Proud rapper

Kanye West’s debut album, “The College Dropout,” is a masterful piece of work that should be mentioned among the classic albums of our time.

At least that’s what West thinks. And he’ll tell you so — again and again and again.

“You can’t judge ‘The College Dropout.’ It’s something completely different,” the 27-year-old rapper declares. “It’s definitely a classic. … We’ll see the results in the next six months of whether it did change the game or whether it is its own entity.”

Those kinds of proclamations have earned West the reputation of being, well, a bit arrogant. Yet it’s hard to blame him when “Dropout” has sold more than 2 million copies and is being hailed by most critics and fans as the answer to a stagnant rap scene.

From the clever, thought-provoking “All Falls Down” to the religious fervor of his latest single, “Jesus Walks,” the album takes a welcome detour from materialistic, violent hip-hop fare to subject matter that’s more substantial — and more realistic.

West also become one of today’s most prolific producers, working with everyone from Ludacris to Brandy to Alicia Keys.

“He definitely put his foot in the game with his style of music. He’s the beat man,” said Twista, who had his first No. 1 hit this year with the humorous smash “Slow Jamz,” featuring West and actor Jamie Foxx.

Even a life-threatening car accident in 2002 didn’t defer West’s dreams. He turned the experience into a hit single, rapping with his jaw wired shut on the clever “Through the Wire.” The chorus features West’s much-imitated trademark sound: a sped-up sample of a soul classic, in this case Chaka Khan’s “Through the Fire.”

“My thing is, how can I possibly be overly confident? Look at my accomplishments!” West says during a break from sketching out designs for his newest project: launching his own sneaker.

Yet in his next breath, he admits that much of his exuberance is just an act — a mental trick to give him the confidence he needs to succeed in the rough-and-tumble music world.

“I say in my songs, ‘I’m so insecure.’ So a lot of times, arrogance is to combat insecurity,” he explains, adding: “I had to be a borderline lunatic to think that I could do what I’ve done. It’s crazy. … What I’ve accomplished is crazy.”

West’s rise to the top may not be crazy, but it certainly is the stuff hip-hop fairy tales are made of.

Drawn to rap since childhood, he set his sights on being the next superstar.

He got his mother, a college professor, to lend him money to buy an expensive keyboard when he was a teen so he could work on his tunes, and started hanging out at clubs to taste the scene, though he was too young to get in.

“I thought I was going to get signed back when I was 13 years old and come out with a record and take Kris Kross out,” he said of the ‘90s kiddie rap group.

Columbia Records dangled a record contract a few years ago, but that didn’t work out. So West instead used producing to get his foot in the door.

And he kicked it wide open when he provided Jay-Z with the beat to his smash “Izzo (H.O.V.A)” — which eventually led to a deal that made him the latest member of Jay-Z’s Roc-a-fella label.

“That was the turning point in my life. Jay made all the difference,” West says.

Along with introducing the rap world to sped-up samples, he’s offered everything from buttery-smooth soul for the likes of Janet Jackson to anthemlike raps for Dilated Peoples to a party jam for Ludacris.

West’s own videos — “Jesus Walks” alone has three different versions — actually have plots and are visually captivating without resorting to a bevy of dancing girls in bikinis. Instead of the thug look, he admits he looks more like Carlton, the preppy rich kid from the Will Smith sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”

And in his music, rather than boasting about his riches, he admits he buys expensive jewelry just to feel validated.

“Every rapper was the king of, ‘I can do this and not go to jail,’ you know what I’m saying? Mine just came out from a totally different perspective,” he says.

“And I’m very creative. I always wanted to do something different from what everybody else is doing, ever since I was little.”

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Kanye West’s music is all over pop radio, and we don’t just mean his own raps. His talents as a producer have resulted in numerous hit songs with a wide variety of artists. A sampling:

• “Slow Jamz,” with Twista and Jamie Foxx: Tribute to old-school R&B love songs featuring West’s instant classic line: “She got a light-skinned friend look like Michael Jackson / got a dark-skinned friend look like Michael Jackson…”

• “U Don’t Know My Name,” Alicia Keys: Gorgeous ballad of unrequited love that harkens back to ‘70s soul, complete with an extended spoken-word interlude.

• “Stand Up,” Ludacris: Irresistible party jam with a funky beat and catchy chorus.

• “Talk About Our Love,” Brandy: Her latest hit is a bubbly summer jam warning about the troubles caused by gossip in a relationship.

• “Izzo (H.O.V.A.),” Jay-Z: One of many gems on the “Blueprint” album, this bouncy jam with a kid-chorus was one of West’s early hits.

• “Me Against the Music,” Britney Spears featuring Madonna: Perhaps his only misstep, the pairing of superstars on this tepid dance groove failed to move the charts.

• “This Way,” Dilated Peoples: This anthem about changing one’s life for the better may turn out to be one of the group’s biggest hits.