Kanye West

When Kanye West first stepped to the mic amid the bleeding-edge beats of The College Dropout, a deafening "stick to producing!" chorus practically drowned out his acid-tongued rhymes. That is until fans of his Jay-Z work — a hefty chunk of The Blueprint — actually listened to his own stunning singles, from the feverish huffing and puffing of "Jesus Walks" to the live Lauryn Hill hook of "All Falls Down" (belted out by the GRAMMY®-nominated Syleena Johnson). The hits just kept on coming, too, including the glow-stick-cracking Daft Punk samples of "Stronger" and the sly Ray Charles nods of "Gold Digger."

Now that he's a bona fide superstar, Kanye has seen his career become a constant balancing act between special appearances and solo singles — a struggle captured perfectly in our Next Steps.

If there's one thing Kanye West's known for — besides a larger-than-life persona, of course — it's the way he's changed the game with his albums and guest spots. Production-wise, no one expected the sluggish drum loops and creeping keys of "Drive Slow" or the hypnotic horns and head-circling choruses of "Crack Music" after hearing the sped-up soul samples of The College Dropout. And then there's the left-field touches West has helped bring to the tracks of other artists, from Madonna's glitter-dusted disco direction ("Beat Goes On") to a Fall Out Boy remix that drops the pop-punk front for a fresh whiff of blue-eyed soul.

Judging by the collaborations, productions, and starring roles in our Deep Cuts, West isn't taking a vacation anytime soon.

Before Kanye's Top 40 takeover, hip-hop was clearly split into two camps: the backpacker-policed underground and the jewel-encrusted, paper-stacking mainstream. The line between the two couldn't be hazier in West's world, which explains why he'll work with Janet Jackson (the heavenly high notes and temple-thumping basslines of "My Baby") or Cam'Ron (the zigzagging samples of "Down and Out") one day and Dilated Peoples (the snaky flute loop and gospel chorus of "This Way") or Slum Village (the hissing hi-hat and stutter-stepping piano keys of "Selfish") the next.

We're not sure which of Kanye West's Rolling Stone covers is more telling: the one that pitted the stone-faced producer/rapper against 50 Cent (the subhead "Who will be the king of hip-hop?"), or the one with the crown-of-thorns pose. Come to think of it, both perfectly capture his chest-puffing can't-knock-the-hustle personality. But what they overlook is how much tireless work has gone into his rapid rise from the producer's chair (Jay-Z, Mase, Beanie Sigel) to spotlight-grabbing slots at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, and his own over-the-top Glow in the Dark tour. One quick listen to our Kanye West Essentials will clear that up, as one of hip-hop's leading visionaries lights a fire under his friends (Common, John Legend, Jamie Foxx) and, ultimately, himself — everything from the rich, Jon Brion-assisted productions of Late Registration to the synth-heavy singles of Graduation.