The Complete History of Kanye West's Singing Moments

Portrait of a rapper turned singer.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

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.

Follow @ComplexMusic

"We Don't Care" (2004)

Not Available Interstitial

"Spaceship" (2004)

Not Available Interstitial

"The New Workout Plan" (2004)

Not Available Interstitial

"Family Business" (2004)

Not Available Interstitial

"Last Call" (2004)

Not Available Interstitial

"Apologize" (2004)

Not Available Interstitial

"Drop Dead Gorgeous" (2004)

Not Available Interstitial

"I Need To Know" (2004)

Not Available Interstitial

"Self Conscious" (2004)

Not Available Interstitial

Dilated Peoples' "This Way" (2004)

Not Available Interstitial

Usher's "Confessions Pt. 2 (Remix)" (2004)

Not Available Interstitial

Consequence's "Getting Out Of The Game" (2004)

Not Available Interstitial

Melbeatz's "Oh Oh" (2004)

Not Available Interstitial

Chamillionaire's "Call Some Hoes" (2004)

Not Available Interstitial

Common's "The Food" (2005)

Not Available Interstitial

"Touch The Sky" (2005)

Not Available Interstitial

"Addiction" (2005)

Not Available Interstitial

"Hey Mama" (2005)

Not Available Interstitial

Do or Die's "Higher" (2005)

Not Available Interstitial

"I Met Oprah" (2005)

Not Available Interstitial

"Celebration" (2005)

Not Available Interstitial

"Can't Tell Me Nothing" (2007)

Not Available Interstitial

"Drunk and Hot Girls" (2007)

Not Available Interstitial

"The Glory" (2007)

Not Available Interstitial

"Young Folks" (2007)

Not Available Interstitial

"We Can Make It Better" (2007)

Not Available Interstitial

Alicia Keys' "No One (Remix)" (2007)

Not Available Interstitial

Chris Brown's "Down" (2007)

Not Available Interstitial

Ne-Yo's "Because of You (Remix)" (2007)

Not Available Interstitial

808s & Heartbreak (2008)

Not Available Interstitial

Young Jeezy's "Put On" (2008)

Not Available Interstitial

Estelle's "American Boy" (2008)

Not Available Interstitial

John Legend's "It's Over" (2008)

Not Available Interstitial

Fonzworth Bentley's "Everybody" (2008)

Not Available Interstitial

Beyonce's "Ego (Remix)" (2009)

Not Available Interstitial

Mr. Hudson's "Supernova" (2009)

Not Available Interstitial

30 Seconds to Mars' "Hurricane 2.0" (2010)

Not Available Interstitial

"Don't Look Down" (2010)

Not Available Interstitial

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."]

"Runaway" (2010)

Not Available Interstitial

"Hell of a Life" (2010)

Not Available Interstitial

"Blame Game" (2010)

Not Available Interstitial

"Lost in the World" (2010)

Not Available Interstitial

"Lift Off" (2011)

Not Available Interstitial

DJ Khaled's "I Wish You Would" (2012)

Not Available Interstitial

Latest in Music