Kanye West

West began dating reality television star Kim Kardashian in April 2012, after several years of friendship. The couple became engaged in October 2013 and married in Florence, Italy, in May 2014. Together, they have four children: North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm. Kardashian filed for divorce in February 2021 citing irreconcilable differences, and the divorce settlement was finalized in November 2022.

Prior to his marriage to Kardashian, West was engaged to designer Alexis Phifer from 2006 to 2008 and dated model Amber Rose from 2008 to 2010. Following his divorce, he briefly dated actress Julia Fox in early 2022. In December 2022, West held a private, non-legally binding marriage ceremony with Australian architectural designer Bianca Censori, who worked for his Yeezy brand.

In August 2021, West petitioned a California court to legally change his name from Kanye Omari West to simply Ye, citing personal reasons. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michelle Williams Court approved the name change in October 2021. West has publicly detailed his mental health history, including a diagnosis of bipolar disorder following a hospitalization in late 2016, an autism diagnosis, and struggles with substance addictions.

Kanye Omari West was born on June 8, 1977, in Atlanta, Georgia. Following his parents' divorce when he was three years old, he moved with his mother, Donda West, to Chicago, Illinois. His father, Ray West, was a former Black Panther and photojournalist who later became a Christian counselor. His mother served as Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University before managing her son's career.

At age 10, West lived in Nanjing, China, for a period while his mother taught at Nanjing University as a Fulbright Scholar. West developed an interest in creative arts from an early age, writing poetry as a young child and creating musical compositions by the seventh grade. He found an early mentor in Chicago producer No I.D. After graduating from high school, West briefly studied painting at Chicago's American Academy of Art and English at Chicago State University before dropping out at age 20 to pursue music full-time.

West began his professional music career producing for local Chicago acts in the mid-1990s, earning his first major credits on Grav's 1996 album Down to Earth. In the late 1990s, he produced tracks for artists such as Foxy Brown and formed the group Go-Getters with fellow Chicago artists GLC, Timmy G, and Arrowstar, releasing the album World Record Holders in 1999 through Konman Productions.

In 2000, West became an in-house producer for Roc-A-Fella Records. His distinctive chipmunk soul style, which used pitched-up vocal samples from vintage soul records, revitalized Jay-Z's career on the landmark 2001 album The Blueprint. Despite his success producing hits for Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and Janet Jackson, label executives initially hesitated to sign West as a rapper because his image did not align with dominant gangsta rap trends. Label head Damon Dash eventually signed him to Roc-A-Fella as a recording artist in 2002.

In October 2002, West survived a near-fatal car crash in Los Angeles that shattered his jaw. Two weeks later, he recorded the breakthrough track "Through the Wire" with his jaw still wired shut. The song served as the foundation for his debut album, The College Dropout, released in February 2004. Supported by the singles "Slow Jamz" and "Jesus Walks", the album achieved triple-platinum certification, reached number two on the Billboard 200, and earned West ten Grammy nominations.

In 2004, West founded the record label GOOD Music. He followed his debut with Late Registration in 2005, collaborating with composer Jon Brion to integrate live string orchestration inspired by English trip-hop group Portishead. The album produced the number-one hit single "Gold Digger" featuring Jamie Foxx, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.

West released Graduation in September 2007, incorporating stadium-rock and electronic elements. The album featured the chart-topping single "Stronger", built around a Daft Punk sample, and helped shift hip-hop away from gangsta rap conventions. Following the death of his mother in November 2007 and the dissolution of his engagement to Alexis Phifer, West recorded his fourth album, 808s & Heartbreak (2008), in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Characterized by heavy Auto-Tune use, minimalist drum-machine rhythms, and themes of grief, 808s & Heartbreak produced the hit singles "Love Lockdown" and "Heartless". Although initially polarizing, the album became widely recognized as a foundational influence on melodic and emotionally candid hip-hop.

Following an interruption of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, West retreated to Hawaii to record My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010). The maximalist project featured collaborations with Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, and Justin Vernon, receiving widespread critical acclaim and spawning singles like "Power" and "Runaway". In 2011, West collaborated with Jay-Z on the joint album Watch the Throne, which included the hit single "Niggas in Paris".

West continued exploring unconventional sounds with Yeezus (2013), an industrial and minimal rap album executive produced alongside Rick Rubin. In 2016, he released The Life of Pablo, an evolving gospel-rap project launched on Tidal. That year, he embarked on the Saint Pablo Tour featuring a suspended flying stage, but cancelled remaining dates following exhaustion and psychiatric hospitalization.

In 2018, West operated out of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, producing a sequence of seven-track albums including his solo release Ye, the collaborative album Kids See Ghosts with Kid Cudi, Pusha T's Daytona, Nas's Nasir, and Teyana Taylor's K.T.S.E.

In 2019, West formed the Sunday Service Choir and released Jesus Is King, which swept gospel, Christian, and rap Billboard charts. He dedicated his subsequent 2021 release, Donda, to his late mother, holding public stadium listening events while finishing the record. In 2024, West teamed with singer Ty Dolla Sign under the moniker ¥$ to release the collaborative albums Vultures 1 and Vultures 2.

Outside music, West established extensive ventures in design and fashion. He released collaborative shoes with Nike, including the Air Yeezy line, before partnering with Adidas in 2013 to establish Yeezy footwear and apparel. In 2012, he founded the creative agency Donda to produce design and media projects.

West launched an independent bid for President of the United States in the 2020 election under the Birthday Party banner, receiving over 60,000 votes across twelve states where he achieved ballot access. Beginning in late 2022, West faced widespread public backlash and the termination of major corporate partnerships with Adidas, Gap, and Balenciaga following a series of antisemitic public statements.