World Record Holders In 1996, West—alongside
GLC, Timmy G, and Arrowstar—formed a Chicago rap group called the Go Getters. The group recorded a number of songs and made local radio appearances, but their debut album,
World Record Holders, was never officially released. The album
leaked online in 2010.
1997 beat tape A set of eight tracks, allegedly from an unreleased beat tape West produced in 1997, was uploaded to
SoundCloud in May 2016.
XXL found it to be plausible that the tape was authentic, and identified one of the beats as an early version of
Infamous Syndicate's "
What You Do to Me."
The College Dropout alternate version West's original version of
The College Dropout (2004) was leaked online months before release, and in response he made several changes to the album's instrumentation and mixing. The removed tracks include a song called "My Way," as well as early versions of the eventual
Late Registration (2005) tracks "
Hey Mama" and "
Gold Digger," the former of which West described in a 2003
MTV News interview before
The College Dropout's release, was made in 2000.
Good Ass Job ," widely regarded as the cover art of
Good Ass Job. West initially intended to release his first four albums as a college-themed series, with
Good Ass Job being the final album.
Good Ass Job was foreshadowed in some of West's earlier songs; for instance, the track "Graduation Day" on
The College Dropout alluded to the title with the lyric "She wants me to get a good ass job just like everybody." West also revealed this intention to
MTV News in 2003, before
The College Dropout release. West adhered to this plan with
Late Registration and
Graduation, but after the death of his mother
Donda West and his breakup with fiancée Alexis Phifer, he pivoted to an
electropop project titled
808s & Heartbreak for his fourth album in 2008. That September, West received worldwide controversy and criticism for interrupting
Taylor Swift during her acceptance of the award for Best Female Video during the
2009 MTV Video Music Awards, referring to "
Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" as being "one of the best videos of all time." The incident was a turning point in the development of
Good Ass Job, prompting West's decision to exile himself to
Oahu, Hawaii. Via
Rap Radar in February 2010, incoming
GOOD Music rapper
Big Sean confirmed that the project was still under the title
Good Ass Job;
Billboard also corroborated the title that July. However, on October 5, 2010, West announced the title's change to
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, claiming it was always the title during the production. The same month, he confirmed to
MTV News that he changed the concept because of his disdain with the skits and original ideas of
Good Ass Job.
"RoboCop" music video '' awards in December 2014|
Amber Rose worked with West on a
music video for the song in 2009. On March 11, 2009,
Clash reported that West was shooting a
music video for the song with his then-girlfriend
Amber Rose. It was recorded in Los Angeles after West had to persuade Rose to fly there for the shooting. Speaking to
MTV News four months later, Rose said that she plays a robot throughout the video and appears alone for 95 percent of it. During an on-set interview, West expressed that the visual was inspired by his love for video games, characterizing making a video look equally good to a game as "the holy grail." Accompanying the clip, Barbee posted: "Wish he had released this video. Super dope." The clip has a pink
technicolor backdrop, which West stands in front while wearing a tuxedo that accompanies his faux hawk and tucking his hands in his pockets. West stands face-to-face with a nude robot that has Rose's head digitally inserted onto it with the addition of sunglasses; she makes robotic movements simultaneously with him rapping. The full version of the music video was leaked in October 2024.
Watch the Throne 2 In December 2011,
Jay-Z stated in an interview with
MTV News that a sequel to
Watch the Throne would be released after solo projects from Jay-Z and West. In May 2012,
Watch the Throne co-producer
Mike Dean stated in an interview that
Watch the Throne 2 was being planned. Jay-Z reiterated in an August 2013 interview with
Power 106 that a sequel to
Watch the Throne was being planned. On April 5, 2016, Drake released "
Pop Style," featuring West and Jay-Z, as a single for
Views. However, when the album released, West and Jay-Z's features were removed. West blamed the removed verses on exclusivity deals by
Apple Music and
Tidal. While performing in
Seattle during the
Saint Pablo Tour, West said that
Watch the Throne 2 would not be released, blaming Jay-Z for removing West's verse from the song. In September 8, 2018, West tweeted that Watch the Throne 2 was "coming soon." At the time, it was not clear if West and Jay-Z were in contact as West stated in a May 2018 interview that he had not been in contact with Jay-Z since the Saint Pablo Tour speech. It was reported in October 2018 that Jay-Z had severed ties with West over
West's political rants in support of
Donald Trump. In November 2018, Meek Mill released
Championships, which features a Jay-Z guest appearance on "What's Free." Jay-Z references West on the song, rapping "No
red hat, don't
Michael and
Prince me and Ye." Soon after the release, Jay-Z clarified on
Twitter that the line was not a diss against West; West responded suggesting a
Watch the Throne sequel. In July 2021, West previewed the song "
Jail," which featured Jay-Z, at a
Donda listening party in
Atlanta. The song sparked speculation that a
Watch the Throne sequel was in development, with Jay-Z rapping: "This might be the return of The Throne." The following month, West affiliate Justin Laboy stated that
Watch the Throne 2 was to release later that year. In an October 2022
Drink Champs interview, West again stated that
Watch the Throne 2 was "coming soon." Earlier that year,
Fivio Foreign revealed that Jay-Z was meant to record for "
City of Gods," though this fell through due to West being "too impatient" to wait for Jay-Z to record, despite being adamant that he be featured.
Cruel Winter ," the intended lead single of
Cruel Winter In September 2012, American rapper
Q-Tip was questioned about his lack of involvement on
Cruel Summer and stated, "I know, I know, I'm sorry about that but I have to let the cat out of the bag. Kanye's probably gonna get... if there's a Cruel Summer then there's got to be a Cruel Winter, right?" He confirmed the project to be in the works the following month, with
Pusha T referring to it as a "Q-Tip/Kanye thing." Big Sean also confirmed
Cruel Winter to be coming soon, and
Malik Yusef, a songwriter and artist signed to the
GOOD Music label, posted a photo of him and West on
Instagram in the studio. Despite others confirming the project, fellow rapper
Common said it was nothing more than a "rumor." In July 2013,
Travis Scott stated that West may release
Cruel Winter "out of nowhere"; conversely, Pusha T declared that it would not release due to the number of projects West was working on. In October 2015, after more than two years without updates on
Cruel Winter, a rumored tracklist was posted by
AllHipHop. The project's ongoing development was confirmed in February 2016 by
Cyhi the Prynce, who stated "there was a lot of work done for
Cruel Winter." On June 3, 2016, a single titled "
Champions" was released by GOOD Music as the lead single for
Cruel Winter; the track includes appearances from West,
Gucci Mane, Big Sean,
2 Chainz, Travis Scott,
Yo Gotti,
Quavo, and
Desiigner. It initially aired on
Big Boy's 92.3, as a yet-untitled single, before being officially released via digital download and streaming services on June 12, 2016. West also teased a 12–15 minute version of the song with the GOOD Music roster, though the idea was later abandoned. In September 2016, Scott announced his role as executive producer for
Cruel Winter, and told
Hot 97.3 that the album would be released next year. In March 2017, when Cyhi was asked about
Cruel Winter, he said West was in "good spirits" and teased a song on the album with him and Sean he called "crazy." By November 2017, Cyhi said the album would come out right after his album. As of 2026, no more has been heard of the project.
Yeezus 2 During the development of
Yeezus (2013), West collaborated with producer
Rick Rubin to help finish the album five weeks before its scheduled deadline. West played Rubin multiple hours of material, as well as a track listing for the album containing sixteen tracks, later cut down to only ten. During these sessions, Rubin suggested cutting
Yeezus into two ten-track albums, to which West responded that it was "exactly what I wanted to hear." When asked by
Complex if this meant a sequel to the album was on the way, Rubin responded that it "might be." Under the working title
Yeezus 2, West had planned to release a sequel to
Yeezus with either new material or leftovers from previous sessions. It was confirmed on December 2013 when he announced a minimalist eight-track album, saying it was done mid-way. He planned to release it by "next summer" and reportedly worked with
Q-Tip and Rubin as producers. West stated his album was unnamed, stating "I haven't named my album. But I have started on it." It was speculated that American singer
Miley Cyrus missed her post-
VMA party to record with West, which was later confirmed when a remix for "
Black Skinhead," additionally featuring Travis Scott, leaked online. The album was renamed
So Help Me God as its artistic direction began to change, later going by the name
Swish before finally releasing as
The Life of Pablo.
So Help Me God After the abandonment of the
Yeezus 2 concept, West began planning to succeed
Yeezus with an album titled
So Help Me God. On March 1, West announced
So Help Me God as his planned title for the album. Alongside the announcement, he posted an image—speculated to be the planned album cover—of a diamond shape with lowercase "m" shapes at each vertex. The image was identified as a 13th-century monastic symbol that represented the
Virgin Mary. Prior to the announcement, West had held a listening party in September 2014 at which the album was played. He also released several singles for
So Help Me God in 2014 and 2015, including "
Only One," "
FourFiveSeconds," and "
All Day." Each of these singles featured contributions from
Paul McCartney, who also collaborated with West on an unreleased track titled "Piss on Your Grave" that leaked in August 2014. A version of "Piss on Your Grave" was eventually released on
Travis Scott's album
Rodeo. West has described the planned sound of
So Help Me God as "cookout music that just feels good,"
Theophilus London, who wrote a song planned for
So Help Me God, reported in March 2015 that West was continually revising the album. In May 2015, West announced that he was changing the title of his next album to
Swish. West changed the album's title again in January and February 2016, briefly titling the album
Waves before ultimately releasing it as
The Life of Pablo. He did not disclose why he changed the album's title, but
DJBooth has speculated that the poor chart performance of "All Day" led West to scrap his original plans for
So Help Me God. When
The Life of Pablo released the following year, Drake was credited as a co-writer on the track "
30 Hours." Upon the advent of Drake's 2016 studio album
Views, West would frequently refer to an upcoming collaborative project with the artist, once at
OVO Fest and again at a stop during his
Saint Pablo Tour. Drake would also mention the possibility of a joint mixtape with West in an interview with
Zane Lowe on his
Beats 1 radio show. A green billboard with the tagline "Calabasas is the new Abu Dhabi" appeared in
Los Angeles in August 2016 and featured the logos of both Drake's
OVO Sound and West's
GOOD Music labels, right before the latter's appearance at the
2016 MTV Video Music Awards. The two artists would not collaborate again until the release of Drake's 2017 commercial mixtape
More Life, where West produced and appeared on the mixtape's fifth single "
Glow." All prospects of a joint album between the two artists were shattered in 2018 with the release of
Pusha T's studio album
Daytona, which was entirely produced by West. On the album's last track "
Infrared," Pusha T sparked a days-long feud with Drake after questioning his songwriting ability. This was immediately followed by Drake responding with his song "
Duppy Freestyle," where he criticized both Pusha T and West, and culminated with the release of Pusha T's diss track "
The Story of Adidon." Drake and West would seemingly reconcile their differences three years later when the two put on a
one-off concert for the benefit of imprisoned Chicago gangster
Larry Hoover in December 2021, where both artists performed each other's songs on stage at the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. During a live-streamed interview with
DJ Akademiks in April 2025, West disclosed that he had previously reached out to Drake in an effort to offer him the song "
Preacher Man" from his twelfth studio album
Bully, but was unequivocally turned down by the artist, though he did maintain that he was hopeful the two would eventually work on a future album together someday: West had already been defending Drake in a series of
tweets during his resurgence on
Twitter earlier in the year, also claiming in a previous interview with DJ Akademiks that Drake is, "a million times better than Kendrick and a million times more important," in reference to his
ongoing feud with rapper
Kendrick Lamar.
Rihanna's eighth studio album At the
2015 Grammy Awards, West announced that he would be the executive producer of
Rihanna's next album. West went on to produce Rihanna's 2015 singles "
FourFiveSeconds," "
American Oxygen," and "
Bitch Better Have My Money," but stepped down as executive producer of the full album in January 2016, reportedly to finish recording his seventh studio album
The Life of Pablo. When Rihanna released
Anti later in 2016, the track listing did not include any of the three singles written and produced by West, nor did any of the songs featured on the album include any contributions from him.
Chiraq In 2020, designer Joe Perez revealed on Instagram that West had once commissioned him for art connected to a project titled
Chiraq. Little is known about the nature of the project, but Grant Rindner of
GQ has noted that the timing would have coincided with
Spike Lee's 2015 film
Chi-Raq.
Turbo Grafx 16 , the namesake of the album.|202x202px Ten days after the initial release of
The Life of Pablo, West announced his eighth studio album under the name
Turbo Grafx 16. The title references the
video game console of the same name, which West identified as one of his favorite consoles. The same month, West associate Ibn Jasper posted a photo on
Instagram showing West with longtime collaborators
Mike Dean,
Plain Pat, and
Kid Cudi in a recording studio working on the album. During the production of the album, West worked with emerging artists
Lil Yachty,
Vic Mensa,
Offset, and
Quavo, as well as Big Sean and
Tyler, the Creator. However,
Turbo Grafx 16 did not release in its intended time, with West taking off on the
Saint Pablo Tour during the fall of 2016. By November 2016, after West's rant on the final show and his hospitalization, the album was scrapped. Early versions of seven
Turbo Grafx 16 songs were leaked online, including collaborations with artists such as
Young Thug and
A$AP Rocky. In the same conversation, West expressed his intention for the album's cover to feature an image of
Jan Adams, the plastic surgeon who operated on West's mother Donda shortly before her death. West explained his thinking by stating that he "want[ed] to forgive and stop hating." Adams responded to the post with an open letter, requesting that his image not be used on the album. In May, West played
Love Everyone at an interview with
TMZ. Little material from the album has been heard publicly, At his TMZ interview, West made
controversial comments about slavery. Multiple outlets have speculated that the backlash to West's remarks led him to abandon his original plans for
Love Everyone and adapt the album into
Ye.
Wyoming Sessions albums After his original run of albums made during
sessions in Wyoming, West had planned to release multiple others in the following months. He had planned to release as many as 52 albums during the Wyoming Sessions, as he told a
New York Times reporter during a listening session for
Ye.
Bump J and Sly Polaroid EP In an interview with Fake Shore Drive,
Bump J was asked why he and fellow Goon Squad member Sly Polaroid had been recently pictured with West in Wyoming. In response, he revealed that he had been planning a collaborative album with Sly Polaroid produced by West, with co-production by BoogzDaBeast. Ronny J is also believed to have contributed production, as he was featured in an Instagram post West made of a studio session with him and Bump J. The last time West had done production for Bump J was on his 2006 mixtape
Chicagorilla. West began working work on an album for Cyhi on June 11, 2018, with Cyhi tweeting that West had started putting aside multiple song ideas for him. Cyhi claimed on June 29 that two of West's next Wyoming albums were completed, but weren't released as he "[wanted] to do another one."
Good Ass Job (2018 collaborative album) Chance the Rapper, a fellow Chicago rapper who had previously collaborated with West on "
Ultralight Beam," stated in a May 2016 interview that he and West intended to revisit and complete
Good Ass Job. That September, Chance stated the album was "far from done"; it was predicted that other projects, such as
Cruel Winter and a potential Drake collaboration, were likely to be higher priorities for West at the time. On September 17, 2018, West made a surprise appearance at
Chance the Rapper's Open Mike event, revealing that he and Chance were working on an album titled
Good Ass Job. After the announcement, no further updates took place, and by the following year it was assumed that the album had been abandoned. Despite the scrapped idea, West has stated that his recording sessions with Chance helped West reconnect with his roots and faith in
Christianity. The song "
Hurricane," which originated from these sessions, is credited as the catalyst for the creation of
Yandhi.
Yandhi with a purple shutter, similar to that of
Yeezus (2013), presumably with the physical version packed the same way. On September 17, 2018, West announced his ninth studio album
Yandhi, revealing the cover art and initial release date of September 29, 2018. The tracklist included tracks such as "
We Got Love" with Teyana Taylor and American singer
Lauryn Hill (originally intended for
K.T.S.E.), "
New Body," featuring
Nicki Minaj, "
The Storm," "Bye Bye Baby," "
Hurricane," "Alien / SpaceX," "Last Name," "
Sky City," "Garden," and "
Chakras." While
Yandhi did not release on its initial date, West was the musical guest for the
season 44 premiere of
Saturday Night Live. The following day,
Universal Music Publishing Group accidentally leaked that the initial version of the album was to be eight tracks long. After missing its initial date, it was rescheduled to November 23, 2018, announced by Kim Kardashian on October 1. That same day of the announcement, West visited the
TMZ offices for an interview, admitting that the album was not finished yet and that he would be going to Africa in two weeks to continue recording for
Yandhi. West talked about recording in Chicago and how he "felt the roots" but wanted to go further his energy by touching African soil and recording in nature. On October 12, 2018, West arrived in
Uganda and restarted work on the album in a dome-shaped studio set up in the Chobe Safari Lodge at the
Murchison Falls National Park. West arrived with around 50 people and recorded for five days. He played new music, including a studio recording of the "We Got Love" remix, for a group of about 100 Ugandan school children during a charity event. In an October 21, 2018, interview, American rapper
Quavo stated that his trio
Migos had recorded for the album. In November 2018, following a Kids See Ghosts performance with Kid Cudi at American rapper
Tyler, the Creator's
Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, West tweeted that he felt
Yandhi was not finished, and that he would "announce the release date once it's done," delaying the album indefinitely. By 2019, West went through a dramatic conversion towards born-again
evangelical Christianity, including the formation of the
Sunday Service Choir and a performance at
Coachella on
Easter Sunday, influencing the evolution of
Yandhi to what was eventually released on October 19 as his ninth studio album,
Jesus Is King. Several songs recorded for
Yandhi would later be released by other artists, such as "
Shake Dat" by
Chief Keef and
Mustard, originally titled "Jam 15." On May 1, 2025, West announced on a
Kick livestream with
Sneako and Neon that he planned to release
Yandhi, saying: "We gotta release
Yandhi."
Kids See Ghosts 2 In 2019,
Kid Cudi teased
Kids See Ghosts 2, the sequel to
Kids See Ghosts, multiple times. According to an interview with
Complex, Kid Cudi assured fans that more material from him and West are coming: However,
Kids See Ghosts 2 never came to fruition, as West and Kid Cudi began feuding in February 2022. That April, Kid Cudi announced that Pusha T's song "Rock n Roll," on which both Cudi and West were featured, would be the two artists' final collaboration. Cudi and West temporarily reconciled during a December 2023 listening session, and Cudi subsequently appeared on the
Vultures 2 track "Gun to My Head." In August 2025, Cudi officially ended his affiliation with West after his
controversial statements.
Jesus Is King: The Dr. Dre Version On November 18, 2019, West announced a remix version of
Jesus Is King with American producer-rapper
Dr. Dre. On January 16, 2020, a Dr. Dre-produced version of "
Up from the Ashes" (which later appeared on
Donda) leaked onto
YouTube. Another track, titled "
LA Monster," also leaked two months later. In June 2020, American rapper
Snoop Dogg posted a video of Dr. Dre and West working on
Jesus Is King: The Dr. Dre Version. Later that year, West thanked American rapper
Eminem for rapping on Dr. Dre's remix of "
Use This Gospel," which was officially released two years later on
DJ Khaled's thirteenth studio album,
God Did. However, West and Dr. Dre parted their ways and have not made updates on the remix album, with West focusing on
Donda,
his 2020 presidential campaign,
Donda Academy, and
Yeezy merch, while Dr. Dre had a turbulent following year, with a near-fatal brain aneurysm, his home being burglarized, and eventual divorce. On September 25, 2023,
Jesus Is King: The Dr. Dre Version finally surfaced online in leaks. The album featured guest appearances from
Eminem,
Snoop Dogg,
Anderson .Paak,
Travis Scott,
Pusha T,
2 Chainz,
Marsha Ambrosius, and
ASAP Ferg.
War War was a collaborative album by West and the English musician
James Blake. and the entire album had leaked online by December 25, 2025. That month, West denied Albe Back's claims to have written for
War, saying the leaked album consisted of his
freestyles over Blake's instrumentals.
War songs included "What I Would've Said at Virgil's Funeral," a tribute to
Virgil Abloh, and "This One Here", which West repurposed for his 2026 album
Bully. Vultures 3 West announced his and
Ty Dolla Sign's
Vultures series of collaborative albums as a trilogy, beginning with
Vultures 1 in February 2024.
Vultures 2 and
3 were planned to follow in March and April.
Vultures 2 experienced multiple delays and was not released until August. By 2026,
Vultures 3 remained unreleased. In January, Ty Dolla Sign said it was still planned and would "rip heads off." He reaffirmed this during a March performance with
Peso Pluma, despite West having sparked controversy for antisemitic rants on
Twitter the preceding month. However, in April, West indicated that
Vultures 3 had been canceled due to his antisemitic statements straining his relationship with Ty Dolla Sign.
Cuck On March 6, 2025, West announced that his upcoming music would feature an "antisemitic sound." On March 15, he first teased the song "
WW3" on March 15 on his
Twitter account, eventually releasing as a single on March 26, and a controversial music video on April 1, blending a scene from the American
television miniseries Roots, clips of
interracial sex, and footage of a KKK gathering. On April 2, DJ Akademiks announced that the album, initially titled
WW3, would release the next day, and shared the track listing. He also previewed the song "Bianca," with West pleading with
Bianca Censori to "come back" after separation. While the album missed its release date, West revealed its album cover, depicting a Klan couple wearing KKK-inspired outfits while posing in front of a stack of hay bales. On April 21, West announced that the album's title changed to
Cuck, described as representing "[his] whole style." He released the music video for its second single "
Cousins" on Twitter, based on his traumatic
incestuous relationship with a male cousin as a child and his recreational use of
nitrous oxide. The music video consists of low quality footage drawn from home media, TV commercials, and pornography. On May 7, West announced its third single "
Heil Hitler," releasing its music video the next day, featuring men draped in animal skins singing the chorus, with the outro sampling a speech by
Adolf Hitler. He subsequently released the song on
SoundCloud and Scrybe shortly before being deleted. An instrumental version titled "The Heil Symphony" was uploaded in its place on May 14. On May 18, 2025, the album was leaked after a $999 charity group buy for the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum via the messaging site
Discord, with the album's album artwork and metadata containing derogatory messaging towards West in its media and
metadata as a form of
protest. On May 22, West revealed that he was "done with antisemitism" following a
FaceTime call with his children, asking God to "forgive me for the pain I've caused" and saying that he forgave those who caused him pain. On June 22, West revealed the album's new title as
In a Perfect World. On November 17, "WW3," "Cousins," and "Heil Hitler," along with their alternate versions "Hallelujah" and "Hit Symphony," were removed from streaming services following his apology to Rabbi
Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto. In January 2026, West published an
open letter in
The Wall Street Journal in which he apologized for his antisemitic remarks and behavior, stating his outbursts stemmed from
manic episodes in which he "gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika," as he refused to accept his bipolar disorder diagnosis. West said he was "deeply mortified by [his] actions" and pledged to "accountability, treatment, and meaningful change." ==Other ventures==