Dropout Bear

Dropout Bear is an anthropomorphic bear that Kanye West used predominantly for the College Dropout trilogy (2004 to 2007). The bear made an appearance on alternate cover art for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy a 2010 album, and later made a brief appearance in the trailer for the unreleased
KIDS SEE GHOSTS television show.

History[]

2004-2007: Main use[]

The first appearance of the Dropout Bear was on the cover art for Ye's debut album The College Dropout (2004). The decision to wear that outfit was not planned beforehand.
Years later, designer Sam Hansen was given the task of creating a logo for Ye. He decided to make the logo the bear and originally thought of applying it onto a polo.^[1]

Ye dressed up as the bear again for the cover art for Late Registration (2005), but the cover art for Graduation (2007) featured the cartoon version of the character (designed by
Sam Hansen) over a landscape that was designed by Takashi Murakami.

2008-present: Disappearance[]

Not only did 808s & Heartbreak (2008) mark an abrupt end to the "Dropout series," but it also marked an abrupt ending to the appearance of the Dropout Bear in every album's cover art. The bear did return for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), but only on its alternate artwork. That was the last official appearance of the character until the release of a KIDS SEE GHOSTS TV show trailer in summer 2020, where it was named Kanye Bear.^[1]

Comeback of Dropout Bear[]

In June 26, 2020, A trailer for the new animated show for "KIDS SEE GHOSTS", featured Dropout bear, now with a new name, "Kanye Bear" & Kid Cudi's character "Kid Fox". The show will not happen because of the duo of Kanye West and Kid Cudi disbanding, and also because Kanye and Cudi forgot about the show in general.

Generations[]

The Design of Dropout Bear changed dramatically of the years. The dropout bear evolved just like Kanye's music in the "Dropout trilogy". The first design seen in The Collegue Dropout is much more human-like, and in this case the dropout bear is a full-body bear boot.

Then in Late registration he evolves into a humanoid stuffed animal with a height proportional to the real world.

Finally in Graduation the dropout bear becomes a cartoon bear in a universe completely different from ours. Unlike the other designs that had been created in real life, the dropout bear in Graduation adopts a more cartoonish style and It is consolidated as the final and most recognized design of the dropout bear.