The History of Kanye West | Timeline of Events before Adidas Split
Adidas severs ties with Kanye West: Here’s what you need to know
With the recent news of Adidas dropping its partnership with Kanye West, now is the time to reflect on the events and happenings that brought the brand to this point. West has had quite an eventful career, filled with triumph, turmoil, controversy, and fame.
Here are all of the events that lead up to the year 2022, in which Adidas, among other brands, severed ties with Kanye West:
Timeline of Events: Life of Kanye West
2000: Kanye begins producing for Roc-A-Fella (Jay-Z’s label)
Before Kanye made it under his name, the aspiring rapper started producing for Roc-A-Fella and Jay-Z. This time and experience left him well-equipped to release his debut album a few years later.
2001: Produces 5 tracks for the Blueprint
Kayne was credited with much of the success behind Jay-Z’s 2001 album Blueprint. This experience served him well and is something that many consider West’s “big break.”
2002: Kanye was in an accident after falling asleep at the wheel.
Despite the early success of his music career, not everything was glamorous! In 2002, West was involved in a car accident when he fell asleep while driving. West crashed head-on into another vehicle and shattered his jaw in the process.
2004: Kanye’s debut album The College Dropout releases, storms out of 2004 American Music Awards after losing “Best New Artist” award
The year 2004 was a big one for West’s career. His debut album, The College Dropout, was released and struck a chord with mainstream audiences. He received 10 Grammy nominations for the record but was remembered for storming out of the AMA after losing the “Best New Artist” award.
2005: George Bush comments
Sometimes referred to as one of the lowest points in his career, the 2005 “A Concert for Hurricane Relief” incident is among the most controversial things West has ever done. The concert was organized to help raise money for those who lost everything during Hurricane Katrina.
West was heavily involved with the concert and at one point, was brought on stage to solicit donations. Instead of sticking to the script, he started to ad-lip, culminating in West saying that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
2006: Hopped on stage at MTV Europe Music Awards
Starting to notice a trend? Based on his actions, it’s clear that West does not like losing. After losing the award for “Best Music Video”, West crashed the stage and threw an expletive-filled tantrum.
2007: The 50 Feud & MTV Threat & release of Graduation
Similar to 2004, 2007 was also filled with both triumph and tragedy. West released his third album entitled Graduation. Rapper 50 Cent also released an album around the same time, and the two artists feuded over who could sell more records. In the end, West one with over 950,000 copies sold.
2008: West releases 808s & Heartbreak
In 2008 West released his album 808s & Heartbreak. The album featured hit songs Heartless and Amazing. It became the third West album to debut at number one on the Billboard Top 200.
2009: West crashes Taylor Swift’s award acceptance speech, Nike Yeezy 1 Debut
West again thrust himself into the spotlight in 2009 when he interrupted Taylor Swift’s award acceptance speech at the MTV Music Awards. West claimed that Beyonce, not Swift, should have won the award for Best Music Video by a Female Artist.
The year 2009 also brought us the first ever Nike Yeezy sneaker, the Nike Yeezy 1.
2010: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Kanye’s fifth studio album was released in 2015. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy quickly became one of the most successful. It’s widely regarded as his best album and one of the top albums of all time.
2011: Kanye & Jay-Z team up for Watch the Throne
After the great success of his 2010 album, West teamed up with Jay-Z to create Watch the Throne. The duo’s album skyrocketed up the charts and even broke Itunes first week sales record.
2012: Cruel Summer release, Nike Yeezy 2 Debut
Cruel Summer was not nearly as successful as West’s previous albums, despite featuring GOOD Music signees Pusha T, Big Sean, Teyana Taylor, Cyhi the Prynce, Kid Cudi, John Legend, Common, D'banj and Malik Yusef, as well as affiliates 2 Chainz, Jay-Z and Travis Scott.
The Nike Air Yeezy 2 debuted in 2012 and quickly took the sneaker world by storm.
2013: Release of Yeezus
West’s sixth studio album also failed to live up to the hype. After a strong debut at no. 1 on the Billboard Top 200, the sales quickly declined. Yeezus did reach Gold status but was far away from ever reaching Platinum.
2014: Marries Kim K
In 2014 Kanye married his longtime girlfriend and reality TV star Kim Kardashian. The two had been dating since 2012 and were married in Italy. Their marriage has since ended in divorce.
2015: Evolution of Yeezys (debut with Adidas)
After splitting with Nike, West joined forces with German sportswear giant Adidas and brought out the first-ever Adidas Yeezy 750. That release was followed up with the introduction of the Yeezy 350 BOOST, which remains the most popular Adidas Yeezy sneaker.
2016: Release of the Life of Pablo
In 2016, Kanye West released his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo. The album received 5 Grammy nominations, including Best Rap Album and Album of the Year.
2019: Conversion to religion, the release of Jesus is King
After finding religion in 2019, West released a gospel-centered album entitled Jesus is King. The album was nominated for a Christian Grammy award.
2020: Kanye runs for President
Kanye West attempted to enter the political sphere and did some campaigning to become the President of the United States. After appearing on the ballot in California and asking followers to vote for him as a write-in candidate, West received around 70,000 votes.
2022: Loses multiple endorsements, brand deals over anti-semitic comments
And that brings us to the present day, in which Kanye West, or “Ye” as he is known, has been thrust into the spotlight once again for some rather unsettling events. For Kanye, the year 2022 has been filled with turmoil. After making anti-semitic remarks, multiple brands and sponsors decided to cut ties with West, including Adidas.
Gap, CAA, Balenciaga, and Chase Bank are among the other brands that severed any relation with West over his controversial comments.
What could this mean for the future of the Yeezy brand?
Simply put, the Yeezy brand as we know it will more than likely cease to exist. Adidas has already made plans to release Yeezy shoes under a different brand name, and Kanye does not own the designs or colors, only the Yeezy name.
In any case, we’re not going to see any Kanye West-branded shoes anytime soon unless he releases them on his own.
Looking for Yeezys?
Check out what we have in stock at Many Worlds, or scroll through our Yeezy Release Date Calendar.
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