Kanye West is one of the most heralded artists in hip-hop history. Few artists, in any genre, can match his career accolades. The 38-year-old rapper is easily one of the most accomplished artists of the 21st century and has everything that an artist would ever imagine to obtain in their career. However, his road to becoming a music icon wasn't an easy one.

The Chicago native began his career as a producer and landed his big break when he was producing hits for his friend and mentor Jay Z and other artists on the legendary Roc-A-Fella Records roster in the early 2000s. Despite all his success, Kanye's main goal was to become a rapper. Most record labels were reluctant to sign Kanye because he didn't fit the gangsta image prominent in mainstream hip-hop at the time. Then-label head Damon Dash signed West to Roc-A-Fella Records. A year later on Oct. 23, 2002, Kanye West got into a near-fatal car accident in California after he was leaving the studio. The accident would inspire him to write "Through the Wire" and lay the foundation for his debut album album The College Dropout, which released to widespread commercial and critical acclaim in 2004.

Yeezy would go on to release five more solo LPs, one compilation album and a collaborative LP with Jay Z, selling more than 32 million albums and 100 million digital downloads worldwide. He has won a total of 21 Grammy Awards, making him one of the most awarded artists of all time. TIME magazine even named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world twice (2005 and 2015). Plus he's founded the record label G.O.O.D. Music and creative content company DONDA (named after his late mother).

The hip-hop antihero's resume is filled with platinum and gold plaques and he's penned some of biggest songs over the past decade. XXL looks back and highlights the Louis Vuitton Don's best tracks to date. Here are 20 Best Kanye West Songs.