West was born to middle-class African-American parents in Atlanta, Georgia. He moved with his mother to Chicago when he was three years old. He started writing poetry at the age of five. Kanye moved with his mother to Nanjing, China when he was 10. In 1997 West started taking painting classes at Chicago's American Academy of Art. After a short time he changed to Chicago State University to major in English. When he was 20 he left college to focus on music.