Kanye West’s debut album The College Dropout ushered in a new type of music icon—one that’s fearless, uber creative, and always evolving. But there was a time before The College Dropout when Kanye was just another young artist trying to get his music heard. There are several cuts from Kanye’s pre-Dropout days that stand out as shining moments, even if they never found their way onto commercial releases. Get familiar with these ten essential tracks from Kanye’s early days…

1. “My Way”

“My Way,” with its sped-up Irene Reid soul sample, is classic Kanye. The song from the Y2K era sees Kanye reflecting on his newfound music industry good fortune, while reflecting on his days struggling to come up in the Chi. He mentions that Roc-A-Fella wanted his beats more than his rhymes in the early days, a theme that runs through much of The College Dropout including “Last Call”:

It was well documented that Kanye struggled to get Hov and others at the Roc to listen to his flows instead of his beats in the early days. With “My Way,” we really get a glimpse at a superstar in the making.

2. “‘03 Electric Relaxation (2003)” Feat. Consequence

Kanye West’s recent speech at the memorial for A Tribe Called Quest member Phife Dawg showed just how much of an impact the group had on ‘Ye growing up. In 2003 Kanye linked up with Consequence for “'03 Electric Relaxation”, a remake of the classic Tribe track from their Midnight Marauders album.

Lyrically, Kanye and Consequence mimic the old school flows found on the original, and Kanye introduces himself to the world:

And while ‘Quence and Kanye put their own spin on the original, they pay respects to Tribe throughout with Kanye calling himself the “Original rude boy” just as Phife did back in 1993.

3. “Keep The Receipt” Feat. Ol' Dirty Bastard

“Keep The Receipt” is a raucous collaboration between ‘Ye and Wu-Tang’s Ol’ Dirty Bastard. The song centers around the question of the quality of the music being made at the time. Kanye spits about being able to do more with way less than his contemporaries:

The hook is Ol' Dirty at his finest, as he suggest weak MC’s “take that equipment back to the store.” ODB’s line on the hook, “do anybody else make hits anymore?”) was resurrected by Kanye on the Graduation single, “Stronger”:

The production is anchored by electric guitar riffs leading into almost twilight zone chimes, providing a pure head-nod canvas for Kanye and ODB to talk that shit that they’re talkin.

4. “Wow”

“Wow” is the song Kanye West was referring to on the outro of The College Dropout track “Last Call”—he raps about playing song for Cam'ron, Young Guru and Dame Dash. While hip-hop fans may not have known of the full “Wow” track when “Last Call” dropped, they definitely knew of the song’s hook which Kanye spit:

“Wow” is full of classic braggadocio-Kanye as he celebrates his early career successes:

5. “I Need To Know”

“I Need To Know,” anchored by an average, albeit dope handclap beat, sees Mr. West dropping a certain line that would find its way to his debut album on the song “New Workout Plan”:

While it’s easy to see why “I Need To Know” didn’t make it on Kanye’s debut, you can’t dismiss the song from a lyrical standpoint—it’s an early example of Mr. West’s clever, tongue-in-cheek songwriting:

The beat for “I Need To Know” can be heard in a YouTube video of Kanye playing tracks for The Madd Rapper (AKA Deric D.Dot Angelettie) back in the day.

6. “Never Letting Go (The Stalker Song)”

Sampling Stephen Bishop’s “Never Letting Go,” Kanye’s song of the same name (also referred to as “The Stalker Song”) is one of his better pre-College Dropout tracks. Dripping with Soul, “Never Letting Go” sees ‘Ye telling the story of a “crazy ho” who just won’t leave him alone. The song’s lighthearted look at stalking allows 'Ye’s comedic tendencies to shine through:

Sonically, the song would have slotted in nicely on The College Dropout—did the sample clearances hold this one back?

7. “Know The Game”

“Know The Game” features Kanye’s gravely vocals flowing through tales of two-timing Chi-town females. The track’s production is piano laden, with a mysterious backdrop—lyrically, we see some of the modern Kanye rhyme cadence shining through:

8. “Home” Feat. John Legend

“Home” feat. John Legend is the original version of “Homecoming,” the monster single on Kanye’s Graduation. The majority of the lyrics on “Home” found their way onto “Homecoming,” although the production is markedly different than the final version on “Graduation.” and the hook is sung by Coldplay’s Chris Martin.

“Home” is more authentically Soul thanks to Legend’s vocals and a perfectly captured Patti Labelle sample that anchors the song’s beats with its harmonious screaming vocals.

There’s a subtle difference in Kanye’s vocal delivery between “Home” and “Homecoming.” On “Home” Kanye delivers his vocals with a slightly faster pace and less annunciation than “Homecoming"—especially when he raps the line “She said you left ya kids and they just like you” versus "Homecoming,” when Kanye more clearly annunciates the word “kids.”

One lyric that was trimmed from the Graduation version of “Home” was Kanye’s acknowledgement of the hate he had been receiving, with a clever nod to Florida State Seminoles:

9. “Bring Me Down (Have It Your Way)”

Kanye launches into “Bring Me Down” with a reference to Biggie’s classic “Warning”:

Throughout the track, Kanye ferociously delivers his lyrics with an intensity of a hungry artist still trying to stake his claim in the game. In fact, we even see Mr. West exposing that honesty that he has now became known for:

The boomin' bass of the production is accentuated by haunting chimes that gives Kanye a seemingly darker edge on this pre-College Dropout highlight.

10. 1996 Fat Beats Freestyle

Technically not a song, this freestyle from 1996 at Fat Beats shows a 19-year old Kanye West with a distinct command of his flow. It’s a glimpse of how much further along ‘Ye may have been as an MC as we see some wordplay come through that’s more akin to a veteran:

Related: Kanye West’s Life Story (In Lyrics)