The Chicago native headed to the island of O’ahu, Hawaii, booking the famous Avex Studio for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, indefinitely. Having returned to the US from his self imposed exile, freshly inspired to make new music.
To redeem his public image, he would need to produce a musical masterpiece - and he did just that, releasing his magnum opus, ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ just under a year later to widespread critical acclaim. This time though, if West was going to make music he would be facing higher stakes than ever. Whilst claiming he was done with music, finding other mediums far more interesting to work in, West later revealed to Complex that he had been conceptualising music that would have melodies like those in ‘808s and heartbreak’, mixed with the raw drums of Mobb Deep. He then relocated to Italy, becoming an intern for Fendi - chasing a newfound interest in fashion design. It seemed the backlash was something only time could heal and so on the advice of fellow rapper Yasiin Bey (AKA Mos Def), Ye decided to take a hiatus from the public eye, moving to Japan far away from the glitz of the celebrity lifestyle and flashing lights of paparazzi. Criticism of the artist and his actions that night soon started to fly and in the eyes of the public to the president, West had turned from hero to villain. In seconds, all respect he’d worked so hard for years to build was gone. Upon the announcement of Tayler Swift as the winner of the ‘Best Female Music Video’ award, Ye drunkenly stormed the stage, grabbing the mic out of Swift’s hand, and proceed with “ima let you finish” before proclaiming Beyonce’s ‘Ladies (put a ring on it)’ to be one of the “best videos of all time.”
This was until his now infamous outburst at the 2009 MTV awards. After the release of the hugely influential ‘808s & Heartbreak’ in 2008, it felt like Kanye was on top of the world - perceived to be at the height of his stardom with nothing left to prove.