The Kanye West we know today is a billionaire, with the success that most of us dream of. However, the rap superstar has faced many difficulties during his life. Before his monumental success, he was involved in a near-fatal automobile accident back in 2002 and it changed his whole perspective on life.
In 2021, Kanye West has established himself as one of his generation’s most recognizable hip-hop stars. With his often outspoken views, he has bucked the hip-hop norm and shown that he is more than a music entrepreneur.
West has built an empire consisting of a record label, apparel, and footwear company known as YEEZY, a gospel choir, and a sprawling ranch in Wyoming where he gets away from everything to work on his creative endeavors.
The rapper has elevated from his humbling beginnings in Chicago’s underground hip-hop scene, and for him, the year 2002 was a watershed moment in his career.
In that very same year, Kanye inked a deal with Roc-A-Fella Records and made the transition from producer to recording artist, but he also almost died.
Kanye West began producing beats while he was a teenager. When he recognized that college would not help him in his aspiration as a musician, he left Chicago State University. At first, his college professor’s mother, Donda West, was against his decision.
It was a long road, but West’s first big career moment took place when one of his beats made it to Jermaine Dupri. From there, he relocated to New York in the hopes of getting his work in front of the right person.
A Roc-A-Fella A&R named Kyambo Joshua heard Kanye’s demos in 2001. In the years following, West began producing beats for Jay-Z and other musicians under the Roc-A-Fella banner.
While producing successful songs helped West establish himself as a solid name in the business, Kanye wasn’t happy as just a producer. West was just about to sign with Capitol Records as an artist sometime in 2002, but instead, Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Dame Dash took a chance on Kanye and gave him a contract.
Dash would later say that he was personally responsible for signing Kanye to Roc-A-Fella. Two weeks later, he was struck, literally, with reality and life changed.
Kanye was driving to his hotel during the evening of October 23, 2002, after recording in the studio and he fell asleep while driving. He would hit another vehicle in a very severe collision, where the other driver broke his legs.
For West, he suffered a broken jaw as well as fractures in his nose and face. Following the crash, Kanye claims he was targeted by police because of his race at the scene, subjecting him to multiple alcohol tests before being taken to the hospital.
In the weeks and months following the accident, Kanye said he suffered the “worst pain” in his life. Due to his injuries, the rapper had his mouth wired shut, which he says he endured twice because the first time they did it incorrectly.
The accident and the recovery gave Kanye a new perspective on life.
West would return to the studio two weeks after being discharged from the hospital, recording his first single as a solo artist “Through the Wire.” On the song, Kanye raps with his jaw wired shut, while showing pictures of his swollen face after the accident, as well as short snippets of him trying to rap with the wires in his mouth, in the single’s official music video.
Kanye called the song “hip-hop to the fullest”, in Jake Brown’s book “Kanye West in the Studio: Beats Down! Money Up!”.
The benefit to him going through recovery was that he was able to focus solely on his debut project, which he would’ve been unable to do during his normal work schedule.
This led the way for “The College Dropout”, Kanye’s debut album, which would go on to sell more than 3.4 million copies and launch him into hip-hop stardom.
Although Kanye West’s story ends with a happy ending, for some, a car accident can be quite disruptive to their lives. Beyond physically recovering from an injury that you may or may not suffer, there are also legal ramifications, as well as financial issues as well. For someone who suffers a serious injury in an accident, they could be out of work for an extended period or unable to do the same job, depending on just how bad the injury is. In this case, you want to file a claim or even a lawsuit. Doing this would justify hiring a lawyer to help navigate your case. Let’s say you crash in New York City and are considering filing a lawsuit, you want to enlist the services of an accident lawyer NYC. A capable lawyer will get the justice you deserve.
