THE BEST OF KANYE (TRIALS & TRIUMPHS)

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Voice of this Generation

Not exactly known for his humble side, Yeezy proclaimed himself the voice of his generation late last year. “I realize that my place and position in history is that I will go down as the voice of this generation, of this decade, I will be the loudest voice," West boasted. "It's me settling into that position of just really accepting that it's one thing to say you want to do it and it's another thing to really end up being like Michael Jordan."

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Kanye West Vs. George Bush

Angered with the way Black folks were portrayed in the media during Hurricane Katrina, a highly frustrated West spoke his mind rather than stick to the script during a benefit telethon for Katrina. Standing side by side with comedian Mike Myers, West blurted out, “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.” The comment created a media firestorm and helped boost sales of his sophomore album, “Late Registration.”

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Kanye Vs. The Press

Suspicious of the press from the start, Kanye routinely claimed to be misquoted by various media outlets early in his rapping career. Even Time Magazine supposedly mishandled his words during its 2005 Yeezy cover story. Convinced that the press is out to get him (he once called them de-pressed),West doesn’t do too many interviews these days. He blogs in ALL CAPS via his popular kanyeuniversity.com site. The press can’t misquote him there.

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I'ma Let You Finish

The moment that still haunts Kanye to this day. This past September, Yeezy stormed the MTV Video Music Awards stage to protest Taylor Swift winning Best Female Video over Beyonce. A shocked Swift never even got to make her first moon man speech. While ‘Ye’s tirades are usually amusing, this particular outburst caused the biggest Kanye backlash yet.

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David and Goliath

Kanye Vs. 50 Cent: Playing David to 50 Cent’s Goliath, Kanye emerged victorious when both superstars decided to release their third albums on September 11, 2007. Billed as the biggest SoundScan showdown in music history, the face off reached a fever pitch when Fif claimed he’d retire if West outsold him. He didn’t. ‘Ye’s “Graduation” sold 957,000 units in its first week versus 691,000 copies for 50’s “Curtis.”

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Yeezy's Girls

Kanye talked about his relationships way before the blogs loved to speculate on his love life. He referenced model Alexis Rainey throughout "The College Dropout" and later got engaged to Alexis Phifer (they split up in 2008). His most recent girlfriend, Amber Rose, has become a star in her own right.

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Snapped!

Interestingly enough, Ye had never been harassed by paps when he offered, “Til I got snapped by the paparazzi/damn, these ni**as got me/I hate these ni**as more than a nazi” on "Graduation’s" “Flashing Lights.” Mr. West became a paparazzi fixture soon after the song was released. Things got out of hand when ‘Ye and his road manager Don C snatched a camera out of a photog’s hands and smashed it into the ground at Los Angeles' LAX airport. The two were arrested for vandalism.

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Get Britney!

Pissed that he wasn’t picked to open the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards on the main stage over Britney Spears, West blacked out. “Give a Black man a chance, man,” West yelled backstage at the VMAs. “F**k MTV! Tell them what the f**k I said. I’m never coming back to MTV. Y’all find Britney, get Britney.” West closed the VMAs by premiering “Love Lockdown” the following year.

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Justice!

An outraged Kanye crashed the MTV Europe Music Awards back in 2006 when he lost Best Video to french electro group, Justice. “This video cost a million dollars, fam,” West told the members of Justice on stage. “I had Pam Anderson. I’m jumping across canyons and sh*t. If I don’t win, the award show loses credibility. I appreciate it, fam. It’s nothing against you, I’ve never seen your video, but hell nah, man.”

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Robbed

West blasted the American Music Awards after losing Best New Artist to Gretchen Wilson back in 2004. Feeling robbed, he vowed to never return to the AMAs.

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