--- title: Kanye West Old Rapping Video: 19-Year-Old Yeezy Hit the Stage description: Even at 19, Kanye was quintessentially Kanye canonical: https://time.com/3004930/kanye-west-old-rapping-video/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-18T15:14:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T07:47:03.144Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Kanye West Old Rapping Video: 19-Year-Old Yeezy Hit the Stage og:description: Even at 19, Kanye was quintessentially Kanye og:url: https://time.com/3004930/kanye-west-old-rapping-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kanye West Old Rapping Video: 19-Year-Old Yeezy Hit the Stage twitter:description: Even at 19, Kanye was quintessentially Kanye twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch a 19-Year Old Kanye West Kill It on Stage In 1996 by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 18, 2014 3:14 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 18, 2014 3:14 PM UTC Kanye West has become a musical icon and global mogul, but back in 1996, he was just another up-and-comer trying to make a name for himself — and confident that he would. In newly released video footage, a 19-year old West is seen freestyling at the opening of hip-hop mecca Fat Beats record store in New York in 1996\. The footage was unearthed by [DJ Eclipse](https://twitter.com/itsdjeclipse), the former manager of the legendary shop, who was poring over video of performances from the grand opening of the shop’s 6th Avenue location and stumbled upon a now-familiar figure: Kanye West. At the time, the performance hadn’t registered as particularly significant: It was just another hungry, young and relatively unknown rapper who was willing to fly in from Chicago to perform at the celebration in front of a crowd of hip-hop insiders in the hopes of furthering his career. In retrospect, though, West’s confidence and flow are unmistakable. In the clip, the skinny 19 -year-old Kanye coolly walked on stage and dropped a flawless verse that even managed to name-check [Alanis Morissette. ](http://entertainment.time.com/2012/08/28/morissette-tucke/)While the performance was short, the talent — and cockiness — were indisputably all Kanye. \[via [Complex](http://www.complex.com/music/2014/07/kanye-west-fat-beats-opening-party)\] **MORE**: [I Don’t Want ‘Beat Yeezus’ On My Tombstone”: J. Cole On The Warm Up, Kanye and Playing For $1](http://time.com/2912324/i-dont-want-beat-yeezus-on-my-tombstone-j-cole-on-the-warm-up-kanye-and-playing-for-1/) **MORE**: [Kanye West Premiered About 20 New Songs at a Party You Weren’t Invited To](http://time.com/2964303/kanye-west-new-songs/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3004930/kanye-west-old-rapping-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3004930/kanye-west-old-rapping-video/"},"headline":"Watch a 19-Year Old Kanye West Kill It on Stage In 1996","datePublished":"2014-07-18T15:14:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T07:47:03.144Z","description":"Even at 19, Kanye was quintessentially Kanye","url":"https://time.com/3004930/kanye-west-old-rapping-video/","keywords":["Music","rap","Kanye West"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3004930/kanye-west-old-rapping-video/","name":"Watch a 19-Year Old Kanye West Kill It on Stage In 1996"}}]}] ```