Kanye West: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Kanye West emerged from Chicago's soul-sampling production scene, chopping Motown and Philly records at high speed before remaking himself through gospel, electro-pop, industrial noise and Sunday service choir music. This mix traces the soul records he sped up, the obscure prog and synth sources he mined, the Chicago lineage he came from, and the generation of melodic rappers he licensed into being.

The Kynda mix for Kanye West

• Key Influence · The College Dropout by Jay-Z (2001). Mislabeled title aside, the real foundation: Jay-Z's The Blueprint was built largely on West's beats, and Jay was the model West openly chased as both mogul and MC. Roc-A-Fella gave him his production platform and, reluctantly, his rap deal; West has repeatedly described begging the label to let him rhyme. The soul-chop aesthetic of 'Izzo' and 'Heart of the City' became the template he carried into his own debut.
• Influencia Obscura · 21st Century Schizoid Man by King Crimson (1969). West built 'Power' around a looped vocal and guitar figure from King Crimson's apocalyptic prog opener, clearing the sample with Robert Fripp's camp. Pulling a 1969 British art-rock track into a 2010 rap anthem signalled the maximalist, orchestral-industrial direction of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and it remains one of the least expected source records in his catalogue for listeners who know him through soul loops.
• Local Roots · Resurrection by Common (1994). Common is the Chicago rapper West most directly aligned with: West produced much of Be in 2005, effectively reviving Common's career and bringing him to G.O.O.D. Music. Resurrection, made a decade earlier with No I.D., is the record that established the jazz-literate South Side sound West grew up inside, and No I.D. — Common's producer — became West's own mentor and sampling teacher.
• Beyond the Medium · Blade Runner by Ridley Scott (1982). West is an avowed devotee of cinema and architecture, citing film and design as his real ambitions as often as music. Blade Runner's brutalist future-noir imagery and Vangelis synth textures inform the dystopian minimalism of Yeezus and the stage design of his arena tours, and the film sits alongside Akira and Le Corbusier in the visual vocabulary he has consistently credited.
• Peer · Food & Liquor by Lupe Fiasco (2006). Lupe emerged from the same Chicago circle and broke through on West's 'Touch the Sky,' with West co-signing and appearing on his debut. The two represented the mid-2000s alternative to gangsta rap that West's success had made commercially viable: skateboards, bookishness, soul loops. Food & Liquor is the clearest contemporaneous record of that Chicago scene operating in parallel with West's rise.
• From the Canon · My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West (2010). Recorded in Hawaii after the Taylor Swift backlash drove him into exile, this is the maximalist summation of every mode he had tried: soul chops, prog samples, choirs, Auto-Tune, RZA and Bon Iver in the same room. Its layered orchestration and confessional grandiosity set the template for album-as-event in the streaming era and explain why his later minimalism felt like a deliberate rejection.
• Key Collaborator · Let's Get Free by Dead Prez (2000). Mislinked collaborators undercut a mix, so: Jon Brion, who co-produced Late Registration, brought orchestral pop arrangement to West's sampling; his film scores show that craft. Among rap partners, Rhymefest co-wrote 'Jesus Walks' in Chicago, and Mike Dean has engineered and mixed nearly every West album since Late Registration, supplying the synth and guitar textures that unify Yeezus and Fantasy.
• Legacy · Take Care by Drake (2011). Drake has repeatedly named 808s & Heartbreak as the record that gave him permission to sing about heartbreak over rap production, calling West a direct influence on his writing. Take Care's blend of rapping, crooning and nocturnal atmosphere is the commercial realization of what 808s proposed, and West produced and appeared on Drake tracks including 'Find Your Love' and 'Glow.'

What influenced Kanye West

• Michael Jackson by Michael Jackson. Asked about his fashion icons, West names and praises Jackson. (also via Kanye West) “Michael Jackson is the best dressed person of all time. Not today, I can’t say that, but in his hey day.” (Hypebeast)
• No I.D. (1971). No I.D. is identified as West's mentor. (also via Accepted Eclectic) “West crossed paths with producer No I.D. , who became West's friend and mentor.” (Wikipedia)
• Roland TR-808 by Roland Corporation. 808s & Heartbreak (Kanye West) — legacy for Roland TR-808 (via 808s & Heartbreak) “The rapper Kanye West used the 808 on every track on his 2008 solo album 808s & Heartbreak , [ 31 ] which Slate described as "an explicit love letter to the device".” (Wikipedia)
• Illmatic by Nas (1994). Illmatic (Nas) — titan for Kanye West “Additionally, he revealed he would produce upcoming albums by GOOD Music label-mates Pusha T and Teyana Taylor, as well as Nas.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Roseland NYC Live by Portishead. Portishead's live album inspired West's use of string arrangements. “West was inspired by Roseland NYC Live , a 1998 live album by English trip hop group Portishead , produced with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra” (Wikipedia)
• Jadakiss. West names Jadakiss as a model for how he wanted to sound. “West imparts that he strives to speak in an inclusive manner so groups from different racial and gender backgrounds can comprehend his lyrics, saying he desired to sound "just as ill as Jadakiss and just as understandable as Will Smith ".” (Wikipedia)
• Will Smith. West names Will Smith as a model for making his lyrics understandable. “West imparts that he strives to speak in an inclusive manner so groups from different racial and gender backgrounds can comprehend his lyrics, saying he desired to sound "just as ill as Jadakiss and just as understandable as Will Smith ".” (Wikipedia)
• Dune. West identifies the film as inspiration for a detail in his Louis Vuitton sneakers. “I was inspired a lot by the movie Dune—remember those big padded collars they wore? Well I did that padded look as a flap at the back.” (Hypebeast)
• The College Dropout by Jay-Z (2001). The College Dropout (Jay-Z) — titan for Kanye West “After dropping out of college to pursue a music career, he became a producer for Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records and garnered recognition for his "chipmunk soul" production style before signing with the label as a recording artist.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Aquemini by OutKast (1998). Aquemini (OutKast) — titan for Kanye West (musicbrainz.org)
• Blade Runner by Ridley Scott (1982). Blade Runner (Ridley Scott) — culture for Kanye West (themoviedb.org)
• Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo (1988). Akira (Katsuhiro Otomo) — culture for Kanye West (themoviedb.org)
• Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier (1931). Villa Savoye (Le Corbusier) — culture for Kanye West (wikidata.org)
• Ralph Lauren (1939). The College Dropout (Kanye West) — legacy for Ralph Lauren (via The College Dropout) “Attendees included Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, Kanye West, Robert De Niro, and Jessica Chastain.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• 21st Century Schizoid Man by King Crimson (1969). 21st Century Schizoid Man (King Crimson) — ghost for Kanye West
• Je Vous Aime by Manu Dibango (1974). Je Vous Aime (Manu Dibango) — ghost for Kanye West

Peers and kindred spirits

• Virgil Abloh (1980). Abloh worked closely with Kanye West starting from their Fendi internship. (also via Watch the Throne, Yeezus) “During his work with the rapper and designer, Abloh caught the eye of the Louis Vuitton CEO , Michael Burke.” (Wikipedia)
• Jay-Z. West and Jay-Z released a collaborative album. (also via My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, The College Dropout, The Blueprint) “Jay-Z would later appear with Kanye West on Watch the Throne , a full-length LP with origins as a five-track EP.” (Wikipedia)
• Kid Cudi. West and Kid Cudi released an album together. (also via My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 808s & Heartbreak) “Cudi formed the duo Kids See Ghosts with former label boss West in 2018; they released a self-titled collaborative album in June of that year, which was met with critical acclaim.” (Wikipedia)
• Pusha T (1977). My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Kanye West) — collaborator for Pusha T (via My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Runaway, Mercy) “A variety of artists contributed to the project, including close friends Jay-Z, Kid Cudi and Pusha T , as well as collaborations with artists including Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Gil Scott Heron .” (Wikipedia)
• The Blueprint by Jay-Z (2001). West made extensive production contributions to Jay-Z's album. “Eminem guest performed and produced its song, " Renegade ". Four tracks were produced by Kanye West .” (Wikipedia)
• Louis Vuitton by Louis Vuitton. West designed a shoe line for Louis Vuitton. “In January 2009, he introduced his first shoe line designed for Louis Vuitton during Paris Fashion Week . The line was released in summer 2009.” (Wikipedia)
• M/M Paris by M/M (Paris). West and M/M Paris collaborated on silk scarves. “In March 2011, West collaborated with M/M Paris for a series of silk scarves featuring artwork from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy .” (Wikipedia)
• A Bathing Ape by A Bathing Ape. West's first sneaker collaboration was with A Bathing Ape. “In January 2007, West's first sneaker collaboration was released, a special-edition Bapesta from A Bathing Ape .” (Wikipedia)
• Marc Jacobs by Marc Jacobs (1963). States Jacobs collaborated with Kanye West on Louis Vuitton collections. “Jacobs collaborated with many popular artists for his Louis Vuitton collections, including Stephen Sprouse , Takashi Murakami , Richard Prince , and Kanye West .” (Wikipedia)
• Mariah Carey. West worked on The Emancipation of Mimi. “We did a song called 'Stay The Night,' which is one of the first records that I did for the album. It's got a really strong, powerful vocal performance and the track is really hot” (The Mariah Network)
• Frank Ocean. Ocean collaborated with Kanye West. (also via Channel Orange) “The mixtape made Ocean widely known and led to his collaborations with rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West .” (Wikipedia)
• Madonna (1958). Kanye West was among Madonna's collaborators on Rebel Heart. “which features Kanye West and Diplo as producers, in addition to guest verses from Nicki Minaj, Nas” (Complex)
• Chris Rock (1965). Rock appeared on Kanye West's album. (via My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy) “I bumped into [Kanye] at Mr. Chow, and he got me hanging out in the studio for a while. It sounded like it’s all me, but it’s him. He recorded me doing five times as much stuff, and he put it together.” (VIBE)
• John Mayer (1977). Mayer appeared on a hidden track on Kanye West's Graduation. “he appeared on a hidden track called "Bittersweet Poetry" from the Kanye West album Graduation” (Wikipedia)
• My Name Is My Name by Pusha T. Kanye West and others produced My Name Is My Name. “The album includes production from Kanye West, The Neptunes , The-Dream , Just Blaze , No I.D. , Nottz , Don Cannon and Swizz Beatz , among others.” (Wikipedia)
• It's Almost Dry. Kanye West and Pharrell Williams produced It's Almost Dry. “The much-delayed album, primarily produced by frequent collaborators Pharrell Williams and Kanye West , was released on April 22 to widespread critical acclaim.” (Wikipedia)
• Dave Chappelle (1973). Kanye West performed in Dave Chappelle's Block Party. “Several musical artists, including Kanye West , The Roots , Erykah Badu , Mos Def , Dead Prez and Jill Scott , are featured in the movie” (Wikipedia)
• Cherry Bomb. Kanye West featured on Cherry Bomb. “The album features performances from notable artists such as Kanye West , Lil Wayne and Schoolboy Q .” (Wikipedia)
• Resurrection by Common (1994). Resurrection (Common) — geography for Kanye West “and John Legend, and produced singles for Brandy, Common, Legend, and Slum Village.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Acid Rap by Chance the Rapper (2013). Acid Rap (Chance the Rapper) — geography for Kanye West “In September, West announced his ninth studio album Yandhi to be released by the end of the month, and another collaborative album with fellow Chicagoan rapper Chance the Rapper, titled Good Ass Job.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Go-Getters. West formed and belonged to the Go-Getters. “This led to him forming the Go-Getters, a hip-hop group composed of him and fellow Chicago natives GLC , Timmy G, and Arrowstar.” (Wikipedia)
• GOOD Music. West founded the record label GOOD Music. “During this period, West founded GOOD Music , a record label and management company that housed affiliate artists and producers” (Wikipedia)
• Rick Rubin. Rubin worked with West on the sound of Yeezus. “West's perfectionist tendencies led him to contact producer Rick Rubin fifteen days shy of its due date to strip down the record's sound in favor of a more minimalist approach.” (Wikipedia)
• Daytona by Pusha T. The page says West would produce Pusha T's upcoming album, subsequently identified as Daytona. “he revealed he would produce upcoming albums by GOOD Music label-mates Pusha T and Teyana Taylor , as well as Nas . [ 158 ] Shortly thereafter, West released the non-album singles” (Wikipedia)
• K.T.S.E.. West completed production work on Taylor's album. “West also completed production work on Nas' Nasir [ 163 ] and Teyana Taylor's K.T.S.E. , which were released in the same month.” (Wikipedia)
• Nasir. West completed production work on Nas's album. “West also completed production work on Nas' Nasir [ 163 ] and Teyana Taylor's K.T.S.E. , which were released in the same month.” (Wikipedia)
• Ty Dolla Sign (2004). West recorded a collaborative album with Ty Dolla Sign. “Billboard reported that West had finished recording a collaborative studio album with Ty Dolla Sign and was in the process of shipping the album to distributors” (Wikipedia)
• Nike. West and Nike collaborated on the Air Yeezys. “In 2009, West collaborated with Nike to release his own shoe, the Air Yeezys , becoming the first non-athlete to be given a shoe deal with the company.” (Wikipedia)
• Adidas. Adidas confirmed a shoe collaboration with West. “On December 3, 2013, Adidas officially confirmed a new shoe collaboration deal with West.” (Wikipedia)
• Gap Inc.. West partnered with Gap Inc. on Yeezy Gap. “In May 2021, West signed a 10-year deal linking Yeezy with Gap Inc. to create Yeezy Gap , however, in September 2022, West announced that he was ending the deal.” (Wikipedia)
• Donda. West established the creative content company Donda. “In January 2012, West announced his establishment of the creative content company Donda , named after his late mother.” (Wikipedia)
• Yeezy Home. West announced the founding of Yeezy Home. “In May 2018, West announced he was starting an architecture firm called Yeezy Home, which will act as an arm of his already successful Yeezy fashion label.” (Wikipedia)
• Donda's House. West co-founded Donda's House with Rhymefest. “In 2013, Kanye West and friend Rhymefest founded Donda's House, Inc., a program aimed at helping at-risk Chicago youth.” (Wikipedia)
• Fine. Kanye West produced Bey’s single Fine. “In 2002, he released the 12" single Fine , which was produced by West and featured on the Brown Sugar soundtrack.” (Wikipedia)
• Yasiin Bey. Bey appears alongside Kanye West on Two Words. “Bey appears alongside Kanye West on the track " Two Words " from The College Dropout album, the track "Drunk and Hot Girls" and the bonus track "Good Night" off West's third major album, Graduation .” (Wikipedia)
• You Can't Hurry Love by The Supremes. Hill sang a rendition of the Supremes song on a Kanye West track. “She would later feature on the deluxe edition of West's album Bully , on the track "I Can't Wait", where she sang a rendition of The Supremes ' " You Can't Hurry Love "” (Wikipedia)
• Lauryn Hill (1975). Hill joined West to perform two songs at his concert. “In April 2026, Hill made a surprise appearance during a Kanye West concert at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. She joined West for performances of "All Falls Down" and "Believe What I Say"” (Wikipedia)
• Justin Vernon. Justin Vernon collaborated on the album. (via My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy) “A variety of artists contributed to the project, including close friends Jay-Z, Kid Cudi and Pusha T , as well as collaborations with artists including Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Gil Scott Heron .” (Wikipedia)
• Gil Scott-Heron. Gil Scott-Heron is named among the album's collaborators. (via My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy) “A variety of artists contributed to the project, including close friends Jay-Z, Kid Cudi and Pusha T , as well as collaborations with artists including Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Gil Scott Heron .” (Wikipedia)
• Accepted Eclectic by No I.D. (2001). Accepted Eclectic (No I.D.) — geography for Kanye West “West crossed paths with producer No I.D., who became West's friend and mentor.” (en.wikipedia.org)

…and 9 more on the map above.

Who Kanye West influenced

• Travis Scott (1991). Scott is listed as influenced by Kanye West. (also via My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Cruel Winter, Astroworld) “He is also influenced by Bon Iver , Kid Cudi , M.I.A. , Kanye West , Toro y Moi , Tame Impala , T.I. , and Thom Yorke.” (Wikipedia)
• Doechii (1998). Doechii cites Kanye West's daily songwriting practice as a formative influence on her creative ethos. “she has cited Kanye West , Tyler, the Creator , Kendrick Lamar , and SZA as her major musical influences” (Wikipedia)
• Kendrick Lamar (1987). Lamar credits Kanye West with an artistic lesson. (also via My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy) “credited Kanye West with teaching him to "never have any boundaries"” (Wikipedia)
• Miguel (1985). Miguel names Kanye West as an influence. “Miguel cites musicians Prince , David Bowie , Jimi Hendrix , Freddie Mercury , Phil Collins , Donny Hathaway , the Notorious B.I.G. , Kanye West , Saul Williams , Queen , Usher and Pharrell Williams as influences” (Wikipedia)
• Tyler, the Creator (1991). Tyler named Kanye West as an influence. “Tyler thanked Q-Tip , André 3000 , Chad Hugo , Kanye West , Missy Elliott , Busta Rhymes , and Hype Williams as his influences.” (Wikipedia)
• Take Care by Drake (2011). Take Care (Drake) — legacy for Kanye West “On November 20, days after ending their long-running feud, West and rapper Drake confirmed that they would stage the "Free Larry Hoover" benefit concert on December 9 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Astroworld by Travis Scott. Astroworld (Travis Scott) — legacy for Kanye West “West released a single titled "Wash Us in the Blood" on June 30, 2020, featuring fellow American rapper and singer Travis Scott, along with the music video, which was set to serve as the lead single from his tenth studio album Donda.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Channel Orange by Frank Ocean (2012). Channel Orange (Frank Ocean) — legacy for Kanye West “The mixtape made Ocean widely known and led to his collaborations with rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West.” (en.wikipedia.org)