Kanye West is an American record producer, recording artists, rapper, songwriter and fashion designer originating from Chicago, Illinois. Deviating from hip-hop music’s “gansta” style, West built on his own original style of alternative rap and went on to become one of the best-selling artists of all time, with over 25 million albums sold and over 100 million digital downloads since 1996.

West has been the recipient of a remarkable 21 Grammy Awards as of 2013, ranking him among the highest Grammy Award winning artists of all time. He has been called one of the most influential people in the world by Time Magazine’s Time 100 list and has been named on Forbes lists multiple times. Three of West’s albums were named in the 2012 Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list. He has also been named by Billboard number three of the “Top 10 Producers of the Decade” and MTV’s “Man of the Year” in 2010.