There has been lot of buzz lately around this guy, who was probably the most hated person last year, but blessed us with a materpiece this year. Not to defend his rants and all that stuff (UPDATE 31/12/2010: Even though Talib Kweli has some good points on all that in this interview here), but just to show you what he already did before becoming the celebrity he is today, I’m going to post some tracks Ye produced in his early days, that you might not really know about.

Aaaaaaaaaand here we go… (I hope you live in another country in Germany to be able to also listen to the songs. Otherwise there are also ways to avoid this UMG content message. * inducates songs that you can listen to in Germany.)

Foxy Brown – My Life (1998)

Jay-Z – This Can’t Be Life (2000 – his first track for Jay-Z)

Jay-Z – Heart Of The City (2001 – his 1st beat after moving to the NYC area)

Jay-Z – Takeover (2001)

Jay-Z – Izzo (H.O.V.A.) (2001 – his 1st hit single)

Jay-Z – Never Change (2001)

Scarface f/ Jay-Z & Beanie Sigel – Guess Who’s Back (2002)

Knoc-Turn’Al – Muzik* (2002)

Talib Kweli – Guerrilla Monsoon Rap (2002)

Jay-Z f/ Faith Evans & the Notorious B.I.G – A Dream (2002)

Talib Kweli – Get By (2002)

Jay-Z f/ Beyoncé – Bonnie & Clyde ’03 (2002)

Talib Kweli – Good To You (2002)

Jay-Z f/ Twista & Big Boi – Poppin Tags (2002)

DMX – Dog’s Out (2003)

Jay-Z – Encore* (2003)

Alicia Keys – You Don’t Know My Name* (2003)

Jay-Z – Lucifer (2003)

Ludacris – Stand Up (2003)

In 2004 his first album The College Dropout was released and this was the first time I ever heard about kanYe West. I still remember we would blast this album on our way to the courts in the summer as this was the first year me and my friends were allowed to drive.

Janet Jackson – I Want You* (2004)

Twista f/ Kanye West & Jamie Foxx – Slow Jamz* (2004)

Twista – Overnight Celebrity* (2004)

Janet Jackson f/ Kanye West – My Baby* (2004)

Dilated Peoples – This Way* (2004)

Petey Pablo – I Swear (2004)

Talib Kweli f/ Mary J. Blige – I Try (2004)

John Legend – Used To Love U *(2004)

Slum Village – Selfish* (2004)

John Legend f/ Kanye West – Number One* (2004)

Mos Def – Sunshine (2004)

Talib Kweli f/ John Legend – Around My Way (2004)

Brandy f/ Kanye West – Talk About Our Love* (2004)

Cam’ron f/ Kanye West – Down And Out (2004)

In 2005 his second album Late Registration came out and he also produced a ton of songs on Common‘s Be.

Kanye West f/ Common – Wouldn’t You Like To Ride* (2005)

The Game – Dreams *(2005)

Diddy f/ NaS & Cee-Lo – Everything I Love* (2006)

The Game f/ Kanye West – Wouldn’t Get Far* (2006)

2007 then marked the release of Graduation and I think you mostly know what he’s been up to since then. (If not, you might wanna check this Wikipedia entry.)

Yeezy will always be a guy I’m rooting for, because he just cares so much about his craft and I hope you enjoyed this week’s music post and got an idea what he already accomplished before starting to have his own records out.

Andi / @IAMGANDINO

(via: Wikipedia / Thx to Richie for the first pic)