Disc 1 (Disc 2 is coming on April 4) of beats created by Kanye West has been found and released for stream. These beats are from 2001 what Kanye was not well known and is believed to be the oldest beats released with his name on them.

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 Interscope rapper. I was shocked to find that two of them, both given to me in ‘01, had the name Kanye West on them. These two CDs, which I believe are the oldest Kanye beats ever released, now celebrate their 10 year anniversary.

Q-tip lets us into how Kanye West makes his music. The article dissects how Kanye works and, to my mind, his collaboration and inclusion of people is the reason is music is so popular.

Everybody’s opinions mattered and counted. You would walk in [...] and everybody is sitting in there and he’s playing music and everyone is weighing in. It was like music by committee. [...] Every person has a voice and an idea, so he’s sincerely looking to hear what you have to say-good, bad, or whatever. [...] when he has his beats or his rhymes, he offers them to the committee and we’re all invited to dissect, strip, or add on to what he’s already started. By the end of the sessions, you see how he integrates and transforms everyone’s contributions, so the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

She asked me why I’m so dressed up?… I told her, ‘cause I’m not headed to the gym right now.’

– Kanye West

Kanye West had some great thoughts to share on creativity.

There’s no such thing as fact anymore, only opinion. The closest thing we have to fact is “common opinion”. Everything is an opinion. The way you dress is an expression of your opinion. Your religious beliefs are your opinion. The music you turn up loud is your opinion. For most people it’s easier to just agree. For me the hardest thing is to ‘just’ agree and that is what sparks creativity, the feeling that something can be better, the feeling that something’s missing. The feeling that something’s needed.