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Who Is Kanye West?

Kanye West is a famous American fashion designer, composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, and rapper who has a net worth of $1.3 billion. His music is a mix of different genres, including gospel, industrial, synth-pop, indie rock, electro, baroque pop, soul, and hip-hop. 

Aside from his music, Kanye is well-known for being the husband of the famous socialite, Kim Kardashian. He appeared regularly in Kim’s family’s reality show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

Personal Details

Celebrity Name: Kanye West
Full Name: Kanye Omari West
Gender: Male
Birth Date: June 8, 1977
Birth Place: Douglasville, Georgia, US
Age: 43
Height: 1.73m
Weight: 80 kilos
Nationality: American
Sexual Orientation: Straight
Status: Married
Wife: Kim Kardashian, married since 2014
Children: Chicago West, North West, Psalm West, Saint West
Profession: American fashion designer, entrepreneur, record producer, songwriter, singer, and rapper
Net Worth: $1.3 billion

Early Life

Kanye Omari West was born on June 8, 1977, in Douglasville, Georgia, to parents Ray West and Dr. Donda C. West. His father is a Christian counselor and was a photojournalist at the Atlanta Journal-Consitution. His mother was an English professor at Clark Atlanta University. Kanye’s parents got a divorce when he was only three. After that, he and his mother moved to Chicago, Illinois.

When he was 10, he and his mother moved again and this time, to Nanjing, China, since his mother got a job at Nanjing University. According to Donda, Kanye was able to fit quickly and well in his class although he was the only foreign student.

Kanye showed an interest in arts at a tender age and started writing his own poetry at the age of five. According to his mother, she noticed Kanye’s love for music and drawing when he was still in the third grade. At the same time, Kanye also began rapping and in the seventh grade, making his own compositions.

After he graduated from high school, Kanye received a scholarship from Chicago’s American Academy in 1997. He started to take painting classes but shortly after, he shifted to studying English at Chicago State University.

When he was 20, he realized that his studies were getting in the way of his music work. So, he dropped out of school and focused on pursuing his music career.

Kanye West’s Net Worth

Personal Life

Family and Relationships

In 2002, Kanye had an on and off relationship with Alexis Phifer. After four years, they became engaged but broke things off in 2008. Shortly after, he had a brief relationship with Amber Rose until 2010. 

Two years after, he started to date Kim Kardashian, also a well-known personality in the entertainment industry. After a year of being together, the two got engaged in October 2013 and got married in May 2014. They have four children, North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm.

Mental Health

West mentions in some of his songs that he experiences symptoms of anxiety and depression and even referred to using Lexapro, an antidepressant medicine. On November 21, 2016, Kanye was admitted to the UCLA Medical Center for paranoia and hallucinations. It was believed that he did not go there voluntarily and hade to be persuaded by authorities. 21 of his concerts were canceled. At first, it was described as a temporary psychosis from sleep deprivation and dehydration. There was never a formal diagnosis but it was believed that he suffered from paranoia triggered by the robbery of Kim Kardashian in Paris.

During an interview in 2018, Kanye admitted that he developed an addiction to opioids, which may have partly caused his nervous breakdown two years ago. He also stated that he frequently has suicidal ideas and in an interview with David Letterman, he shared that he has a bipolar disorder.

Legal Issues

Kanye West was sued by Robert Knievel in December 2006 for trademark infringement in his Touch the Sky video. But u November 2007, just a few days before his death, Knievel settled the lawsuit. In 2014, Kanye had an altercation with a paparazzi at the LA airport. He was sentenced to two years of probation for a conviction of a misdemeanor battery.

Kanye West Career

Music

West established his own production house, Roc-A-Fella Records, in early 2000. Under his company, he has produced hit singles for several iconic artists, including Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Beanie Sigel, Cam’ron, Freeway, and more. He also made songs for Ludacris and Janet Jackson.

In 2003, West released his first mixtape titled Get Well Soon… and followed by the second called I’m Good… In 2006, he released his third mixtape titled Welcome to Kanye’s Soul Mix Show and the fourth in 2007 titled Can’t Tell Me Nothing.

In 2004, he launched his debut album, The College Dropout. So far, he has made nine studio albums. Other albums of Kanye are Late Registration (2005), Graduation (2007), 808s and Heartbreak (2008), My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), Yeezus (2013), The Life of Pablo (2016), Ye (2018), Jesus Is King (2019), and Donda With Child (2020).

West also had three collaborative albums, Watch The Throne with Jay-Z, Kids See Ghosts with Kid Cudi, and Jesus Is Born with Sunday Service Choir. Moreover, he has one compilation album titled Cruel Summer with GOOD Music and two live albums, Late Orchestration and Vh1 Storytellers: Kanye West.

TV Shows and Cameos

Ever since he began dating Kim K, West became a regular of the famous reality show, Keeping Up With the Kardashian. He also made a guest appearance in other TV shows, including The Cleveland Show, Entourage, and I am Cait.

In addition, he made various cameos in movies, such as The Love Guru, We Were Once a Fairytale, Cruel Summer, Runaway, State Property 2, and Fade to Black among others.

Kanye West Awards and Achievements

With his successful music career, Kanye West has won many awards. Some of them are:

  • 21 Grammy Awards
  • Webby Award for Artist of the Year
  • Accessories Council Award
  • GQ Award for International Man of the Year
  • 3 BET Awards for Best Male Hip-Hop Artist 

Kanye West Total Net Worth

To date, Kanye West has a net worth of $1.3 billion. Most of his fortune came from his music career, selling more than 30 million copies of his albums. He also makes a lot of money from various endorsements. Apart from that, he makes money from his production house as well as being a regular in the reality TV show of his wife and her family.