The outspoken artist takes to Twitter on the anniversary of his debut album.

As you probably know by the full-court press coverage this week, Kanye West released The College Dropout on February 10, 2004, almost instantly turning him from Roc-A-Fella hitmaker into the most celebrated hip-hop artist of his generation.

To mark the occasion, Kanye has taken to Twitter for one of his periodic dispatches (almost completely without his usual ALL CAPS treatment):

Ten years ago today we finally released what had been my life’s work up to that point: The College Dropout.

I say “finally” because it was a long road, a constant struggle, and a true labor of love to not only convince my peers and the public that I could be an artist, but to actually get that art out for the world to hear.

I am extremely grateful to each and every person along that road who helped, lent an ear, lent their voice, gave of their heart to that project, and to all the projects that followed, and are to come.

I am honored and humbled by my fans, for the unwavering support and love over the past ten years.

I wake up every day trying to give something back to you that you can rock to and be proud of.

Ten years later I am still the same kid from Chicago, still dreaming out loud, still banging on the door. The doors may be heavier, but I promise you WE WILL BREAK THEM.

College Dropout was one of FACT’s top albums of the 2000s; Yeezus was one of our top albums of 2013. Last year, we ran down Kanye’s 10 best deep cuts.