Most of Kanye West’s best music has been produced using a think-tank approach—take a group of people, put them in a room, see what comes of it—and his imminent seventh album looks to take a similar strategy. Over the years, he’s gotten artists from divergent backgrounds to work together, whether it was Jay Z and Talib Kweli breaking down hip-hop barriers on 2003's "Get By" remix, or Rick Ross and Justin Vernon combining their bearded forces for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. A lot of good has come from this method, though a lot of these collaborators end up just feeding Kanye’s legend. Here are a few of the lesser-known cogs in the Kanye West machine.

Rhymefest

Kanye Affiliation: The Chicago rapper born Che Smith supposedly beat Eminem in a rap battle in what now seems like another life, but he is still best known for co-writing one of Kanye’s solo breakouts, "Jesus Walks," which won a Grammy for Best Rap Song in 2005. (Rhymefest also brought Kanye the song "Jesus Walks" samples: the ARC Choir’s "Walk With Me.") Since then, he’s worked sparingly with Kanye, first on his own debut single "Brand New" and, more recently, as a co-writer on Yeezus’ "New Slaves."

What He Added: A bit of revolutionary zeal.

Where Is He Now? In 2011, Rhymefest finished second in the race to be the alderman of Chicago’s 20th Ward. And a little over a decade since he first won gold for "Jesus Walks," the rapper was again rewarded for his writing at the 2015 Oscars, this time for his contributions to Common and John Legend’s Selma song "Glory."

Kanye Bump? Sort of. Working with Kanye didn’t do much to push Rhymefest’s solo career, but given the fact that he is now halfway to an EGOT, it’s hard to argue he didn’t benefit.

GLC

Kanye Affiliation: GLC was one of Kanye’s earliest collaborators, one of the first signees to his G.O.O.D. Music imprint in 2004, and also a member of Kanye’s first rap group, Go Getters. He appeared on The College Dropout’s "Spaceships" and Late Registration’s "Drive Slow"—two of Kanye’s more introspective cuts. Even though he never released an album under the G.O.O.D Music umbrella, GLC was still very much in the fold, and, on his 2010 debut Love, Life, & Loyalty, a number of the tracks were co-produced by Kanye.

What He Added: A booming voice amid shadows.

Where Is He Now? GLC’s contributions on Kanye releases have petered out in recent years, but GLC remains very active as a rapper, albeit on a much smaller scale. He’s released 11 mixtapes since 2011, the most recent being 2014’s By Ism Means Necessary. He also made guest appearances on Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Rager and Kendrick Lamar’s Section.80.

Kanye Bump? The Kanye connection never paid any real dividends for GLC. He released one album in a decade, and hardly anyone heard it.

Consequence

Kanye Affiliation: After first debuting with A Tribe Called Quest on 1996’s Beats, Rhymes, and Life, Consequence became one of the earliest members of the Kanye Think Tank—and one of the most vocal about how it functions. (In an interview with MTV RapFix Live, he once spoke about sitting in on Kanye’s writing sessions.) He was a featured guest on tracks from The College Dropout and Late Registration, and, as one of the earliest faces of the G.O.O.D. Music brand, he appeared alongside Kanye and John Legend on DJ Khaled’s 2006 single, "Grammy Family." (He however never actually won his own Grammy.) Consequence was also a co-writer on "Say You Will," the opener from 808s & Heartbreak, but he hasn’t collaborated with Kanye since their falling out, which was mostly a byproduct of Kanye upgrading to Pusha T.