Ye (born Kanye Omari West; June 8, 1977), commonly known as Kanye West, is an American rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, he gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the early 2000s, producing singles for several artists and developing the "chipmunk soul" sampling style. Intent on pursuing a solo career as a rapper, he released his debut studio album, The College Dropout (2004), to critical and commercial success and subsequently founded the record label GOOD Music. One of the world's best-selling music artists, with over 160 million records sold, West has won 22 Grammy Awards, the joint tenth-most of all time. He is frequently lauded as one of hip hop's greatest artists, with his music among the most critically acclaimed. Among his other awards are the Billboard Artist Achievement Award, a joint-record three Brit Awards for Best International Male Solo Artist and the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. Six of his albums were included on Rolling Stone's 2020 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list with the same publication naming him one of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. He holds the joint record (with Bob Dylan) for most albums (4) topping the annual Pazz & Jop critic poll, and has the 5th most appearances on the Billboard Hot 100 (133 entries). Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005 and 2015. Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.8 billion as of 2021, making him a billionaire.