Kanye's Stepmom Tells All! The Secret Childhood Trauma Of What He Would Become
West's bizarre antics are just his 'persona,' she insists.
Nov. 23 2016, Published 9:44 a.m. ET
RadarOnline.com has exclusively obtained photos of a young Kanye West. Click through the gallery to find out what he was like as a kid!
Aliya Jones and David Jones talk about Kanye West
Sitting patiently on the Washington D.C. Metro with his hands folded and a thoughtful look in his eye, it's hard to believe the young man in this picture became the egomaniac Kanye West.
Aliya Jones and David Jones talk about Kanye West
While other kids his age got into trouble, West was learning to speak Chinese and do Tai Chi when he was ten and growing up in the middle class South Shore area of Chicago.
Aliya Jones and David Jones talk about Kanye West
Although his late mother, Donda, and his father, Ray, divorced when he was three, they remained amicable and West lived with his mother but spent summers with his father. It was on one such visit he met future stepmother Brenda Bentley, who shared this exclusive snap with RadarOnline.com of West at age nine.
Aliya Jones and David Jones talk about Kanye West
Bentley remembers West as a mild mannered boy who wouldn't dare interrupt his father — let alone an awards ceremony — and always called her "Miss Brenda."'
Aliya Jones and David Jones talk about Kanye West
Bentley revealed: "We were on the Metro going to a parade downtown. "He was with his father, so he knew he had to behave. Ray wasn't too strict as a dad, and it was summer – so that was playtime. He was a well-spoken boy and his father always insisted he had good manners."
Aliya Jones and David Jones talk about Kanye West
"At home he did his chores like making his bed. He was well behaved and if he ever had a tantrum it would not last long and he would go back to being a good boy again," she said.
Aliya Jones and David Jones talk about Kanye West
"Kanye loved museums and art. His father helped him develop sophisticated tastes," revealed Bentley. "He used to love animations, artsy stuff, not Disney, that was too mundane. His father helped him to develop sophisticated tastes and become culturally rich."
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Aliya Jones and David Jones talk about Kanye West
"He was a cute little boy and he was always very good at school — his mother and father demanded he excel. I think most people misunderstand what he is really like. The person you see on stage is just a persona. He is not like that in normal life. He's regular. One of his favorite things to do backstage is play Connect Four."
Aliya Jones and David Jones talk about Kanye West
West was a sharp child and university professor Donda, who died unexpectedly after a cosmetic surgery procedure in 2007, even took him to live in China for a year as part of an exchange program when he was 10. In her book, Raising Kanye, Donda recalled: "He'd charge other kids to see him breakdance. He could spin on his head and everything."
