The Hype Men Present: Kanye West’s First Beats (Disc 1)

""Last week I was stumbling through my garage, searching through old storage bins when I came across some old beat CDs from my days as a signed rapper. I was shocked to find that two of them, both given to me in the year 2001, had the name 'Kanye West' on them. I remember Kanye being hyped to me as someone who had just worked with Beanie Sigel and was about to work with Ludacris, so I was obviously interested in this dude with a weird name. I popped in the CD and wasn't exactly blown away to be honest. It was definitely good though, so I asked my manager for more beats from this Kanye character. I got a second beat CD and again couldn't find anything to pick directly, but knew there was potential (keep in mind that 2001 was a mighty synth-y year). I got on the phone with Kanye that week and he played me some beats over the phone (that included "H to the Izzo"). I picked one song from that phone call and it ended up being one of the first label paychecks written with his name on it. (I also was the first person to rap his name in a song. Because 'Kanye' rhymed with 'picante').

These two beat CDs, now celebrating their 10 year anniversary and I believe the oldest Kanye beats ever released, are here for your enjoyment. We wanted you to hear these not just for the Kanye completist inside you, but for people to understand how far someone like Kanye has come. I distinctly remember him talking about rapping himself and hoping to break out of the box that was hip-hop. He told me how big of a Jim Morrison fan he was and how he wanted to sample something from him (that happened and hurt Nas bad), and even played me a song where he used only movie titles in the verses (that didn't happen, which is good cause it was awkward). And I think these two beat CDs show you where he came from, even if it doesn't necessarily sound like "Kanye" now. He kept at it and became the incredible producer he is today. I remember he even had to leave the studio sessions early, so he could make the last train back to his mom's house. He's come a long way, and I'm proud to have been around, even if for just a second at the start.

If I was super inspirational, I'd tell you guys to stick with it also, and maybe you can become a multi-platinum superstar, but I won't, cause honestly - your beats probably suck."

- Jensen Karp of The Hypemen

Notes: This is the first disc of an exclusive DJBooth two disc series. Disc 2 will be released on Monday, April 4. Per request, Disc One is not available for download in its entirety, only streamed. Full stream link and mixtape preview are below:

Listen to "Kanye Beats (Disc One)" via DJBooth

What did Kanye sound like before he was a hip-hop genius? Two examples are below - for the full stream click the link above.

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