Kanye's solo work has embodied this middle-class activism background, combining slick, highly produced beats with a no-holds-barred engagement with social issues and a refusal to ignore uncomfortable truths.

In this way Kanye, like Mos Def, Talib Kweli and MF Doom is part of a tradition of intelligent, conscious hip hop, offering an alternative to the more superficial concerns of most mainstream hip hop today, and like his predecessors in this style, like A Tribe Called Quest or Arrested Development, Kanye's music spreads messages and understanding as much as vibes.

Diamonds
A distinctive part of Kanye's sound is his concern with the realities that are hidden behind the lifestyles of the rich and famous. West reworked his track Diamonds into a duet with Jay-Z after Q-Tip let him know about the grim realities of the trade in conflict diamonds in Africa.

The track became Diamonds from Sierra Leone in an effort to educate people about the horrors of the diamond industry in Africa as well as to highlight the contrast between the bling lifestyle and the lives that are ruined to provide it.

"I thought my Jesus piece was so harmless / 'Til I seen a picture of a shorty armless".

Kanye isn't concerned so much with the way things are, as the reasons why they are how they are. However, he still loves his diamonds, as long as his dealer has guaranteed they're not from Sierra Leone, "These ain’t conflict diamonds, is they Jacob?"

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Wires
Kanye's initial solo success was borne out of disaster - a near-fatal car crash in October 2002 left him with a wired jaw and the inspiration for the single Through The Wire on which he laid down vocals literally through wired teeth.

Since then there's been no stopping him- his debut album The College Dropout sold over 3 million copies (and counting) worldwide and earned a massive 10 Grammy nominations. His second album. Late Registration, has just been released to critical acclaim and sold over 850,000 copies in the US in its first week of release. He has also recently launched his own label, G.O.O.D. (Getting Out Our Dreams).

All this in between producing the debut album of his protege John Legend, as well as lending his midas touch to Common's Be, as well as work by Twista, Syhne, Mos Def, Slum Village, Mobb Deep, Cam'Ron among a host of others.

Teeth
Kanye West has never been afraid to speak out about perceived injustices. Upset at being snubbed in last year's American Music Awards he said "I feel I was definitely robbed. I was the best new artist this year."

His uncompromising stance recently saw him hijack a New Orleans flood-relief television broadcast in the US to speak about the differences in the american media's portrayal of white and black flood victims, ending his speech before he could be cut off with the now legendary statement, "George Bush doesn't care about black people".

He also asserts that the US government deliberately started the AIDS virus on his latest album, a claim that most other artists wouldn't dream of making.

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School
In case you didn't realise from the title of his first two albums, Kanye West dropped out of college, and has a preoccupation with education.

However, Kanye didn't quite quite drop out- in September 05 he returned to his former college, Chicago State University, as a stand in professor, and gave a class in song writing and arranging.

Beliefs
Kanye is also not afraid to talk about his faith and regularly speaks about his belief in Jesus and the church. With his work on John Legend's Get Lifted album, which he produced except for two tracks, he has popularised a fusion of gospel and hip hop.

It's not just a belief in the church that fuels Kanye West. He's also a great believer in his own abilities, and doesn't hesitate to let people know this, which has led to accusations of arrogance. But who can blame him? As he told 1Xtra's Rodney P and Skitz, "I'm never wrong except for this one time when i thought I was wrong."

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Soul
Kanye has crafted a unique and distinctive sound. His trademark beats sample cuts from often well known soul classics which are speeded up and cut up into breaks in a style pioneered by RZA from the Wu Tang Clan. Kanye's distinctive sample-based beat making skills earned him work at Roc-a-Fella where he cut his teeth alongside producers such as Just Blaze on a host of heavyweight cuts including Jay-Z's Takeover and Izzo (H.O.V.A).

For his latest album, Kanye has moved towards a more orchestral, cinematic style, but has retained his affection for the speeded up soul classic, like the use of Curtis Mayfield's Move on Up for the track Touch the Sky

Your old man's garms
Kanye, like Outkast's Andre 3000, has led the way in 2005 with a left-of-centre sense of dress that ignores the more streetwise styles of most in hip hop- from his knitted jumpers with pictures of teddy bears or patterns that your dad might wear on them, to rugby and college fraternity shirts, not to mention furry teddy bear heads, he's pushed forward the boundaries of hip hop styles as much as hip hop sounds.

But where Andre 3000 owes a debt to George Clinton and Sly Stone, with his rucksacks, pink polo shirts and v-neck jumpers, Kanye's style is more Carlton Banks than Shabba Ranks.

West also tellingly cited “Louis” (Vuitton) as one of the words that summed up his life in an interview with R1’s Tim Westwood earlier this year.

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In the Kanye
So what's next for the loudest voice in hip hop? Well, there's the inevitable talk of a clothing range due out next year, and he still seems to have unlimited energy to devote to making beats for other people, but after directing the videos for his previous singles, Kanye has spoken recently about wanting to direct movies.

In what may be a sign of things to come, cult film director Michel Gondry played drums on Diamonds from Sierra Leone and for the recording of Late Registration Kanye enlisted the cinematic production skills of LA musician Jon Brion, who has written soundtracks for I Heart Huckabees, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and Punch-Drunk Love among others.

So watch out for Mr Kanye West clutching a handful of Oscars- if his success in hip hop is anything to go by, it's only a matter of time.

Tune into 1Xtra at 1800 on Saturday 1 October for an in depth look at the multi-talented artist & producer including his exclusive UK performance with an orchestra.

• Kanye speaks to Rodney P and Skitz
• Can rap rebuild Sierra Leone?