TierMarks

Producer and rapper

Kanye West

The producer who built the 2000s sound, then took it apart three times on purpose.

He made the chipmunk-soul beats that defined a decade, then rebuilt his sound on 808s, on MBDTF and again on Yeezus. The collection follows the music only: the songs people play most, the verses that hold up on paper, the best-built records of his own, the beats he made for other rappers, and every album graded.

Most streamed

The ten Kanye songs played most on streaming.

  1. Heartless808s & Heartbreak, 2008
  2. Flashing LightsGraduation, 2007
  3. StrongerGraduation, 2007
  4. Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1The Life of Pablo, 2016
  5. CarnivalVultures 1, 2024
  6. Gold DiggerLate Registration, 2005
  7. RunawayMy Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2010
  8. Can't Tell Me NothingGraduation, 2007
  9. I WonderGraduation, 2007
  10. Black SkinheadYeezus, 2013

The pen

The verses that read as well as they sound.

  • The College Dropout, 2004Last CallTwelve minutes on how he got signed, told by the person it happened to.
  • My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2010GorgeousPolitical, funny and furious inside the same verse.
  • Graduation, 2007Big BrotherAn honest song about loving and resenting Jay-Z at once.
  • My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2010Devil in a New DressReligious metaphors for a breakup, lust turning into heartache, and a Rick Ross verse to close it.
  • Yeezus, 2013New SlavesNo hook, just the store that tells the poor not to touch and asks the rich to please buy more.
  • The College Dropout, 2004SpaceshipFolding shirts at the Gap and writing his way out of it.
  • The College Dropout, 2004Never Let Me DownJay-Z takes the first verse and Kanye matches it.
  • The Life of Pablo, 2016Saint PabloAdded to the album months after release, with Sampha, and its most candid verse.
  • Donda (Deluxe), 2021Life of the PartyAndré 3000 alongside him on a song that leaked before it was released.
  • Watch the Throne, 2011Murder to ExcellenceTwo halves, murder then excellence, and Kanye sets Chicago's murder count against American deaths in Iraq.
  • Late Registration, 2005Heard 'Em SayA lullaby about poverty, the minimum wage and AIDS, rapped with gratitude instead of swagger.
  • The College Dropout, 2004Two WordsBuilt from two-word phrases, with Mos Def, Kanye and Freeway taking turns on the state of the country.

Production excellence

His own records from behind the boards: the samples he found and the people he brought into the room.

  1. Through the WireThe College Dropout, 2004Prod. Kanye WestChaka Khan's Through the Fire, sped up and rapped over with his jaw wired shut.
  2. Touch the SkyLate Registration, 2005Prod. Just BlazeCurtis Mayfield's Move On Up, slowed down and blown up to stadium size.
  3. PowerMy Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2010Prod. Kanye West, S1, Mike Dean, Jeff Bhasker, Andwele GardnerKing Crimson's 21st Century Schizoid Man under a wall of chants and claps.
  4. Devil in a New DressMy Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2010Prod. Bink!, Mike DeanA Smokey Robinson sample, made into the album's softest landing.
  5. Blood on the LeavesYeezus, 2013Prod. Kanye West, Hudson Mohawke, Lunice, Carlos Broady, 88-Keys, Mike Dean, ArcaNina Simone's Strange Fruit colliding with TNGHT's R U Ready.
  6. Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1The Life of Pablo, 2016Prod. Kanye West, Mike Dean, Rick Rubin, Metro Boomin, DJDS, Allen Ritter, Noah GoldsteinGospel at the top, then the drop the whole album is remembered by.
  7. All Falls DownThe College Dropout, 2004Prod. Kanye WestLauryn Hill would not clear Mystery of Iniquity, so Syleena Johnson re-sang it for the hook.
  8. Two WordsThe College Dropout, 2004Prod. Kanye WestMiri Ben-Ari's violins, a Mandrill sample, and the Boys Choir of Harlem, recorded in a barn at summer camp.
  9. OtisWatch the Throne, 2011Prod. Kanye WestOtis Redding's Try a Little Tenderness, cut down to a couple of grunts and a guitar stab.
  10. H•A•MWatch the Throne, 2011Prod. Lex Luger, Kanye West, Mike DeanLex Luger's snares and synth stabs, then an opera coda with a full orchestra three minutes in.
  11. MercyCruel Summer, 2012Prod. Lifted, Kanye WestLifted's dark keys under a Dust a Sound Boy intro, and the beat strips down for Kanye's verse.
  1. See Me NowMy Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2010Prod. Kanye West, No I.D., Lex LugerAn iTunes bonus track, gospel-warm, with Beyoncé on the bridge and Charlie Wilson on the hook.
  2. All of the LightsMy Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2010Prod. Kanye West, Jeff BhaskerElton John on piano, horns, and more than a dozen stars stacked in the background vocals.
  3. New SlavesYeezus, 2013Prod. Kanye West, Ben Bronfman, Mike Dean, Travis Scott, Noah Goldstein, Sham Joseph, Che PopeStaccato synth stabs, then a coda built from Omega's Gyöngyhajú lány and Frank Ocean's falsetto.
  4. Can't Tell Me NothingGraduation, 2007Prod. Kanye West, DJ ToompDJ Toomp's beat and bassline, Kanye's strings and synths, and Young Jeezy's ad-libs kept in.
  5. I WonderGraduation, 2007Prod. Kanye WestLabi Siffre's My Song over drums he spent about ten sessions getting right.
  6. Say You Will808s & Heartbreak, 2008Prod. Kanye WestTwo icy synth notes and an 808, then three minutes of echoing choir after he stops singing.
  7. Dark FantasyMy Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2010Prod. RZA, Kanye West, No I.D., Jeff Bhasker, Mike DeanNicki Minaj opens with a reworded Roald Dahl Cinderella, then Jon Anderson's In High Places takes over.
  8. Heartless808s & Heartbreak, 2008Prod. Kanye West, No I.D.Piano stabs over a reprogrammed 808, and Auto-Tune pushed hardest on the chorus.
  9. Welcome to the JungleWatch the Throne, 2011Prod. Swizz BeatzSwizz Beatz keeps it simple and abrasive, with rock edges and mournful synths under Kanye.
  10. Believe What I SayDonda, 2021Prod. Kanye West, Dem Jointz, BoogzDaBeast, FnZ, Ojivolta, Antman WonderLauryn Hill's Doo Wop (That Thing) over a four-on-the-floor kick, hip house where the original was boom bap.
  11. WavesThe Life of Pablo, 2016Prod. Kanye West, Charlie Heat, Hudson Mohawke, Metro Boomin, Mike Dean, Anthony KilhofferDue to be cut weeks before release until Chance the Rapper talked him into keeping it: the first beat he built with Charlie Heat.

Beats for other people

Before the solo records he was the producer every rapper wanted, and the calls kept coming after. The biggest beats he made for other people.

  • Jay-Z, The Blueprint, 2001Izzo (H.O.V.A.)A Jackson 5 flip that gave Jay-Z his first top ten as a lead artist.
  • Jay-Z, The Blueprint, 2001TakeoverThe Doors sample under the most famous diss record of its era.
  • Jay-Z, The Blueprint, 2001Heart of the CityBobby Bland, sped up, and the template for the whole sound.
  • Jay-Z, The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse, 2002'03 Bonnie & ClydeHe heard 2Pac's Me and My Girlfriend and built Jay-Z's first duet with Beyoncé on it.
  • Talib Kweli, Quality, 2002Get ByNina Simone's Sinnerman under a choir of background singers: the single that carried Quality.
  • Jay-Z, The Black Album, 2003EncoreHorns built for a stadium walk-on.
  • Ludacris, Chicken-n-Beer, 2003Stand UpLudacris's first number one on the Hot 100.
  • Common, Be, 2005The CornerThe Last Poets' spoken word over samples of The Temprees and The Temptations, with Kanye on the chorus.
  • Jay-Z and T.I., Paper Trail, 2008Swagga Like UsM.I.A.'s Paper Planes under four rappers, and a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
  • Jay-Z, The Blueprint 3, 2009Run This TownCo-produced with No I.D., with Rihanna on the hook; it peaked at number two.
  • GOOD Music, Cruel Summer, 2012MercyA posse cut built around one enormous beat switch.
  • Pusha T, Daytona, 2018If You Know You KnowDaytona opens on a 1970s hard rock record, Air's Twelve O' Clock Santanial, cut into dancehall chants.