How Kanye West gained power in 2004
AGE 27In West's world, ''Jesus Walks,'' but money definitely talks, too. The dough he brought in as a wildly successful producer (Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, Twista, Britney) serves as mere backstory to his '04 triumph as a solo artist: College Dropout (2.3 million so far) is the year's fifth-bestselling CD, and the biggest by a debuting artist. Hip-hop's King Midas finally turned himself multiplatinum.
