Who is Kanye West's father?
KANYE West is a father to four children, but who is the man that raised him?
Kanye's father, Ray West, has been featured in some of his songs, including Father Stretch My Hands and Follow God, so fans naturally want to get to know him a little better.
Who is Ray West?
Ray West was born on August 28, 1949.
He was known for his photography career before his son, Kanye, became famous as a critically acclaimed rapper.
Ray was one of the first black photojournalists at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and worked with Maya Angelou and Ronald Reagan.
He was also a member of the Black Panther Party during the 1960s and 70s.
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In 2006, Ray opened a Christian bookshop in Maryland, according to The Washington Post.
The Good Water Store and Cafe sells bottled water with proceeds going to the local community, the UN’s Water For Life initiative, and Kanye West Foundation.
He now lives in the Dominican Republic.
Kanye told the BBC in 2013 that his father once moved into a homeless shelter “not because he was homeless, because he wanted to help the ex-drug addicts, he wanted to get that close.”
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How is Ray's relationship with Kanye?
When Ray and Kanye's mother, Donda West, divorced in 1980, Kanye moved to Chicago but spent summers with his father in Washington DC.
Kanye was very close to his mother Donda up until her death but at the end of his 2019 Follow God music video, Kanye revealed, “It took me 42 years to realize that my dad was my best friend.”
In July 2020, Kanye claimed at a presidential campaign rally that his father wanted to abort him but they still appear to have a strong bond.
Kanye’s jeen-yuhs documentary on Netflix shows Ray FaceTiming his son and saying that he’s “concerned."
In October 2022, Kanye also claimed that Ray approved of him wearing a White Lives Matter T-shirt at Paris Fashion Week.
He alleged that his dad thought that he was simply "declaring the obvious."
In a since-deleted Instagram post, Kanye wrote: "FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 45 YEARS I MADE MY SUPER EDUCATED FORMER BLACK PANTHER FATHER PROUD."
What does Kanye say about Ray in his music?
Kanye’s track Champion from his 2007 album Graduation provides insight into Ray’s varied work and how he provided for Kanye.
Kanye rapped: “I ain’t saying we was from the projects/ But every time I wanna layaway or deposit/ My dad’d say “when you see clothes, close your eyelids"/ We was sort of like Will Smith and his son/ In the movie I ain’t talking ’bout the rich ones...
“Cause every summer he’ll get some/ Brand new harebrained scheme to get rich from/ And I don’t know what he did for dough/ But he’ll send me back to school with a new wardrobe.”
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Kanye also opened up about his relationship with Ray in his Billboard Music Award-winning track Father Stretch My Hands, suggesting they weren’t always on good terms.
Lyrics include: "I was screamin' at my dad/He told me 'it ain't Christlike'" and "I tried to talk to my dad/Give him some advice/he starts spazzin' on me/I start spazzin' back/He said 'That ain't Christ-like.'"
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