An ex-rapper who worked with Kanye West says he was a 'dork' before he got famous

Kanye West is a self-pronounced God. With worldwide fame, adoring fans, and millions of dollars in the bank, his ego is perhaps understandable. But what was Yeezus like before he made it?

Ex-rapper Jensen Karp, who once had a $1 million recording contract with Interscope under his pseudonym Hot Karl, spoke to Business Insider about how Kanye acted before his fame exploded. At this time, in the early 2000s, West still lived at home with his mother in New Jersey.

Hot Karl liked some of the tracks on Kanye's beats CD, so he called up West to ask if he could use it. Immediately, the two musicians got on well.

"We ended up recording together. He had adult braces and he was wearing a real dorky Nicce jumpsuit on the first day," Karp told Business Insider. "He just came off like a real dweeby guy, but he was very sweet and nice."

The pair hit it off with something of a Bromance. They watched movies. Went out to eat. Drank together in LA nightclubs. West even took Karp as his plus one to Jay Z's birthday party in New York.

At the time, everyone in the industry recognised Kanye West talents as a producer, but no one thought he would turn out to be a rapper.

Karp described how West acted in the studio when he was about 22:

We'd be in the studio in front of a lot of really famous rappers, or famous producers, at Baseline in New York. He'd be like: 'I want to play you my new song.' No one really believed he was a rapper. Everyone thought: 'Dude stop. Just start producing.' He did 'Jesus Walks' for us and he mimicked out all the words and he mouthed them and he jumped up and down. When he left the room everyone just laughed.

West always had an "awkward assertiveness that made him tough to be around sometimes," Karp said.

He added: "I think he just was a dork, man. I don't know how else I can explain that. He was little brother-ish, real pesty."

Karp and West drifted apart, just after "Through the Wire" was released in 2004.

Karp's own music career crashed. His album was never released by Interscope, while West went on to become one of the world's most successful artists. Though it's clear that Karp still has a lot of respect and positive feeling for West, who he describes as "a good guy."

However, Kanye still owes Hot Karl $300.

Karp's book "Kanye West Owes Me $300: And Other True Stories from a White Rapper Who Almost Made It Big" was published on June 7.