What is Kanye West’s ethnicity?

Kanye West is of African-American descent. He comes from a middle-class African-American family.

Ray West, Kanye's father, was a member of the Black Panther Party and a photojournalist. His mother, Dr. Donda C. (Williams) West, held the positions of chair of the English Department at Chicago State University and professor of English at Clark Atlanta University.

In-depth ancestry reveals that Kanye's paternal grandmother was Fannie Mae/B. Hooks, and his paternal grandfather was James Frederick West. Sr. Lucille/Lucyle E. Eckle was Kanye's maternal grandmother, and Portwood Williams was his maternal grandfather.

Kanye West’s Upbringing

West was born on June 8, 1977, in Atlanta, Georgia. After his parents divorced when he was three years old, he moved with his mother to Chicago, Illinois. Ray West, his father, was a former Black Panther and one of the first black photojournalists at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

In 2006, Ray became a Christian counselor and opened the Good Water Store and Café in Lexington Park, Maryland, with startup money from his son. West’s mother, Donda C. West, was an English professor at Clark Atlanta University and the chair of the English department at Chicago State University before retiring to serve as his manager.

West was brought up in a middle-class environment, attending the Polaris School for Individual Education in suburban Oak Lawn, Illinois, after living in Chicago. West moved to Nanjing, China, when he was 10 years old, where his mother was a Fulbright scholar teaching at Nanjing University. West's mother says that he was the only foreign student in his class, but he quickly picked up the language, except for most of it, which he has since forgotten.

Kanye West’s Introduction To Music

West had an affinity for the arts from a young age; he began writing poetry when he was five. West's mother said that she first noticed his passion for music and drawing when he was in the third grade. West began rapping in the third grade and began making musical compositions in the seventh grade. He eventually sold them to other artists. At the age of thirteen, West wrote a rap song called “Green Eggs and Ham,” titled after the bestselling children's book by Dr. Seuss and persuaded his mother to pay for time in a recording studio.

Despite discovering that the studio was a little basement studio where a microphone hung from the ceiling by a wire clothes hanger, West's mother nevertheless supported and encouraged him. West met producer and DJ No I.D., with whom he quickly formed a close friendship. West received his first sampler at age 15, and it was from then on that he learned how to sample and program beats, learning this from his mentor No I.D., who became West's mentor.

Upon graduating from high school, West received a scholarship to attend Chicago's American Academy of Art in 1997, where he began taking painting classes. He then transferred to the Chicago State University to study English.

He soon realized that his busy class schedule was detrimental to his musical work, and at 20 he dropped out of college to pursue his musical dreams. This greatly displeased his mother, who was also a professor at the university.