Fashion

Kanye West's First VMA Outfit Was Simply Adorable

by Stephanie Chon

Kanye West has always been an immensely creative emcee so it doesn't come as a surprise that he is the 2015 VMA Michael Jackson Vanguard Award Recipient. What better way to celebrate his award than by checking out Kanye West's first VMA outfit? That's right, we're taking it back to 2004 when little Yeezy got his big break performing on stage with Chaka Khan, the Queen of Funk herself.

His ensemble was quite different from how he dresses nowadays. West wore a black suit, a red and pink striped button up shirt, and an oversized satin pink tie. Emerging from the crowd while rapping bars from his song "Jesus Walks," West's tie was waving all around as he bounced energetically onto the stage.

Not many people know that West's 2004 VMA performance is one of the significant turning points in his career. Seeing West's current popularity and colossal, diehard fanbase, it's hard to imagine that there was ever a time when he was merely an underground artist looking to get signed onto a label. You may not even realize it, but way back when West was just a kid in the game, he was producing masterful beats for well-known artists under the Roc-A-Fella label.

Frank Micelotta/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Even though he had many successful days as a record producer, West never for a second took his eyes off of his ultimate goal of becoming a rapper. While many may look back on Kanye's first VMA performance as just any old performance, keep in mind this performance took place right after his debut album, The College Dropout, was released. The artist was more than well-received by the masses and his popularity only grew from there.

Frank Micelotta/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

On Sunday, Aug. 30, Kanye will be receiving the 2015 VMA Vanguard Award and I'm quite excited for him to say the least. I'm sure he'll be feeing all of the feelings up there, as he should.

In the meantime, watch his 2004 VMA performance below:

Images: Getty (2)