When did Kanye West drop his first song? Career highlights explored as he prepares for 'Cuck' album release

Rumors have been spreading among the hip-hop community with Kanye West and Dave Blunts reportedly on a joint studio album titled Cuck. Initially dubbed WW3, the album first made waves when DJ Akademiks broke the news in an April 2, 2025, livestream.

The news followed on the heels of the March 26 release of the album's title song, which ignited the rumors. While the confirmation is yet to come, the alliance has already created enormous buzz online.

Nobody can argue that Ye's music deconstructs stereotypes and defies the limits of what hip-hop, and music as a whole, can do and should be doing. He's never been afraid to go off-road as an artistic thinker, whether that means fusing soul samples and bare-bones storytelling or experimenting with electronic, gospel, and industrial textures.

Kanye West's ability to reinvent himself yet continue to offer something unforgettable remains the key to his status as a music industry leader for decades. Complain as much as you want about his scandals, but when it comes to the music, Ye's voice rings above any news headline; it's unapologetic, layered, passionate, and unique.

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Why did Kanye West change the album's name from WW3 to Cuck?

Kanye West is again stirring controversy by renaming his upcoming album from WW3 to Cuck. The rapper made the change publicly in an X (formerly Twitter) post, giving little explanation initially. But he later characterized Cuck as an all-out reflection of his life and artistic trajectory, a brazen, anarchic blend of music, fashion, attitude, and controversy. Kanye West took to his X account and posted:

"I changed my album name to CUCK"

Kanye West made it apparent that the new title isn't merely branding; it's an indication of the unbridled, risk-taking energy that characterizes him in 2025. With a reputation for making unexpected moves and having a polarizing personality, Kanye is employing Cuck to establish the tone for a project that's emerging as provocative as it is discussed.

As with most of his previous releases, the internet is abuzz now, with fans attempting to decipher the message behind the change while hype for the album continues to grow. Also, he said:

"My genre of music is called CUCK. Think Punk Prog Rock Rap Electronic Berlin School Synth Wave. CUCK is my whole style. It's my music it's the way I dress it's my attitude. Of course I’m punk I’m the most punk n***a living but Punk ain’t Punk enough to describe me. and punk got n****s that dress like Devo with cone heads and sh*t."

Kanye West continued saying:

My sh*t is sex drugs rock n roll money politics homophobia sexual harassment and racism. I’m a walking lawsuit. I read more pornography than I read bible pages. I won’t even read a paragraph unless it’s a story about a b*tch getting the sh*t f*cked out her. If you ain’t talking about a b*tch getting the sh*t f*cked out of her I don’t wanna hear it."

As the world waits with bated breath for Kanye West's latest album Cuck, fans and pundits alike are glancing back through the artist's past to make sense of the path that led him to his latest controversy-tainted stretch. From soul-sampling rhythms to industrial textures, from fashion mogul to cultural lightning rod, Kanye's career has been anything but ordinary.

With Cuck poised to deliver yet another inflammatory chapter to his life, it's appropriate to return to the roots and explore the way that his journey through music, fame, and infamy has shaped one of hip-hop's most combustible figures.

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Kanye West's musical journey: When he dropped his first track and key moments leading to the 'Cuck' album release

Kanye West's career was forever changed in 2003 when he started working on his first single, Through the Wire. The emotional impact of the song was not only its infectious beats but the heart-wrenching story behind it. Kanye West recorded the song while recovering from a near-fatal automobile accident that had shattered his jaw, having it literally wired shut.

Rather than be disheartened by his physical disability, Kanye took the experience and turned it into his creativity, making his own disability a musical hit. This raw, bare song was a critical hit, the precursor to his first album, The College Dropout, released in 2004. The album, groundbreaking in its day, broke away from the conventional rap storytelling of the early 2000s.

With its lyrically introspective nature, its soulful rhythms, and reflective examination of matters that ranged from the pressures of society to internalized strife, it proved that Kanye West could join narrative richness to innovative production.

The College Dropout introduced Kanye not just as a change-agent artist but as a bona fide hip-hop household name as well within the culture of the genre, and also won critical acclaim as well as marketplace success for him.

From then on, the life of Kanye West continued to grow in directions that he himself could never have imagined, leading to the enigmatic and provocative person he is now.

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Kanye West's evolution in chart-toppers and iconic collaborations

Kanye West's route to popularity didn't slow down after starting his career; it sped up. His second and third albums, Late Registration in 2005 and Graduation in 2007, both slammed the door on the Billboard 200 chart. Graduation became his best-selling album at the time, cementing his status as a heavyweight in the music industry.

Kanye continued to innovate within the music world with 808s & Heartbreak in 2008, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010, and The Life of Pablo in 2016. All these collections were greatly acclaimed for their creativity and marketed over three million duplicates each.

Also, his unique album Yeezus, launched in 2013, was an achievement, selling over two million copies. His achievement on the charts continued with Ye in 2018, Jesus Is King in 2019, and Donda in 2021, which all reached the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart.

Kanye did more than solo work; he had an impact through team-ups. He did work with Jay-Z on Watch the Throne, released Kids See Ghosts alongside Kid Cudi, and went into the Vultures series, along with Ty Dolla Sign, in 2024 – he showed his creativity in multiple ways.

And then 2025 and Bully, a visual document that once more proved Kanye would never be safe, and he appears ever ready to venture where few have gone, wherever it will lead him.

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Kanye West's musical innovation and genre-bending approach

Kanye's music career is typified by repeated reinvention, with radical style and sound overhauls. West has approached hip-hop since the beginning with a confident, experimental approach while maintaining accessible, catchy music and resonating with mass audiences. His ability to blend other genres within hip-hop has stretched and tested the limits of the genre.

West's rhymes have also played a huge part in his success, ranging from stinging, incisive observations to playful, assured bravado and glimpses of vulnerable introspection. He grasps for universality, trying to make his songs accessible to as broad an audience as possible, saying that he attempts to sound as "intelligible as Will Smith" and yet continues to keep the lyrical flair of artists like Jadakiss.

Growing up, Kanye revolutionized hip-hop production with his signature "chipmunk-soul" sound, stretching and shortening tempo and pitch to reinterpret aged soul samples in new and familiar forms.

These aesthetic changes have not only helped inform Kanye's own development but have helped redefine the modern hip-hop genre, solidifying his role as a trendsetter across genres.

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Kanye West's awards and recognitions in the music industry

Kanye West has established himself as one of the most influential figures in the music industry, with a career marred by record-breaking success and numerous awards.

As one of the world's best music artists, with more than 160 million records sold, Kanye West has stolen the limelight again and again. With a record-breaking 24 Grammy Awards (nominated for 75 Grammys) under his belt, Kanye West is among the most awarded artists in history.

Kanye West won the Billboard Artist Achievement Award along with other awarding bodies presenting him with an astonishing three Brit Awards for Best International Male Solo Artist and the equally sought-after Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.

Along with legendary music artist Bob Dylan, West jointly holds the record for the most number-one albums (four) of the annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll. In addition to these, Time honored him twice as among the world's 100 most influential people in 2005 and 2015.

Kanye West's influence on the music scene was also renewed in 2020 with his initial six solo albums being listed by Rolling Stone on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, and also being listed as one of its 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.

These accolades not only demonstrate the musical genius of Kanye but also his power to influence cultural trends and generate broad debate. His unapologetic originality challenges not only the music industry but society as a whole to deal with new perspectives, pushing boundaries in sensational ways.

Outside of musical success, Kanye's influence extends to the worlds of fashion, politics, and social discourse, making him a polymath cultural icon. His capacity for defying conventions is so great that his effects will echo across disciplines for years to come.

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The cultural and musical contribution of Kanye West is undeniable, the product of a career spent subverting convention, rewriting himself, and pushing the boundaries. From his genre-bending sound and inflammatory lyrics to his genre-bending imagery and public persona, Kanye West has again and again been transgressive in subverting the conventions of popular culture even as he remains firmly within it.

Whether celebrated or condemned, however, he still determines where hip-hop and beyond are going, inviting artists into new artistic arenas. Continuing from where he left off in his latest undertaking, Cuck, Kanye once again proves that he is not just a musician, but an artist who can be a culture agitator and will not be held in check.

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Also Read: "Now that people think I’m gay..." - Kanye West leans into casual homophobia in latest X post