Relentlessly pushing the boundaries of creativity, Kanye West has become one of the most innovative artists of our time. When people thought he was "just" a dope producer, he proved he was also a rapper. And when people thought he was "just" a producer/rapper, he flipped the script again.
When Kanye dropped 808s & Heartbreak, he changed the sound of hip-hop. These days a whole lot of rappers like to sing their own hooks, but back in 2008 it was a radical move for an MC to make an album that featured almost no rapping.
But if you've been listening as closely as we have, you know that Kanye's never been afraid to bust out with a sing-song chorus. Just to prove the point—after already ranking his 100 Best Songs and listing his history of guest verses—we assembled this history of Kanye's singing moments.
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"We Don't Care" (2004)
"Spaceship" (2004)
"The New Workout Plan" (2004)
"Family Business" (2004)
"Last Call" (2004)
"Apologize" (2004)
"Drop Dead Gorgeous" (2004)
"I Need To Know" (2004)
"Self Conscious" (2004)
Dilated Peoples' "This Way" (2004)
Usher's "Confessions Pt. 2 (Remix)" (2004)
Consequence's "Getting Out Of The Game" (2004)
Melbeatz's "Oh Oh" (2004)
Chamillionaire's "Call Some Hoes" (2004)
Common's "The Food" (2005)
"Touch The Sky" (2005)
"Addiction" (2005)
"Hey Mama" (2005)
Do or Die's "Higher" (2005)
"I Met Oprah" (2005)
"Celebration" (2005)
"Can't Tell Me Nothing" (2007)
"Drunk and Hot Girls" (2007)
"The Glory" (2007)
"Young Folks" (2007)
"We Can Make It Better" (2007)
Alicia Keys' "No One (Remix)" (2007)
Chris Brown's "Down" (2007)
Ne-Yo's "Because of You (Remix)" (2007)
808s & Heartbreak (2008)
Young Jeezy's "Put On" (2008)
Estelle's "American Boy" (2008)
John Legend's "It's Over" (2008)
Fonzworth Bentley's "Everybody" (2008)
Beyonce's "Ego (Remix)" (2009)
Mr. Hudson's "Supernova" (2009)
30 Seconds to Mars' "Hurricane 2.0" (2010)
"Don't Look Down" (2010)
Album: GOOD Fridays
Producer: Swizz Beatz/The Individualz
Label: Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
Using an effect to make his voice sound like it's being filtered through some sort of mask, Kanye works in a few lines of song within his verse on this track from his G.O.O.D. Friday series. Still, Mos Def Yasiin Bey's singing kinda takes the cake on this track. [Quiet hums "Umi Says."]