Kanye Omari West is an American record producer, composer, film director, fashion designer, and entrepreneur from Illinois. He first garnered prominence as the producer for Roc-A-Fella Records. Later in his career, he expanded his musical inspirations to include R&B, trip hop, baroque pop, folk, alternative, arena rock, classical, industrial, and synthpop music. West is the owner of GOOD Music, his own record label, and has directed a number of short films. He grew up in a middle-class family and began rapping at a very young age, becoming immersed in the city’s hip hop scene. West attended an art school for one semester before leaving to pursue a career in music in the late 1990s. He developed an interest in drawing almost as soon as he developed an interest in music. He began writing poems at the age of five.
Among the numerous pop music artists, Kanye West is widely regarded as the best-selling and most well-known. West has garnered twenty-one Grammy Awards and was named to TIME magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people. West is a contentious and outspoken personality with a colorful and stylish fashion sense.
West’s parents divorced, and he went to Chicago with his mother from Atlanta. He attended Polaris High School in Oak Lawn. He graduated from West Aurora High School and received a scholarship to attend American Academy of Art. He quickly applied to transfer to Chicago State University with the intention of majoring in English. His classes became an impediment to his musical practices, and he eventually dropped out to pursue a career as a musician. His mother was dissatisfied with his choice but recognized that not all occupations require a college diploma.
Apart from his passion for music, West has also engaged in economic enterprises. In 2008, he opened Fatburger restaurants in Chicago.
Prior to this, he wanted to launch a clothing brand within a year and even explored ideas for it in 2005. The project, however, was shelved in 2009. The following year, he teamed up with Nike, a world-famous shoe company. The pair launched West’s own footwear line, Air Yeezys. Kanye West also debuted a Louis Vuitton shoe collection at Paris Fashion Week. West has also designed footwear for Giuseppe Zanotti and Bape.
Moving on, in 2011, West debuted DW Kanye West. It was a women’s fashion brand. Jeremy Scott, the Olsen sisters, Azzedine Alaa, Olivier Theyskens, Dean and Dan Caten all lent their support to the collection during Paris Fashion Week. His show drew mixed reviews from Style.com, The Wall Street Journal, The International Herald Tribune, Harper’s Bazaar, The Daily Telegraph, and Elleuk.com, among others. He released a second fashion collection at the same fashion event in 2012. This time, the evaluations were complimentary of the presentation. Adidas, a well-known sports corporation, confirmed their collaboration with West a year later.
He began dating Alexis Phifer in 2002 and they became engaged in 2006. They ended their relationship after two years. West then began dating Amber Rose until 2010. He has been dating socialite Kim Kardashian since 2012. They are parents and announced their engagement in October 2013.
