Watch Kanye West & John Legend Perform An Early Version Of "Gold Digger" ca. 2003

With all of the madness surrounding Kanye West's forthcoming So Help Me God LP, it's getting kind of hard to recall the days when Ye was rocking bright polos and backpacks like the rest of us. Well, thanks to some glorious human being that managed to put in the digging, we are graced with a hefty reminder of what the Ye of yesteryear was like onstage. A newly surfaced clip finds West and an awfully spry looking John Legend performing an early (and rough) cut of what would become Kanye's lead-off Late Registration single "Gold Digger," but even before his debut record had dropped in February 2004. Here you'll see that even in 2003, at a Dynamic Producer Conference in NYC, West had virtually the entirety of the lyrics written already and that all the track really needed was some seasoning from Ray Charles and Jamie Foxx. But aside from seeing "Gold Digger" in its infancy, the clip also provides us with a rare glimpse of Kanye smiling, which is the modern day equivalent of spotting a unicorn trotting down 5th Avenue. Reminisce over the good ole days with a quick view of Kanye & John Legend rocking a still developing "Gold Digger" at the 2nd Annual Dynamic Producer Conference in 2003 below.

spotted at Noisey