Watch An Unknown Kanye West Perform In Chicago In '96

By Jon Graef in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 16, 2012 7:00PM

Back in his teenage days, before he had status or a MacBook Air he almost broke because he was typing so hard, Kanye West was just another schmo getting his hip-hop hustle on.

Via Fake Shore Drive and Perajok comes footage of 'Ye performing at the Double Door with fellow rapper Phenom back in 1996, when the "Gold Digger" rapper was 19 years old. If nothing else, this video, uploaded in 2010 but not discovered until over the weekend and uploaded by DDotOmen, shows everyone has to start somewhere. Also, Kanye sounds exactly the same. Peep for yourself below: