Watch Kanye West Perform “Gold Digger” With John Legend In 2003

Before Kimye (and North West), there was Kanye. Just Kanye — the boisterous, relentlessly unapologetic, wildly talented songwriter, rapper, and producer, who took the music industry by storm with College Dropout in 2004. The next year came Late Registration, the second critically acclaimed studio album from the hip-hop sensation. That Grammy Award winner for Best Rap Album included several hits, but none more notable than "Gold Digger." Sampling Ray Charles' notable "I Got a Woman," the song also features Jamie Foxx on vocals. Now, a day before #ThrowbackThursday (let's call it #WayBackWednesday?), we've got ourselves a video of an early version of "Gold Digger" from 2003. Here, though, the performance swaps out Foxx for John Legend, Kanye's signature all-black ensembles for a Reese's tee, and stoic stares for smirks. This was ages before Kanye was stealing the limelight from T-Swift or Beck. This is when he was simply trying to get the spotlight. Watch to see Yeezy perform "Gold Digger" before he became the Kanye we know today.