When Did Kanye West's Car Accident Happen and How Long Was He Hospitalized For?

Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy is the epic three-part documentary series from Coodie & Chike about the rise of Kanye West, now known as Ye.

Filmed over 20 years, the series charts his success as a producer, rapper and his later years as a businessman, fashion designer, as well as his involvement in several controversies.

Act I, "Vision" followed West's struggle to secure a record deal as a rapper, not a producer. He was finally signed by Roc-a-Fella Records but two weeks later found himself in a car crash.

The second episode, released on Wednesday, February 23 is set to follow the aftermath of the car accident and what happened next.

Newsweek has everything you need to know about the life-altering crash.

When Did Kanye West's Car Accident Happen and How Long Was He Hospitalized For?

When driving home from a recording session in Los Angeles on October 23, 2002, West was involved in a serious car collision.

The crash happened at approximately 3 a.m., reported Rolling Stone, when West fell asleep at the wheel of his rented Lexus. He crashed into an oncoming car. West's jaw was completely shattered in three places and the other driver broke both his legs.

West had to undergo emergency surgery, where a metal plate was put into his chin and his mouth wired shut for over one month.

According to a statement from his manager Gee Roberson to MTV News at the time, West was "expected to be released from the hospital within the next few days, and his jaw will be wired shut for the next six weeks."

Ye has referred to the car crash in several of his songs. Most recently, on the track Eazy which was released on January 15, 2022, Yeezy raps: "God saved me from that crash" most likely referencing the 2002 near-fatal car incident.

Speaking to MTV several months after the crash, West reflected: "My jaw was broken in three places. I had nasal fractures. I'd be talking to people and my nose would start bleeding. Even to this day, I could start choking because spit will go down the wrong path. That whole area is messed up. But right now I'm healing, I'm just learning how to pronounce words like, 'What's up' with the 't' and the 's' together without it being slurred, so I can rap again."

Just two weeks after the accident, West recorded his first single Through the Wire.

According to Song Facts, West's mouth was still wired shut and he had to take numerous pain medications between takes to finish recording the song.

Through the Wire, which sampled Chaka Khan's 1985 single Through the Fire, was released in September 2003 and was a huge hit. It went platinum and Gold in the U.S. and UK and received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 2005 Grammy Awards.

West released his debut album, The College Dropout, on February 10, 2004, and went on to win Best Rap Album at the 2005 Grammy Awards.

When asked about how the accident changed his music, West told Interview Magazine in 2014: "I think I started to approach time in a different way after the accident. Before I was more willing to give my time to people and things that I wasn't as interested in because somehow I allowed myself to be brainwashed into being forced to work with other people or on other projects that I had no interest in.

"So simply, the accident gave me the opportunity to do what I really wanted to do. I was a music producer, and everyone was telling me that I had no business becoming a rapper, so it gave me the opportunity to tell everyone, 'Hey, I need some time to recover.'

"But during that recovery period, I just spent all my time honing my craft and making The College Dropout. Without that period, there would have been so many phone calls and so many people putting pressure on me from every direction—so many people I somehow owed something to—and I would have never had the time to do what I wanted to."

Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy airs Wednesdays on Netflix.