The video, showing the then-unknown rapper freestyling at the opening of Fat Beats 6th Avenue store, was shared by the store's former manager DJ Eclipse.
- Jul 18, 2014
AceShowbiz - To celebrate #ThrowbackThursday, DJ Eclipse uploaded an old video showing young Kanye West showing off his impressive rapping skill. In the nearly-two-minute clip, shot sometime in August 1996, the then-19-year-old-and-unknown West is seen freestyling at the opening of Fat Beats 6th Avenue store.
The skinny West sports an oversized polo shirt while spitting verses about his technique, Alanis Morissette and living in his hometown of Chicago among others. "My style is too cold/ Always forever like Luther/ But it ain't original because I stole it from the future," he raps.
The video's uploader, DJ Eclipse, is the former general manager of Fat Beats' New York store, which was closed in 2010, and the host of WNYU's "Halftime Radio" show and Sirius' "Rap Is Outta Control".
He first shared the clip to Complex and told the site in a statement, "Yesterday I started converting old Hi8 video tapes to DVD and came across some interesting footage from that day... But what took me by surprise was the appearance of this 19 year old kid who at that time nobody knew."
"Now I've had this person as a guest on my radio show years later, but it's pretty crazy to see this footage in '96 and think, 'Damn, this dude was in my house then?' and not even know. More to come," he added.
