The Artists

Kanye Omari West (born June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, and fashion designer. His musical career has been marked by dramatic changes in styles, incorporating an eclectic range of influences including soul, baroque pop, electro, indie rock, synth-pop, industrial, and gospel. Over the course of his career, West has been responsible for cultural movements and progressions within mainstream hip hop and popular music at large.

Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West first became known as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the early 2000s, producing hit singles for recording artists such as Jay-Z, Ludacris and Alicia Keys. Intent on pursuing a solo career as a rapper, West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004 to widespread critical and commercial success, and founded the record label GOOD Music. He went on to experiment with a variety of musical genres on subsequent acclaimed studio albums, including Late Registration (2005), Graduation (2007), and the polarizing but influential 808s & Heartbreak (2008). He released his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010 to further rave reviews, and has since succeeded it with Yeezus (2013), The Life of Pablo (2016) and Ye (2018), as well as full-length collaborations Watch the Throne (2011) and Kids See Ghosts (2018) with Jay-Z and Kid Cudi respectively.

West's outspoken views and life outside of music have received significant media attention. He has been a frequent source of controversy for his conduct at award shows, on social media, and in other public settings, as well as his comments on the music and fashion industries, U.S. politics, and race. His marriage to television personality Kim Kardashian has also been a source of substantial media attention. As a fashion designer, he has collaborated with Nike, Louis Vuitton, and A.P.C. on both clothing and footwear, and have most prominently resulted in the Yeezy collaboration with Adidas beginning in 2013. He is the founder and head of the creative content company DONDA.

West is among the most critically acclaimed musicians of the 21st century and one of the best-selling music artists of all time with over 135 million records sold worldwide. He has won a total of 21 Grammy Awards, making him one of the most awarded artists of all time and the most Grammy-awarded artist of his generation. Three of his albums have been included and ranked on Rolling Stone's 2012 update of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list and he ties with Bob Dylan for having topped the annual Pazz & Jop critic poll the most number of times ever, with four number-one albums each. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005 and 2015.

Kid Cudi

Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), better known by his stage name Kid Cudi (often stylized as KiD CuDi), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor from Cleveland, Ohio. With his originality and creativity, as well as the emotion he conveys in his music, Cudi has amassed a large cult-like following. Cudi first gained major recognition following the release of his first official full-length project, a mixtape titled A Kid Named Cudi (2008). The mixtape caught the attention of American rapper-producer Kanye West, who subsequently signed Cudi to his GOOD Music label imprint in late 2008.

In 2008 his debut single "Day 'n' Nite" led him to prominence, reaching the top five of the Billboard charts. Cudi's debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day (2009) was later certified two-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In 2010, he released Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, which was preceded by "Erase Me" and "Mr. Rager". Later that year Cudi formed a rock band, now known as WZRD, with his long-time collaborator Dot da Genius, releasing one eponymous debut album in early 2012. The album debuted at number one on the Top Rock Albums chart. In April 2013, Cudi released Indicud, which became his highest-charting album on multiple charts. In February 2014, Cudi unexpectedly released his fourth album, Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon, exclusively to digital retailers with no promotion. In 2015 Cudi released his rock album Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven to negative reception. In 2016 he returned to hip-hop with his sixth album Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin' to generally positive reviews. Cudi later released a joint album with West under the eponymous name Kids See Ghosts. The album was met with critical acclaim.

In 2010, Cudi ventured into acting when he began starring in the HBO series How to Make It in America. Cudi has since appeared in several feature films, including Goodbye World (2013), Need for Speed (2014), and Entourage (2015). In addition, he has made appearances on television shows such as One Tree Hill, The Cleveland Show and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. In 2015, he was the bandleader on the IFC series, Comedy Bang! Bang!.

As of 2019, Cudi has released six studio albums as a solo artist and has sold a combined 16 million records and has worked with numerous prominent artists in the music industry, including Jay Z, Mary J. Blige, David Guetta, MGMT, Shakira, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar and Michael Bolton among others. After signing to GOOD Music, Cudi has since gone on to launch his own record label imprints, the now-dissolved Dream On and current independent label Wicked Awesome Records.