A Brief Timeline of Kanye West's Most Unconventional Music Moments

Forget baseball season. Forget flu season. Forget the four seasons, season finales, Italian seasoning, all of 'em.

It's official: Kanye season is here. If you haven't gotten your shot, it's too late.

Last night Kanye debuted his new single "New Slaves" in a way that only he could. No, really, no one's ever done this before: He broadcast the song on the side of 66 buildings around the world.

We should've seen this coming. Maybe not a video broadcast on 66 buildings, but something similarly weird and brilliant. Put it simply: Kanye West is ahead of his time. Other artists make music videos, 'Ye makes a full-on short film for his entire album. That's what has pushed his career to the top of the game. He's known for being unconventional. The minute we think he'll do one thing, he goes and does another. He's a musical and marketing genius.

How will 'Ye top last night's epic debut? We can't wait to find out. Until then, there are some standout inventive moves in his music career to warrant a retrospective. Here is a brief timeline of his most unconventional music moments.

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Date: November 2003

From the get-go, Kanye West took his solo career into brave new territory. For one, the song “Through The Wire” was actually recorded while his jaw was wired shut. That story has become such a part of Kanye folklore that it doesn’t even feel like a big deal any more. But have you ever been in a car crash so bad your entire face was swollen and you had to have your jaw wired shut? We haven’t either. But we’re guessing that shit hurts. So recording a song with your jaw wired shut and making it a hit is a big deal.

As if that weren't enough, Kanye went on to fund the music video for the song himself. He didn’t direct it, but he create the concept, using old footage and Polaroid pictures to present his vision. It was a startlingly unique and highly personal video, one that could have just been Kanye sitting by the pool with Dame Dash pouring liquor on naked girls.

Kanye is one of the most progressive artists around (ever?). But when he teamed up with producer Jon Brion—who was best known for working with artists like Fiona Apple and doing film scores like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind—it was a bold new step for him. Sure, rappers seek new producers all the time; that’s how Kanye ended up working with Jay-Z in the first place.

But few rappers would actively seek a producer so far out of their lane for such a high profile project. And Kanye didn’t just work with Brion for a few songs. Brio received co-producer credit, a true collaborative effort. The gamble paid off, and there’s no doubt that Brion helped Kanye grow as a musician.

Date: May 14, 2008

Kanye West. Naked female astronauts. You can't tell him nothin'.

At the Casio G-Shock 25th Anniversary party, West joined Spike Lee, surfer Gabe Kling and clothing companies LRG and In4mation for the event. His live performance of "Can't Tell Me Nothing" is one for the books. The naked girls were one thing. But then he did his entire performance sitting down. (Watch the throne indeed.)

It's so provocative, we can't even post the full, explicit video on our site. The video is not work-safe, but can be watched here.

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Date: 2007

Kanye's use of Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" on 2007's "stronger" wasn't just unconventional; it opened up a much wider audience to the Daft Punk's work, incorporated one of their best songs without losing the overarching aesthetic of the original, and became Kanye's third No. 1 single, after "Slow Jamz" and "Gold Digger," announcing a completely new direction for the rapper that would only increase his audience. It was also a major indicator of how the dynamics of Kanye's music had changed.

Kanye West wasn't the only hip-hop artist to sample Daft Punk; Swizz Beats had swiped "Technologic" for Busta Rhymes' hit "Touch It" in 2005. But Swizz's flip just swiped the original vocal line, just another texture in Swizz's late career resurgence. For Kanye, it was the whole bag.

After Kanye reportedly introduced to the duo's music through his DJ, A-Trak it became obvious that he understood the wider possibilities of the group's approach. It was stadium music, a way for Kanye to reach a larger audience than ever, with the sonic capabilities to fill many of the larger arenas he was now reaching. It's no coincidence that, for his Glow in the Dark tour, 'Ye also began to take on influences (as did every EDM artist since) from Daft Punk's performance at Coachella in 2006. Not unheard of in music, maybe; in hip-hop? Unprecedented.

Date: November 24, 2008

It doesn't matter if you love or hate 808s & Heartbreak: It is one of the most influential albums of the past decade. 808s was Kanye's creative departure, his therapy laid out over 12 tracks. Regardless of his intentions, the emotional journey of 808s was a bold departure from earlier Kanye material, and it changed the game for many artists in hip-hop, R&B, and pop.

808s laid the groundwork for popular hip-hop to abandon braggadocious rhymes in favor of self deprecating, emotional lyrics—something that Kanye excelled in, even in his darkest times. Ye exposed himself to fans and the industry track by track in a way that hip-hop had never witnessed.

Vulnerability, anger, sadness, and abandonment filled the album, leaving Kanye more vulnerable than he'd ever been, and setting the stage for many artists to come.

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Date: October 2009

Kanye West and Spike Jonze first linked up for the "Flashing Lights" video. They connected again in January 2009, when they shot We Were Once a Fairytale. The 11-minute film premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in Summer 2009. It's somewhat based on Kanye's "See You In My Nightmares," and shows a drunk Kanye embarrassing his friends at a club, hallucinating, and, ultimately, in a showdown with himself in a bathroom mirror.

Its power is difficult to put into words. Kanye confronted his demons (which, in this case, was a tiny mouse in a cape), and combined themes of isolation, loss, and depression into one brief experimental project. And it is beautiful.

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Date: October 3, 2010

Kanye West's live performance of "Power" on Saturday Night Live in 2010 will get you more excited for tonight's episode than any pre-performance guessing games could. How often do we watch musical guests on SNL perform backed by anything but a live band?

'Ye took it to new heights on SNL by making his show a full stage performance, with a white backdrop and dozens of models surrounding him, much like his "Runaway" video (not the short film). Then again, the official video for "Power"—all 1:43 minutes of it—is equally as unconventional.

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Date: July 27, 2010

Yes, that's Kanye West on a table in a conference room at the Facebook Headquarters. And yes, that's someone's phone going off at the same time he announced he was about to debut some new music.

What we saw 'Ye rap a capella was a verse of "See Me Now" and part of "Lost in the World." He also performed verses from what would become "Chain Heavy," and a song reportedly called "Mama's Boyfriend" that has never officially been released.

Watching him rhyme new music a capella for the staff of Facebook? Call us jealous, but that's an honor.

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Date: October 5, 2010

Inspired by Prince’s Purple Rain, Pink Floyd’s The Wall, and Michael Jackson's Thriller, Kanye made an entire mini-movie to go along with his album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The storyline was, umm...about a man’s relationship with a half-woman, half-phoenix. To be perfectly honest, we don’t really know what the film was going for, but it sure was artsy. The 35 minute film had lavish sets with pristine attention to detail. The highlight came during the pivotal all white dinner scene where all the guests made negative comments about Yeezy's birdlady, but hey you already know: you can't tell him nothing.

The film wasn't too well received, but either way, just to have created something that could be mentioned in the same breath as work by artists like Prince and MJ is a win in itself.

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Date: August 1, 2011

Museums are more fun when Kanye West is there. This wasn't 'Ye's first appearance at the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium. He surprised fans at a Kid Sister concert in 2010 at the same venue, and a year later, Jay and 'Ye hosted a listening party for Watch the Throne among the stars.

Jay and Ye's album played in full while the "Journey To The Stars" visuals played on the planetarium ceilings. Talk about a complete musical experience.

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Date: May 23, 2012

Described as a "fusion of short film and art," the film Cruel Summer sounded like the kind of art project you get when a mad genius has the trust of everyone around him, and is therefore let loose to play with the parameters of presentation. The film was shot using a special camera so that when it was played at the Cannes Film Festival, it could be projected on to seven different screens at once. Thus why it was dubbed the "Seven Screen Experience."

Sadly, as cool as it sounds (and as well received as it was), we really can’t say much about it because—like most people—we’ve never seen it. Which just might be the cruelest part of it all.

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Date: December 31, 2012

If Kanye West's performance at Revel in Atlantic City dedicated to Kim Kardashian doesn't have you feeling a lot of feelings, then you have no heart. In true 'Ye fashion, he goes from singing about loving someone to "Runaway" to announcing Kim K was expecting his first child—and it's all in autotune.

It seems like Kanye reserves using autotune for when he's feeling emotional, and in late December of last year, he certainly was. It was an incredible performance, beautifully incorporating a deeply personal song about failed relationships and what the media thinks of him into what was no doubt one of the happiest moments of his life.

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Date: May 6, 2013

We know Kanye West has a history with the fashion industry—and so does his girl, Kim Kardashian. After rumors of her being banned from the Met Gala surfaced again, it was somewhat stunning that Kanye West would perform new music at the event.

It was even more surprising that 'Ye chose that venue to debut "Awesome," a song that seems to be about why Kim shouldn't care what anyone is saying about her. Kanye's performance was legendary and we haven't even seen the full thing.

It was the kick off to Yeezy Season, and a perfect re-introduction to the industry nearly a month before the rumored release date of his forthcoming album.

Masks, animal noises, and another crazy stage production made this year's Met Gala performance one for the books.

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