Complex
10 Kanye x Complex Moments
April 2003
Making his first Complex appearance in our 6th issue (April/May 2003), a young Yeezy is interviewed by former staff writer Timmhotep Aku about the infamous October 2002 car accident behind his breakout single "Through The Wire". "When I woke up and looked in the mirror, my jaw was cracked in half and I could see the separation in my bottom jaw," he said of the tragedy that turned triumph. "When I got something in my heart to say, I gotta express it as best I can." Kanye was also kind enough to provide us with a photo from his hospital bed that has never been seen outside of the "Through The Wire" music video.

August 2003
Mr. West delivers the first installment of his hilarious fashion beatdown column in the August/September 2003 issue, where he critiqued the style of celebrities like Lenny Kravitz, Brad Pitt, Mos Def, Lil Kim, Kid Rock, and Common: “Every now and then I’ll see Common wearing something I might’ve actually purchased, and that scares me.” Zoinks!

June 2004
A College Dropout–era ’Ye makes his first appearance on a Complex cover in a golf cart with the Beastie Boys and Talib Kweli for our June/July 2004 issue. "I definitely feel I am influential," he said to writer Amy Linden. "You can't take anything away from me if I have that ego. It's part of the whole ambiance, so just enjoy the ride."

August 2005
Landing his first solo ’Plex cover for Late Registration, Kanye is photographed by Terry Richardson rocking gold fronts for our August/September 2004 issue. Former staff writer Sean Fennessey spoke to Kanye about his rumored clothing line Pastelle and his international shopping experiences. "I've been able to pick out the best of the best. It takes time to really build up a wardrobe like mine and be one of the best-dressed people on the planet."

February 2007
Kanye stops by Complex HQ to work on an extended "fashion beatdowns" feature for Complex's April/May 2007 issue. He also sits down with Marc Ecko and Editor-in-Chief Noah Callahan-Bever to talk about business and fashion, including some secret details about his planned Pastelle launch. "Not to be rude," he tells Senior Deputy Editor Donnie Kwak (who he had been editing with earlier) after he walks into Marc's office, "but this meeting is bosses only. Could you please leave?" Like a boss!

July 2007
’Ye celebrates his third album Graduation by guest editing the August/September issue and appearing on the cover. In the interview with Marc Ecko, Yeezy speaks on his cultural dominance: "If you're driving a car and you're trying to get in another lane, you're looking for your opportunity to get in this lane, right? My goal is to be on the freeway in a fucking plane. In all lanes at all times. The goal is not to cross over, the goal is to try to do the impossible. Like, for me to have a party at the Louis Vuitton store and then get in the car and hear Kay Slay playing 'Can't Tell Me Nothing' was the greatest accomplishment for me. That was like the airplane thing. In all lanes."

August 2007
After critiquing celebrity style for years in his popular "Fashion Beatdowns" column, Kanye takes a look at four of his own outfits in a special edition of the column for his first guest edited issue (August/September 2007). Most of Yeezy's comments are unapologetically positive, but he does express some regret over his white blazer-and-taco meat outfit from the 2006 Grammys: "Even Jordan had off days."

November 2008
’Ye takes a break from his Glow in the Dark tour to shoot a cover but decides it’s not up to standard so it gets shelved. The MCM-heavy photo shoot ended up leaking out on the internet years later when photographer Matt Doyle made it available for license on Getty Images.

February 2009
“Jesus Walks” video director Chris Milk shoots a high-res laser scan of Kanye to create an eerie computer-generated cover image for Complex's April/May 2009 issue that captures the mood of 808s & Heartbreak. Kanye makes several visits to the office to work with the art department on the design of his futuristic cover story. “Who did this?” he asked on one such visit, pointing to an admittedly underwhelming cover design. “It completely undermines the artistic integrity of the whole project.” No art directors were harmed in the making of this issue.

February 2010
Yeezy invites Editor-In-Chief Noah Callahan-Bever to “rap fantasy camp” in Hawaii during the recording of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. He spends a week out in Oahu where everyone from RZA to Q-Tip is participating in the intense studio schedule. When they're not recording, NCB witnesses ’Ye's day-to-day regimen, including 10 AM group breakfasts and early morning basketball games with locals. The entire creative process was later documented in the cover story from the December 2010/January 2011 issue.