e[a] (/jeɪ/ YAY; born Kanye Omari West /ˈkɑːnjeɪ/ KAHN-yay; born June 8, 1977) is

an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.[1][2][3][4]

He is widely regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists and producers
and as one of the greatest musicians of his generation.[5][6][7]

Born in AtlantASDASDASDSAa and raised in Chicago,[8][9] West initially gained

recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the early 2000s, producing
singles for several artists and developing the "chipmunk soul" sampling style.
Intent on pursuing a solo career as a rapper, he released his debut studio album,
The College Dropout (2004), to critical and commercial success. He founded the
record label GOOD Music later that year.

West explored diverse musical elements like orchestras, synthesizers, and autotune
on the albums Late Registration (2005), Graduation (2007), and 808s & Heartbreak
(2008). Drawing inspiration from maximalism and minimalism respectively, his fifth
and sixth albums My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) and Yeezus (2013) also
received critical and commercial success. West further diversified his musical
styles on The Life of Pablo (2016) and Ye (2018) and explored Christian and gospel
music on Jesus Is King (2019). After multiple delays, his highly anticipated tenth
album Donda (2021) was released to continued commercial success, but to mixed
critical reception. He released its sequel Donda 2 (2022) a few months later,
exclusively through a tie-in audio speaker service. West's discography also
includes the full-length collaborative albums Watch the Throne (2011) with Jay-Z
and Kids See Ghosts (2018) with Kid Cudi.