A Musical Dig Through Kanye West’s Early Years Posted by Lucas G. on 09/16/13 | Filed under Kanye West, Rap Nerdery

You might be hungry for more "Nothing Was The Same" and while I can’t blame you, I would only ask you take a deep breath and pace yourself; the album isn’t officially out until next week, so there will be plenty more discussion to come. However I am willing to throw you a bone to help get you through the long wait. Would some new (old) unreleased Kanye West help? While the internet was busy with Drake, Fake Shore Drive, dug up an unreleased early 00's cut form Kanye and Myleka.

You might recognize “Candy” because the beat was also used for Trina’s Luda-assisted cut “B R Right”, but before Trina got her hands on it, Kanye had leased it to the lesser known Myleka and “Candy” was born. Kanye even hops on the mic, spitting a verse that is eerily similar, flow-wise, to “Pro Nails”. Even way back then Kanye was killing everything he touched. Few artists get me as nostalgic as Kanye does—maybe its how far he has come or the fact that he behind some of my favorite projects—so this got time thinking, what other early Kanye artifacts are out there?

I guess it makes sense to go in chronological order here, so lets start with an 18-year-old Kanye.“Line For Line” featuring both a beat and verse from teenage West has got to be one of his earliest recorded efforts. I know there was one from 1995, “You On Something” which has yet to be dug up, so for now, this will have to serve as the first Kanye song. The beat shouldn’t surprise you, it has that Kanye flavor, but his flow is almost unrecognizable. I would be willing to bet that there is a large portion of casual Kanye fans who wouldn’t be able to recognize him. His flow is way more aggressive and gritty than “early” Kanye ("College Dropout"); the change is remarkable:

In just two short years, Kanye went from producing songs for a Grav to hanging out at Jermaine Dupri’s birthday party. Here is some footage of him giving a shoutout in 1996 and sweet baby Jesus does he look different. The glasses caught me at first—they make him look like Urkel—but now I can’t get of the set of chompers on that dude. I guess his teeth are kind of big, but his face is much more chimpmunky/chubby now so they don’t stand out as much. But back then...

If you are a die-hard Kanye fan than you will recognize the bars in this next clip immediately. For those who may not know every single line of every single Kanye song ever, allow me to direct you to “Last Call”, the final cut off his debut album, "The College Dropout". At the end of the song he gives a monologue about his rise to the top, and in it he shares a few gems, like his “Wow” hook. It's so interesting to listen to his early, early stuff and here little beats and pieces that were touched up and included in some of his classics.

This next one, from 2004, wasn’t produced by Kanye (the honor goes to Melbeatz) but showcases Kanye’s skills as an emcee. Maybe it’s a hindsight 20/20 thing, but listening to “Oh Oh” makes me wonder how the fuck it took so long for Kanye to be respected and given a chance as an emcee. There is just something so special about his style. I can’t place it exactly but he has this special way of drawing you in and is so unique and refreshing. Even to this day, damn near 10 years later, this cut still bangs and never loses that fresh quality. It is a little rough around the edges, but I think that makes me like it even more.

Kanye has come such a long way and become more legend than man and we often forget there was once a time he was just another starving artist struggling to get a deal. Kanye catches a lot of flack of his off the mic antics, but there is no denying he is one of the most gifted emcees ever. His earliest material might not have the production value and buzz like "Yeezus" and "Watch The Throne", but the raw talent is all there and now, they can be appreciated as artifacts that give us insight into Kanye’s story and development.

See Also:  From “College Dropout” to “Yeezus”, Ranking Every Kanye West Album
See Also:  Sweet Baby Yeezus These Kanye Mashups are the S**t