Kanye West cut his teeth producing records for the likes of Jay Z, but has since left his mark as one of the greatest rappers of the past 15 years. His influence on rap music and culture top notch, only to be met by the top dogs in the game.
While Yeezus has received mix reviews, the first three albums are pretty unanimously heralded as some of the finest hip-hop music in our lifetime. With countless hits, including "Jesus Walks," "Gold Digger," "Stronger" and so many more, these records launched Kanye West in to the mainstream at light speed.
We could easily compile a list of the dopest singles from those albums, but that wouldn't be all too much fun. So with the popular tunes aside, let's take a look at some of the lesser-known tracks from Yeezus' early days.
Kanye West featuring Jay-Z and J. Ivy - Never Let Me Down
You'd think Kanye would have enlisted Jay Z for his debut single or something, but this turned out being one of the realest, most lyrical, tracks that came out on this album. Complete with a couple great Jay Z verses and some fantastic spoken word style from J. Ivy, this is a fine, fine tune.
Kanye West - Family Business
Kanye West's first three albums were so impressive because he produced all of the tracks with very little help. This marked the first time a producer really killed it with a rap album since Dr. Dre did The Chronic.
"Family Business" is a prime example of the production Kanye was giving himself at the time. It's soulful, intelligent, and smooth.
Kanye West - Last Call
Kanye seemed to save one of the best cuts for last on his album The College Dropout. The song is comprised of flawless samples, a flawless beat, flawless words.
Kanye West featuring Talib Kweli & Common - Get Em High
This song had a lot of club appeal and still gets spins and remixes from all sorts of DJs and producers, so it's one of the least-deep cuts on the list. The second verse is too fire with the Biggie reference, phone call raps, and dialogue with Talib Kweli. It's one of the coolest ways to split a verse that we've heard.
Kanye West featuring Common - My Way Home
Mr. West took a page out of J Dilla's book and kept this one short. Despite its length, it's had quite the impact, influencing bunches of freestyles (one notably by J. Cole) and a dope remix from the likes of DJ Rashad. Yeezus didn't even rap on this one, he just let the words of Gil-Scott Heron breathe at the end.
Kanye West featuring Common, Q-Tip, Talib Kweli & Rhymefest - We Can Make It Better
This is a pretty spacey posse cut from the early G.O.O.D. Music squad. It's a good, uplifting track that was on the UK version of Late Registration.
Kanye West featuring Nas & Really Doe - We Major
Kanye West inlists the don, Nas, to come in on some more classic production. This was a peak in to the dramatic, cinematic stylings we'd see more of when My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy came out.
Kanye West featuring Mos Def & Al Be Back - Good Night
Mos Def does his best Bob Marley impression at the beginning of this Graduation b-side, and you know what? We dig it. This one wouldn't have really fit in on the album, but thankfully enough it surfaced as a bonus cut.
Kanye West featuring John Mayer - Bittersweet Poetry
This one, on the other hand, should have totally fit in on the album. With the crossover appeal of John Mayer, it's kind of surprising he didn't do it. That's Kanye for ya though.
This was a Japanese bonus track, but has definitely seen it's share of popularity around the world.
Kanye West - I Wonder
Kanye sampled Labi Siffre HEAVILY on this one. He totally did it justice though, and brought this absolutely incredible original tune to the masses with a little extra flavor. Thank you Kanye.