Previously unseen footage of Kanye West has been circulating the web recently after a video was released of Yeezy performing live with Phenom in 1996 at Chicago`s Double Door. After DDotOmen put out the video of the early performance, a fan sent in a recording that predates West`s musical career.
The newly released clip show`s West reading a poem in 7th or 8th grade at Vanderpoel Elementary School which the 12 or 13 year-old Yeezy dedicated to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In the clip from 1990, West reads his poem titled `His Name Means Love` during a school function which was probably organized for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 22 years ago. DDotOmenacquired the video after one reader saw the footage of the Double Door concert and sent the clip over to the website.
The teenage version of the G.O.O.D. Music artist exhibits some of his later talent and confidence as he delivers the short poem. “A man who fought for freedom, a man who fought for equality/Those who were against him were too blind to see. This is what this man fighting for/So blacks, Jews, Spanish and Asians can put their foot in the door/Yes, we know that this man was great/That’s why his name we celebrate/And everyone lifts their voices and sing/For a man who let freedom ring/Martin Luther King is who I’m speaking/A man who’s name means love,” reads the teenage West.
In the other vintage video of Kanye that made waves this week, the rapper is 18 or 19 years-old and was already developing into today`s Kanye. The young West wears a polo ensemble that was typical of his early days, but perhaps the most telling element of the clip is a line the rapper yells out near the video`s end. “Kanye represent the sexy niggas, fly niggas,“ Kanye shouts out.