Entertainment

Kanye West and John Legend's Early Version of 'Gold Digger'

Viral

2003 video of '18 Years' features different lyrics, hook, title.

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Once upon a time in Hip-Hop, Kanye West was known only as a whiz kid producer and Jay Z protege, not as the talented megalomaniac we know him to be today.

This video from 2003, which only surfaced this week, was shot at the Dynamic Producer Conference just a few months before his debut LP, The College Dropout, propelled him to immediate stardom and acclaim. Here, he performs a song called "18 Years," which became his 2005 hit "Gold Digger" from his Late Registration album. Instead of Jamie Foxx reprising his Ray Charles for this early version, Yeezus swaps in a different Oscar winner to provide the hook: John Legend.

h/t NY Daily News

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