“He was always producing with the intention of being a rapper. There’s beats on the album he’s been literally saving for himself for years.”

16 years ago, Kanye West started it all with ‘The College Dropout.’ What was the best song on this project? pic.twitter.com/PvKl7xRYYB

— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) February 10, 2020

Say what you will about Kanye West and all the drama around him over the years, but you cannot deny the man put out some of the best rap music ever made early in his career. Kanye’s debut album The College Dropout alone featured mega hits like Through the Wire, Slow Jamz, Jesus Walks, and All Falls Down. Those are just the radio hits though.

If you haven’t listened to this album in a while, do yourself a favor and go back and listen to Spaceship, Never Let Me Down (ft. Jay Z), Get Em High (ft. Talib Kwelli and Common), Breathe In Breathe Out (ft. Ludacris) just to name a few. Thats basically the entire album, and I didn’t even mention New Workout Plan.

Kanye is without a doubt the most successful producer turned rapper after spending years mixing beats for guys like Jay-Z. Watching a young Ye at work in the studio really is incredible to see. Just look at Jay’s face when he first hears some of these beats that would later go on The Black Album. That’s inspiring man.

One of my all-time favorite Kanye West stories comes from the Tim Ferris Show when Jamie Foxx told the story of how Slow Jamz came together:

Also, in things I learned today is that the bear mascot that Kanye had become synonomous with over the years for incorporating into several album covers, was a completely unplanned thing.

today in 2004, kanye west dropped his classic debut album ‘the college dropout’ 🐐

the dropout bear wasn’t actually planned out—the mascot just happened to be at the high school kanye shot the cover at 🐻 favorite track? pic.twitter.com/LtsPxImyw2

— Genius (@Genius) February 10, 2020