The College Dropout

Find the entire album here on Youtube!

In the late 90s and early aughts, before the world ever really knew who he was, Kanye West was merely just a record producer. He cut his teeth ghost-producing tracks for Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, a member of Diddy's Hitmen production team, and turned his uncredited work into a staff producer position at Roc-A-Fella Records, where he sped up the classic soul samples that would come to define the fledgling label's characteristic sound.

In celebration of Kanye West's "The College Dropout," here are the stories of 26 contributors - "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" - who were involved in the making of the album, and more importantly, became instrumental to Kanye West's career.

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Get the lyrics for every song on The College Dropout here.

The College Dropout is the debut studio album by American hip hop artist Kanye West, released February 10, 2004, on Roc-A-Fella Records. It was recorded over a period of four years, beginning in 1999.