Footage of a 19-year-old Kanye West performing in a New York record shop has emerged online – watch it above.
The performance, which took place at the now-closed Fat Beats record shop in New York in 1996, was five years before the rapper’s big break producing Jay Z’s 2001 single ‘Izzo (HOVA)’ and eight before he released his debut LP ‘The College Dropout’.
As Rolling Stone report, the shop’s general manager, DJ Eclipse, captured the video, which he had forgotten about until recently.
“Yesterday I started converting old Hi8 video tapes to DVD and came across some interesting footage from that day…” he wrote. “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.”
Earlier this month, Kanye West headlined Wireless Festival in London and Birmingham. Addressing reports of him being booed by crowds for his extended rants at the two London legs of the bash (July 4 and 5), he issued a third rant as he headlined the final night of Wireless Birmingham.
“The media wrote that people booed. And you know what. I’m not going to lie, I’m not invincible,” he told the crowd at Perry Park.
He continued: “It hurt me a little bit because I knew how much of a good time everyone had. I’m sorry that I’m not a complete belligerent asshole that I normally am, but I will be back.”