Before he was an international superstar Kanye West was a struggling producer - these are his first beats.

The Hype Men

and

DJBooth.net

are proud to present

Kanye West's First Beats (Disc 1)

, a collection of what we believe to be the first beats from the now world famous Mr. West ever released.

"Last week I was stumbling through my garage, searching through old storage bins, when I came across some old beat CDs from my days as a signed

Interscope

rapper. I was shocked to find that two of them, both given to me in 2001, had the name

Kanye West

on them. These two beat CDs, now celebrating their 10 year anniversary and I believe the oldest Kanye beats ever released, are here for your enjoyment.

I think this collection of early Kanye beats shows you where he came from, even if it doesn't necessarily sound like 'Kanye' now. He kept at it and became the incredible producer he is today. I remember he even had to leave the studio sessions early, so he could make the last train back to his mom's house. He's come a long way, and I'm proud to have been around, even if for just a second at the start."

- Jensen Karp of

The Hype Men

Notes

: This is the first disc of an exclusive DJBooth two disc series.

Disc 2

will be released on Monday, April 4. For the full story behind these discs,

click here

.

Listen to "Kanye Beats (Disc One)" via DJBooth