Kanye West is pretty sure that his 2010 album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, deserves at least a Grammy or two -- and we’d be inclined to agree. But ten years ago, when he was still shopping his beats to major labels, the Grammys weren’t even a blip on the tweeting rap star's radar. Or at least that's what the bloggers over at The Hype Men concluded after uncovering two of Kanye’s earliest beats CDs dated from 2001.

The Hype Men’s Jensen Karp released the first album (Disc 1 includes 26 beats that have only a trace of contemporary Kanye) and details on its origin yesterday. Disc 2 will be released on April 4, and in the meantime, Disc 1 is available for streaming in its entirety at DJ Booth. Read excerpts from Karp’s explanation below, or find the full story here.

"Last week I was stumbling through my garage, searching through old storage bins when I came across some old beat CDs from my days as a signed rapper. I was shocked to find that two of them, both given to me in the year 2001, had the name 'Kanye West' on them. I remember Kanye being hyped to me as someone who had just worked with Beanie Sigel and was about to work with Ludacris, so I was obviously interested in this dude with a weird name. I popped in the CD and wasn't exactly blown away to be honest. It was definitely good though, so I asked my manager for more beats from this Kanye character. I got a second beat CD and again couldn't find anything to pick directly, but knew there was potential (keep in mind that 2001 was a mighty synth-y year). I got on the phone with Kanye that week and he played me some beats over the phone (that included "H to the Izzo"). I picked one song from that phone call and it ended up being one of the first label paychecks written with his name on it. (I also was the first person to rap his name in a song. Because 'Kanye' rhymed with 'picante').

We wanted you to hear these not just for the Kanye completist inside you, but for people to understand how far someone like Kanye has come. And I think these two beat CDs show you where he came from, even if it doesn't necessarily sound like "Kanye" now. He kept at it and became the incredible producer he is today. I remember he even had to leave the studio sessions early, so he could make the last train back to his mom's house.”