⟵ 2001 • 2002 • 2003 →

2002 was a pivotal year for Kanye West. In August, he was signed to Roc-A-Fella Records. However, two months later, Kanye suffered a nearly fatal car accident that changed the trajectory of his career.

Releases

Mixtapes

• Get Well Soon... (December 14)^[1]

Features

• Beanie Sigel, Freeway - "Got Nowhere" (ft. Kanye West) (January 29)^[2]
• Scarface - "Guess Who's Back" (ft. Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, Kanye West) (April 30)^[3]
• Jay-Z - "The Bounce" (ft. Kanye West) (November 12)^[4]
• Talib Kweli - "Guerrilla Monsoon Rap" (ft. Black Thought, Pharoahe Monch, Kanye West) (November 19)^[5]
• Damon Dash - "Champions" (ft. Kanye West, Beanie Sigel, Young Chris, Cam’ron, Twista) (November 26)^[6]
• Talib Kweli - "Live From Irving Plaza, NY" (ft. Kanye West, Yasiin Bey) (December 14)^[7]
• Jay-Z - "Live From Tweeter Center, IL" (ft. Kanye West) (December 14)^[8]
• Consequence - "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" (ft. Kanye West) (December 14)^[9]
• Joe - "What If A Woman (Remix)" (ft. Kanye West, Lon Don) (December)^[10]
• Consequence - "Over React" (ft. Kanye West) (December)^[11]

Production credits

• Cam'ron - "Dead or Alive" (ft. Jim Jones) (May 14)^[12]
• Knoc-turn'al - "Muzik" (ft. Samuel Christian) (July 30)^[13]
• 50 Cent - "Guess Who's Back Freestyle" (ft. Funkmaster Flex) (August 1)^[14]
• Scarface - "In Cold Blood" (August 6)^[15]
• Scarface - "Heaven" (ft. Kelly Price) (August 6)^[16]
• Trina - "B R Right" (ft. Ludacris) (August 27)^[17]
• Nas - "Poppa Was a Playa" (September 23)^[18]
• Yasiin Bey - "Brown Sugar (Fine)" (September 24)^[19]
• Jay-Z - "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (ft. Beyoncé) (October 10)^[20]
• 50 Cent - "You're Not Ready" (ft. Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks) (November 1)^[21]
• Jay-Z - "A Dream" (ft. The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans) (November 12)^[22]
• Jay-Z - "Poppin' Tags" (ft. Killer Mike, Big Boi, Twista) (November 12)^[23]
• Jay-Z - "Some People Hate" (November 12)^[24]
• Talib Kweli - "Get By" (November 19)^[25]
• Talib Kweli - "Good To You" (November 19)^[26]
• Freeway - "Show Go On" (ft. Twista) (December 14)^[27]
• Cam'ron - "Takeover Freestyle" (December 14)^[28]
• Scarface - "Reebok Commercial" (December 14)^[29]
• GLC - "My Life, My Love" (December 14)^[30]

August

• 8: Kanye is signed to Roc-A-Fella Records.^[31]

October

• 23: Kanye suffers a car crash in California, leaving him with severe jaw injuries. Just days later, Kanye began recording his verses for his then-upcoming single, "Through The Wire".^[32]

December

• 14: Kanye releases his first mixtape titled Get Well Soon....

References