Kanye West - Making A Masterpiece

In 2013, Kanye West became a father. In 2014, he got married. In 2015, he announced he’d be running for President. Now he’s calling his brand-new LP “the greatest album of all time”. Larry Bartleet asks how he got there.

- Larry Bartleet

June 15, 2013

Kanye’s fiancée Kim Kardashian gives birth to their first child, daughter North West, three days before the release of the 36-year old’s sixth album ‘Yeezus’. It’s his best yet – a brutal, revelatory and self-contradictory game-changer that debuts at Number One on the iTunes chart in 31 countries.

July 19, 2013

Angered by the presence of the press, Kanye grabs a paparazzo’s camera at LAX. The criminal charges include 250 hours of community service. The following month, in a televised interview with Kim’s mother Kris Jenner, he suggests fatherhood has changed his outlook. “With the press, it’s almost like an agenda to write me into a certain type of story… I have two people to live for – a family to live for. A whole world to live for.”

Oct 30, 2013

After six dates, Kanye’s ‘Yeezus’ tour – which includes a 50-foot mountain-turned-volcano, ‘snow’ flurries, troupes of masked dancers and a ‘white Jesus’ – is postponed after a truck carrying its 60-foot LED screen and custom-made video truss crashes. A statement says, “Kanye West will not compromise on bringing the show, as it was originally envisioned and designed, to his fans.” The tour later resumes in mid-November.

Nov 24, 2013

Kanye reveals that he’s already started work on his seventh album, hoping to put it out before Summer 2014 – a deadline that will eventually be pushed back by more than 18 months. In that time Evian Christ, Malik Yusef, Travis Scott and P Diddy will claim involvement in its production.