19-Year-Old Kanye West Raps in Throwback Video

Kanye West was always ahead of his time, and we’ve got the video to prove it. Before he was selling out arenas across the globe and designing sneakers for Nike and adidas, the then-unknown Chicago rapper, who was only 19 at the time, freestyled at the opening of Fat Beats 6th Avenue store in August 1996.

DJ Eclipse, the former manager of Fat Beats’ New York store, shared the 18-year-old footage, which shows a skinny Kanye sporting an oversized Polo and spitting some aggressive bars.

“My style is too cold / Always forever like Luther / But it ain’t original because I stole it from the future,” raps the future 21-time Grammy winner.

Celebrate Throwback Thursday with some vintage ‘Ye.

[Complex]