Kanye West
From ArticleWorld
Kanye West was born June 8, 1977 in Atlanta, Georgia. He began his hip-hop career as a producer and worked with many famous performers including Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, Brandy and John Legend. When Jay-Z released his album The Blueprint, West became a prominent figure in the hip-hop community, as he had produced six of the album's tracks.
Rough start
He worked on his own album but was often shunned by record companies because he was clean-cut - the antithesis of what they thought a rapper should look like. In 202, West was in a severe car accident and broke his jaw in three places. With his mouth wired shut, he recorded his hit Through the Wire. His debut album was picked up and released by Roc-a-fella records in 2004. He follow up song Jesus Walks was featured in the film Jarhead and would be one of his most successful releases. The song became the song he went to during benefit concerts, such as Live 8.
Late Registration
In August 2005, West released his sophomore album Late Registration. Reviews were mixed. The first two tracks off the album were Diamonds from Sierra Leone and Gold Digger the latter of which featured Jamie Foxx. In its first week of release, the album sold over 900,000 copies and garnered eight Grammy Award nominations including Record of the Year for Gold Digger and Album of the Year.
Politics
West is known for his outspoken views on everything from music to fashion to politics. In 2005, during a Live 8 concert in Philadelphia, West made reference to the AIDS epidemic and called it a man-made disease. This referenced the belief that the United States government introduced AIDS to the African community by way of the polio vaccine. In August of that year, Kanye likened the Civil Right struggle to that of the gay rights movement. Perhaps his most well known comment came during a live benefit for Katrina relief during A Concert for Hurricane Relief. After a long speech about how blacks were being treated as looters and criminals, his presenting partner Mike Myers continued as though nothing was said. When it was again Kanye's turn to speak he said, George Bush doesn't care about black people. In 2006 he claimed that he should be a part of the Bible.