Kanye West has become a pop culture legend for his outsized behavior, whether it's in his professional life, his personal life or both at the same time. He's already stirring up reactions with the music for his June 18 release, "Yeezus," but we'll have to wait until the dust settles to see where it lands among his greatest headline-making moments.
November 2004: The loss of Best New Artist to Gretchen Wilson at the American Music Awards turned 'Ye into an outspokenly sore loser. The "College Dropout" artist not only walked out of the AMAs, he told the press, "I felt like I was definitely robbed. ... I was the best new artist this year."
September 2005: If you didn't know by September 2005 that Kanye is not the type to stick to the script, he proved it during a relief telethon for Hurricane Katrina victims. Speaking alongside Mike Myers, 'Ye memorably started ad-libbing, leading to a phrase that still hasn't lived down its infamy: "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
February 2006: A year after his theatrical performance of "Jesus Walks" at the Grammys, West posed as Jesus Christ on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in February 2006. It was a move so controversial he later claimed, "I can't even get endorsements now. The ones that might have been open to me when I was just a cute kid in a Polo."
November 2006: Kanye really doesn't like losing, and he reminded us of that at the MTV Europe Music Awards in November 2006, when he stage-crashed Justice vs. Simian's best video win for "We Are Your Friends." Clearly, his video "Touch the Sky" should've won because "it cost a million dollars, and Pamela Anderson was in it." Having a "sippy sippy" pre-awards show might convince one of such merits.
September 2007: Awards shows are such a sticking point for Mr. West. When he lost out on all five of his MTV VMAs and wasn't scheduled to perform on the main stage, which had boasted the likes of Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, West threw a fit, threatening not to return to the awards ceremony.
June 2008: Like most with an overwhelming number of strong opinions, Kanye was a natural at blogging on his site, Kanyeunivercity.com. So when he was booed at 2008's Bonnaroo music festival after showing up late for his set, the rapper let loose on the fest's organizers via his blog -- in caps lock, of course. "I HAVE A F****** LIGHT SHOW DUMB A**," he said. "IT'S NOT CALLED GLOW IN THE DARK FOR NO REASON SQUID BRAINS!"
September 2008: Yeezy's beef with paparazzi didn't just start in May 2013, when he hit his head on a street sign while trying to get away from them. No, this battle of wills goes all the way back to September 2008, when West was arrested on felony vandalism charges at Los Angeles International Airport after he got into a skirmish with two paps and allegedly damaged their cameras.
September 2009: Even with his noted troublemaking at past awards shows, no one -- including West -- had figured out by September 2009 that they weren't the best places for him to hang out. What transpired at the MTV event is one of the most infamous moments in live TV, as he interrupted Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech for the Best Female Music Video.
July 2010: Before Amanda Bynes, Kanye West had the Twitter account to watch. His posts, frequently in all caps, would go from random, humorous comments to epic rants, to an 80-plus-tweet business plan for "DONDA." He's since scaled waaaaay back on the 140-character updates, and we'll admit that we miss them.
November 2010: While gearing up to release "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," West did a promotional appearance on "Today" with Matt Lauer -- one that quickly turned sour and led to him canceling his performance on the show.
March 2011: The NSFW album cover for Kanye West's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" was just the beginning of trouble for the rapper. After fearing censorship over his cover art -- "Banned in the USA!!! They don't want me chilling on the couch with my phoenix!" he tweeted at the time -- there was debate over whether his music video for "Monster" should also be censored, thanks to its depiction of West in bed with two lifeless women, among other controversial images.
August 2011: Still struggling with a negative public perception, West told the audience gathered at the UK's Big Chill film festival, "I walk through the hotel and I walk down the street, and people look at me like I'm f****n' insane, like I'm Hitler." That comparison, for obvious reasons, made international headlines.
April 2012: With speculation raging, since he couldn't seem to keep his pants up while hanging out with Kim Kardashian, Kanye dropped a single in which he admitted he was in love with her. Time soon revealed that the two were indeed an item.
December 2012: Every expectant parent has their own way of breaking the news to loved ones that they're awaiting an addition to the family. Kanye opted to share the joyous news with concert attendees at his Atlantic City show on December 31, when he encouraged the crowd to "make some noise" for his "baby mama."
February 2013: Soapboxing has been included in the price of admission to Kanye concerts lately, as the artist has taken various opportunities to get a few things off his chest mid-show. In February, he revealed that he's got "love for Hov but I ain't f*****g with that 'Suit & Tie,' " his friend Jay-Z's track with Justin Timberlake. (The pop singer later hit back at the rapper, coyly rhyming on "Saturday Night Live," "hit's so sick got rappers acting dramatic.")
May 2013: The month of May was one long 'Ye-headline fest, as the artist got into another yelling match with a paparazzo after hitting his head on a sign, announced during a show that he's no "mother*****g celebrity" and then revealed that his next album will not only arrive on June 18, it'll be called "Yeezus." Even though we've only heard a few samples, which he played in early June at the Governor's Ball in New York, somehow we think the controversy's only just beginning.
- Kanye West opens up about his romance with Kim Kardashian in W magazine
- He says his love for her prompted him to appear on 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians'
- The love they share is also the reason she's willing to be criticized for his style choices
(Cover Media) -- Kanye West claims his appearances on girlfriend Kim Kardashian's reality show are "all for love."
It was rumored he decided against appearing on the show because he's vehemently against sharing his private life with the public. The rapper has been featured on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" only a few times since being in a relationship with Kim.
West confirms he takes his romance seriously, and is not looking for more publicity.
"Oh, that's just all for love. It's simply that," he told W magazine. "At a certain point, or always, love is more important than any branding, or any set of cool people, or attempting to impress anyone. Because true love is just the way you feel. Thoughts and feelings can disagree sometimes."
The rapper has advised the mother of his newborn daughter, North West, on many of her outfits since they became a couple, and some of those style choices have been publicly criticized.
"For her to take that risk in front of the world, it just shows you how much she loves me," he explained. "And how much she actually loves the opportunity to learn. ... You got, like, a million companies saying, 'This is impacting your brand! This is impacting your fans! And blah blah blah.' But she still sees this light of beauty."
As for West reportedly controlling her look since they started dating, he explained that's not possible.
"Nobody can tell my girl what to do," he commented. "She just needed to be given some platforms of information to work from. .. One beautiful thing is that as she discovers it, the world discovers it."
The couple welcomed their first child together, daughter North, on June 15.
