In the span of three short years, Kanye West went from hip-hop beat maker to worldwide hit maker, as his stellar production work for Jay-Z led to a major-label recording contract and, ultimately, a wildly successful solo career.

West paired his beats with tongue-twisting raps and a self-assured, flamboyant personality.

His dapper fashion sense set him apart from many of his rap peers, and his confidence often came across as boastful or even egotistic, albeit amusingly so.

This flamboyance, of course, made for good press, something that West enjoyed in spades during his sudden rise to celebrity status.

He was a media darling, appearing and performing at countless awards shows (and winning at them, too), delivering theatrical videos to MTV, and mouthing off about whatever happened to cross his mind.

He frequently spoke out against the rampant homophobia evident in much rap music, posed for the cover of Rolling Stone as Jesus Christ, and even claimed during a televised Hurricane Katrina fundraiser that "George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”

West courted controversy, no question about it, but his steady presence in the celebrity limelight couldn’t eclipse his musical talent    

Kanye has so far produced three albums his debut album The College Dropout released in 2004 which won the best album at the Grammy awards in 2005.

Later that year he produced his second album Late Registration which also won the best album award. After sometime on the side lines Kanye West produced his third album in 2007 Graduation which became his third consecutive chat topping album.  

In 2008 Kanye West underwent a major change of pace that saw him singing his emotionally pained songs after the loss of his mother and the breakup with his fiancée. His single love lock down was released late last year. 

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