Fearless.

If you had to describe Kanye West in one word, that’s what it would be.

Fearless.

Calling out America’s President on live TV.

Fearless.

Making some of R&B’s most revered singers sound like The Chipmunks.

Fearless.

Wearing a lavender tuxedo to the Grammy Awards.

Fearless.  (Or crazy.)

Since his debut as an artist in 2004, Kanye’s been changing the face of hip-hop music with his innovative beats, unusual samples, and in-your-face rhymes spiked with comedy, spirituality and politics. 

With his new CD, “Graduation,” Kanye says he’s raising his game again, boldly predicting it’ll bump a title off the list of hip-hop’s 10 greatest albums of all time.

“Graduation’s” release date of September 11 – pitting him directly against 50 Cent in a battle of wills (and egos) – carries a certain amount of irony, because the release comes on the 6th anniversary of Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint,” the first major-label CD to feature Kanye’s production. 

Now, it almost seems funny.  While “The Blueprint” elevated Kanye to one of hip-hop’s elite producers, Jay-Z himself was unwilling to sign him as a rapper at the time, thinking he was much more valuable as a producer alone.  Within a couple of years, though, he’d changed his mind, and the result (so far) has been a pair of multi-platinum CDs, “The College Dropout” and “Late Registration.”

With “Graduation,” Kanye continues to push the boundaries of hip-hop.  From the sampling of French techno-funk group Daft Punk on the first single, “Stronger,” to getting Coldplay’s Chris Martin to play piano on “Homecoming,” Kanye’s never been predictable.  But he’s always been fearless.