In the span of a few years, from 2001 to 2004, Kanye West went from being hip-hop beatmaker to becoming a worldwide hit-maker. His stellar production work for Jay-Z earned him a major-label recording contract as a solo artist. Soon his beats were accompanied by his own witty raps on a number of critically and commercially successful releases.  

 His production ability seemed boundless during his initial surge of activity, as he not only racked up impressive hits for himself like "Jesus Walks" and "Gold Digger," but also graced such fellow rap stars as Jay-Z and Ludacris with productions that led to smash hits

He began his career as just another aspiring rapper with a boundless passion for hip-hop, albeit a rapper with a Midas touch when it came to beatmaking. And it was indeed his beatmaking skills that got his foot in the industry door. Though he did quite a bit of noteworthy production work during the late '90s (Jermaine Dupri, Foxy Brown, Mase, Goodie Mob), it was his work for Roc-a-Fella at the dawn of the new millennium that took his career to the next level. Alongside fellow fresh talent Just Blaze, West became one of The Roc's go-to producers, consistently delivering hot tracks to album after album. His star turn came on Jay-Z's classic Blueprint (2001) with album standouts "Takeover" and "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)." Both songs showcased West's signature beatmaking style of the time, which was largely sample-based -- in these cases the former track appropriating snippets of the Doors' "Five to One," the latter the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back."

 More high-profile productions followed, and before long word spread that West was going to release an album of his own, on which he'd rap as well as produce. Unfortunately, that album was a long time coming, pushed back and then pushed back again. It didn't help, of course, that West experienced a tragic car accident in October 2002 that almost cost him his life. He used the traumatic experience as the inspiration for "Through the Wire" (and its corresponding video), which would later become the lead single for his debut album, The College Dropout (2004). While the album was delayed, West continued to churn out big hits for the likes of Ludacris ("Stand Up"), Jay-Z ("'03 Bonnie & Clyde"), and Alicia Keys ("You Don't Know My Name").

 The album, The Collage Dropout was a smash hit on the charts, West earned a whopping ten nominations for the 47th annual Grammy Awards, held in early 2005. The album won the Best Rap Album award, while track "Jesus Walks" won Best Rap Song, and a songwriting credit on "You Don't Know My Name" for Best R&B Song award was shared with Alicia Keys and Harold Lilly. Later in the year, West released his second solo album, Late Registration (2005), which spawned a series of hit singles ("Diamonds in Sierra Leone," "Gold Digger," "Heard 'Em Say," "Touch the Sky"), topped the charts, and won a Grammy for Album of the Year.

 West also founded his own label, GOOD Music which stands for Getting Out Our Dreams, in conjunction with Sony BMG. In addition to all of his studio work, West also toured internationally in support of Late Registration and released Late Orchestration: Live at Abbey Road Studios (2006) in commemoration.

 And then there was West's third solo album, Graduation, which was promoted well in advance of its September 11 release (a memorable date that pitted Kanye against 50 Cent, who in one interview swore he would quit music if his album, Curtis, wasn't the top-seller). A pair of singles -- "Can't Tell Me Nothing" and "Stronger," the latter an interpolation of Daft Punk's 2001 single "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" -- led the promotional push.

 Currently Kanye is riding high on the success of his album 'Graduation' which has collaborations from artists like Chris Martin of Coldplay to rappers Lil Wayne, T-Pain and Mos def.