Video for You Belong with Me when West grabbed her microphone to say Beyoncé had 'one of the best videos of all time'; Beyoncé later invited Swift back to finish her speech.

Which sitting president was reported to have called West a "jackass" after the 2009 VMAs incident?

Barack Obama, in an off-the-record aside during a 2009 CNBC interview, called West a 'jackass', a remark leaked on Twitter by an ABC News staffer; Obama repeated the verdict on the record in 2012.

Where did West record most of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy during his post-VMAs exile?

West retreated to Honolulu, Hawaii, in 2010, booking Avex Honolulu Studios round the clock and flying in guests including Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver for the album's 'Rap Camp' sessions.

Which artist painted the My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy cover with the armless winged figure?

George Condo painted five covers for the album; the main one, a nude West astride an armless winged woman, was judged too explicit for some retailers, who stocked a censored version.

Roughly how long is Runaway, the short film West directed to accompany My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy?

Runaway runs about 35 minutes; shot in Prague and premiered in October 2010, it casts Selita Ebanks as a fallen phoenix opposite West, with a ballet sequence set to the title song.

What was GOOD Fridays, which West ran from August to December 2010?

GOOD Fridays was a weekly free song giveaway: every Friday from August 20 to December 2010, West posted a new track online for free, and several, including Monster, landed on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Which two soul singers are credited as guest features on Watch the Throne purely through vocal samples?

Otis Redding is credited on Otis (sampling Try a Little Tenderness) and Curtis Mayfield on The Joy (sampling The Makings of You), both billed as features though neither was alive to record.

What record did the Watch the Throne roadshow set when it ended in June 2012?

The record stood until Drake's Summer Sixteen Tour surpassed it.

Which veteran producer did West bring in 15 days before Yeezus was due to strip its sound down?

Rick Rubin, co-founder of Def Jam, was brought to Yeezus in late May 2013 with the album not yet finished; in about two weeks he stripped tracks to their bones, cutting the record to ten songs.

Which rapper supported West on the Yeezus Tour, his first solo tour in five years?

Kendrick Lamar, fresh off good kid, m.A.A.d city, opened the Yeezus Tour from its October 2013 start in Seattle; it was West's first solo tour since 2008's Glow in the Dark Tour.

Which title was never used for the album eventually released as The Life of Pablo?

Yandhi was the name of a different, never-released album West announced in 2018; the 2016 record was called So Help Me God, then SWISH and Waves before becoming The Life of Pablo.

Which streaming service had The Life of Pablo exclusively for weeks after its 2016 release?

The Life of Pablo streamed only on Tidal, the artist-owned service West had a stake in, for about six weeks from February 2016; it became the first album to top the Billboard 200 mainly through streaming.

The five seven-track albums West produced in mid-2018, including Ye, were recorded near which town?

West set up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for the 2018 'Wyoming Sessions', producing Daytona, Ye, Kids See Ghosts, Nas's Nasir and Teyana Taylor's K.T.S.E. and hosting the Ye listening party there on May 31.

How was the mountain photo on the cover of Ye taken?

West shot the cover on his iPhone on the drive to the Ye listening party on May 31, 2018, hours before release; it shows the Teton Range with the caption 'I hate being Bi-Polar its awesome'.

Kids See Ghosts is West's 2018 collaborative album with which artist?

Kid Cudi, signed to West's GOOD Music in 2008 and a co-writer on 808s & Heartbreak, joined him for Kids See Ghosts, which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 in June 2018.

Where did West's Sunday Service give its first public performance, on Easter Sunday 2019?

Sunday Service's first public show was at Coachella on April 21, 2019, on a grassy hill in the Indio campgrounds; West had pulled out of headlining the festival that January over a dome stage he wanted built.

On what date did the Sunday Service Choir release its debut album, Jesus Is Born?

Jesus Is Born, the Sunday Service Choir's 19-track debut, came out on Christmas Day 2019, two months after West's Jesus Is King; a year later to the day the choir released the Latin-language EP Emmanuel.

Which smooth-jazz saxophonist appears as a guest on Jesus Is King?

Kenny G plays the saxophone solo on Use This Gospel; West had hired him to serenade Kim Kardashian among roses on Valentine's Day 2019, and the album won Best Contemporary Christian Music Album at the 2021 Grammys.

Jesus Is King was the first album ever to simultaneously top which set of charts?

Jesus Is King debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and simultaneously on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop, Top Rap, Top Christian and Top Gospel album charts in November 2019, a five-chart sweep no album had managed before.

While finishing Donda in 2021, West lived in a locker room converted into a studio at which venue?

The album is named for his late mother, runs an hour and 48 minutes, and was his tenth straight number-one debut.

What was the Donda Stem Player, released with Kano Computing in October 2021?

It sold for $200 through West's Yeezy Tech and became his preferred outlet for releasing music outside the major-label system.

With which singer did West form the duo ¥$ for the Vultures albums?

Ty Dolla Sign, the Los Angeles singer behind Paranoid and Or Nah, teamed with West as ¥$ (yen and dollar signs) for Vultures 1, released in February 2024 and a Billboard 200 number one.

The chant loop driving the 2024 number-one Carnival was recorded by which club's ultras?

The stadium-style hook was recorded with Inter Milan's Curva Nord ultras during West's 2023 stay in Italy; Carnival topped the Hot 100 in March 2024 and gave Playboi Carti and Rich the Kid their first number ones.

What was the first shoe of the Adidas collaboration, released in February 2015?

The Yeezy Boost 750, a high-top in 'Light Brown' suede with a zip and strap, dropped on February 14, 2015 in a run of 9,000 pairs that sold out in about ten minutes; the Boost 350 followed that June.

Why did West say he left his previous sneaker partner for Adidas in 2013?

The 2009 Air Yeezy had made him the first non-athlete to get a Nike shoe deal; Adidas offered royalties and left him 100% ownership of the brand.

How were Yeezy Gap clothes displayed when they hit Gap stores in July 2022, prompting a backlash?

Shoppers found Yeezy Gap hoodies dumped in unsorted trash bags, big black sacks with no hangers or racks; West, who worked at Gap as a teenager, defended the display, and he ended the ten-year deal that September.

What does the acronym in GOOD Music stand for?

GOOD stands for Getting Out Our Dreams; West founded the label in 2004 through Sony BMG, with John Legend and Common among its first signings.

Whom did West appoint president of GOOD Music in November 2015?

Pusha T, signed to GOOD Music in 2010, was named the label's president in November 2015 and held the post until stepping down in late 2022 after he and West fell out.

Under what banner did West run for president in 2020?

West ran under the Birthday Party banner, telling Forbes in July 2020 that 'when we win, it's everybody's birthday'; he had announced the campaign on Twitter on July 4, 2020.

Roughly how many votes did West receive across the 12 states where he had ballot access in 2020?

West drew roughly 70,000 votes across the 12 states where he made the ballot, under 0.1 percent of the national vote; he conceded on Twitter the morning after Election Day and hinted at 2024.

What reason did West give in 2018 for wanting to be known as Ye?

A Los Angeles judge granted the legal change to the single name Ye, with no middle or last name, in October 2021.

Which West album closes with Bound 2, whose video put Kim Kardashian on a motorcycle?

Bound 2 is the closing track of Yeezus (2013), a soul-sampling outlier on an abrasive album; its video, with Kim Kardashian riding a motorcycle with West, was parodied by Seth Rogen and James Franco.

In 2008 West became the first solo artist to manage what at the Grammys?

He has still never won Album of the Year, and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy's omission from the category in 2012 was widely called a snub.

Which animated sitcom featured West voicing a rapper named Kenny West?

Kenny West, a struggling rapper who first appears in a 2010 rap battle with Cleveland Jr., was voiced by West on The Cleveland Show; he also cameoed in The Love Guru, Entourage and Anchorman 2.

Which fast-food chain did West's company KW Foods buy the Chicago-area rights to in 2008?

KW Foods bought the Chicago-area rights to Fatburger, the Los Angeles burger chain, planning ten restaurants; the first opened in Orland Park in September 2008 and closed in early 2011 over poor sales.

How much did Netflix reportedly pay for Jeen-Yuhs, the documentary shot over 21 years of West's life?

Netflix reportedly paid about $30 million for Jeen-Yuhs, shot by Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah over 21 years; the three-part series premiered in February 2022.

Which institution gave West an honorary doctorate in May 2015?

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago awarded West an honorary doctorate on May 11, 2015; as a teenager he had taken a painting scholarship at Chicago's American Academy of Art.

West's very first sneaker collaboration, released in January 2007, was with which brand?

A Bathing Ape released the College Dropout Bapesta, with Dropout Bear on the heel, in January 2007; it preceded West's Nike Air Yeezy (2009) and his Louis Vuitton shoe line shown in Paris in 2009.

At which Italian fashion house did West intern in Rome in fall 2009?

West interned at Fendi in Rome in late 2009 alongside Virgil Abloh, pitching ideas for menswear during his break from music after the VMAs; his own women's line debuted at Paris Fashion Week in 2011.

Where did West and Kim Kardashian marry in May 2014?

The couple married on May 24, 2014 at the Forte di Belvedere, a 16th-century fortress overlooking Florence, after pre-wedding festivities at Versailles; they had four children before the divorce was finalized in November 2022.

West's first official production credits came at 19 on the 1996 debut of which Chicago rapper?

West produced eight tracks on Grav's 1996 debut Down to Earth, his first official production credits, cut at 19 on the bedroom equipment his mother helped him buy.

A live album by which English trip-hop group inspired the string arrangements on Late Registration?

Portishead's 1998 live album Roseland NYC Live, recorded with a full orchestra at New York's Roseland Ballroom, gave West the template for the strings on Late Registration, which took over a year and about $2 million to make.

Who did West name as his running mate for the 2020 presidential race?

Michelle Tidball, a preacher and self-described 'biblical life coach' from Cody, was named as West's running mate in his July 2020 Forbes interview; she had never held public office.

How much did West pay to license the Whitney Houston bathroom photo used on Pusha T's Daytona cover?

West paid $85,000 to license the 2006 photo of Whitney Houston's drug-strewn bathroom, swapping it in days before Daytona's May 2018 release; Daytona was the first of his five seven-track 2018 albums, with Ye a week later.

Which 2015 single teamed West with Rihanna and Paul McCartney?

FourFiveSeconds, released in January 2015, paired West and Rihanna over Paul McCartney's acoustic guitar; the trio performed it at that year's Grammys, and it reached number four on the Hot 100.

In January 2026 West published a paid full-page apology for his antisemitic remarks in which newspaper?

He blamed manic episodes in which he 'gravitated toward the most destructive symbol' he could find.

West announced his album Bully at a September 2024 concert in which Chinese city?

West announced Bully at a September 2024 listening event in Haikou, at the Wuyuan River Stadium in Hainan province, previewing the track Beauty and the Beast.