'Jeen-Yuhs': From racially profiled to car crash, here's how Kanye West's career changed

There’s always a time in everyone’s life when people have faced extreme situations and there are times when people are down and out, struggling to even stand on their feet. Life is unfair sometimes, however, it’s our responsibility to rise up, face challenges and achieve what we intended to.

Something similar happened with rapper Kanye West as well. In the early 2000s, West emerged on the hip-hop scene and worked behind the camera to help budding artists. But he was massively talented and everyone knew that one day he will be making a glorious career out of his talent. It was the year 2001 when Kanye was being recognized by big hip-hop artists and rappers, including Jay-Z, all around the music industry. However, producing was never his passion. Yes, he wanted to make tunes for big artists, but he wanted to be an artist as well.

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The rapper knew how important it was for him to work at that time and with that level of work, he was slowly inching toward something special. 2002 turned out to be a life-changing year for the ‘Stronger’ hitmaker. Not only did he begin working on his own material, but he also survived a major accident that could have ended his life.

So, what happened? And how did that accident change his life forever? Let’s dig a little deeper and know more about the matter.

Kanye’s blossoming career and a tragic accident

When it comes to Kanye West’s career, he worked with one of the biggest rapper artists of all time, Jay-Z, in 2001 and produced key tracks for the album ‘The Blueprint’. West returned for its sequel as well and gave some really amazing tunes. His style of clothing and mannerisms always gave that gangsta-style vibe that had dominated the music industry for years.

It was Jay-Z who spotted this talent and gave him a contract under his record label Roc-A-Fella. However, Kanye didn’t know that something tragic is about to him.

In 2002, two weeks after signing the deal, the rapper was on-course to start his own work and as soon as he started working on it, he hit a roadblock. On October 23, 2002, the rapper was busy producing music for The Black Eyed Peas, Beanie Sigel, and Peedi Crakk. He was working in a studio in California. After a long day at work, the rapper left the studio at around 3 am in his rented Lexus and he was feeling so tired that he fell asleep at the wheel. He crashed his rented vehicle head-on into another car and was badly injured.

The next thing he knew that he was being taken to the hospital so that he could be treated. At the hospital, it was revealed that West suffered a major injury on his jaw and his jaw was busted. He also had nasal fractures that made it hard for him to breathe properly. At the time, MTV reported West was not in danger and has a fractured jaw. His jaw was wired shut for the next six weeks.

At the time, Kanye gave an interview to MTV and told them that the accident was really painful and his jaw was broken in three places. He also revealed that he was racially profiled as police ran three or four alcohol tests before taking him to the hospital.

“I was completely in pain and completely racially profiled and harassed. They did three or four tests on me for alcohol. After the first test [it should be clear] that I'm not drinking alcohol,” West said at the time.

According to the rapper, doctors had to wire his jaw shut, a procedure that he claimed was done twice because they did it wrong the first time.

Determination to bounce back

Two weeks after he was admitted to the hospital he was released and was itching to do some work. But he also knew that it was the only time when he could have the chance to make something for himself. The accident gave him a new perspective on life and soon realized that he wants to be a rapper, he needs to start working on it now.

So, West decided to return to the studio and made his first-ever single titled ‘Through the Wire’. People around him called him mad for it because he recorded the song with his jaw still wired shut, and when the official video of the song came out, he also included photos of himself with a swollen face. But his determination kept him going and he finally came out with the song in 2004.

Despite having so much pain, Kanye decided to work because he knew that it was the only time he could have done something for himself. The hard work paid off and the song turned out to be a massive hit for the rapper. The song received positive reviews and was certified Platinum and Gold in the United States and the United Kingdom, respectively.

The track was also nominated for a 2005 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance, but lost to Jay-Z's ‘99 Problems’. It was just the beginning for West as he went on to become one of the most successful rappers in the music industry.

The upcoming Netflix documentary ‘Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy’ will be talking about such instances and his career in music with unseen archival footage from the past two decades.

‘Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy’ will be premiering exclusively on Netflix and will be coming out with ‘Act 1’ on Wednesday, February 16.

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