Among his other awards are the Billboard Artist Achievement Award, a joint-record three Brit Awards for Best International Male Solo Artist and the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. He is frequently lauded as one of hip hop's greatest artists, with his music among the most acclaimed. One of the world's best-selling music artists, with over 160 million records sold, West has won 22 Grammy Awards, the joint tenth-most of all time. In 2020, West launched an unsuccessful independent presidential campaign that primarily advocated for a consistent life ethic. He is also the founder and head of the creative content company Donda. on clothing and footwear, and leads the Yeezy collaboration with Adidas. As a fashion designer, he has collaborated with Nike, Louis Vuitton, The Gap, and A.P.C. His Christian faith, estranged marriage to Kim Kardashian, and mental health have also been sources of further media attention. He has been a frequent source of controversy for his conduct on social media, award shows, and public settings as well as his comments on the music and fashion industries, U.S. West's outspoken views and life outside of music have received significant media coverage. West's discography also includes the full-length collaborative albums Watch the Throne (2011) with Jay-Z and Kids See Ghosts (2018) with Kid Cudi. He released its sequel, Donda 2 (2022), a few months later, exclusively through his tie-in audio speaker service.
After a series of delays, his highly anticipated tenth album Donda (2021) was released to continued commercial acclaim, but to mixed critical reception. West further diversified his musical styles on The Life of Pablo (2016) and Ye (2018), and explored Christian and gospel music on Jesus Is King (2019). Drawing inspiration from maximalism and minimalism respectively, his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) and sixth album Yeezus (2013) were also released to critical and commercial success.
West explored diverse musical elements such as orchestral arrangements, synthesizers, and autotune on the albums Late Registration (2005), Graduation (2007), and 808s & Heartbreak (2008). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential hip-hop musicians of all time, as well as one of the most critically acclaimed artists of his generation. Intent on pursuing a solo career as a rapper, he released his debut studio album, The College Dropout (2004), to critical and commercial success and subsequently founded the record label GOOD Music. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the early 2000s, producing singles for several artists and developing the " chipmunk soul" sampling style.
Ye ( / j eɪ/ YAY born Kanye Omari West June 8, 1977), commonly known by his birth name Kanye West ( / ˈ k ɑː n j eɪ/ KAHN-yay), is an American rapper, record producer, and fashion designer.