The College Dropout isn’t Kanye’s First Album, The Answer Is Much More Complicated…

West was in a 90s rap group called ‘The Go-Getters’ and we’re looking deeper into their only project as a group.

Young Kanye West. Image property of Kanye West, GOOD Music and Def Jam.

Before the car accident, signing to Roc-A-Fella Records, rapid commercial success and controversy, Kanye West was a wide-eyed struggling musician with big dreams.

At this point West needs no introduction, it seems every crack and crevice of his career has been covered in one form or another except for the Go-Getters. Ye’s first attempt at an album was 1999s ‘World Record Holders’ by his then-group The Go-Getters.

You may recognise the group’s name as it was referenced in the talking monologue from his song ‘Last Call’. The Go-Getters consisted of West, GLC, Arrow Star and Timmy G and never made anything following this album.

Group member GLC would later go onto collaborate with West on ‘The College Dropout’ and ‘Late Registration’. The album was released in a promotional form via Konman Productions,

West’s original production company before GOOD Music. The album was distributed by Crazy Cat Inc.

The LP has 19 tracks, with six non-Go-Getter tracks/interludes between songs. The remaining 13 tracks feature West’s signature soul-chopping, sample-based production throughout, this is particularly prominent on the record’s opener ‘Nothing's Gonna Stop Me’.

Despite being billed as a Go-Getters release many of the non-Go-Getters tracks on the album showcase West’s production for other artists ranging from Big Pun, Eminem and Raekwon.

Notably, the record houses the Nas song ‘Poppa Was A Player’ a leftover ‘I Am’ track turned into ‘Lost Tapes’ cut as well as the Foxy Brown song ‘My Life’. In terms of quality, the album is nowhere near the quality or cohesion West would display later in his career, however the stellar production and punchline-heavy bars by West show budding potential.

Music database Discogs shows the record’s ratio is 2:111 with two people claiming to own the LP and 111 people holding it on their wish list. To add to the album’s obscurity, it has officially never been sold on the site either.

Because of the lack of information of the project and obscurity, the album remains as one of the most collectable and interesting pieces of West’s cannon as an artist.

Download the World Record Holders project here.