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Kanye West was once a little kid. In China. And here is the photo to prove it.

It’s a slow news day over at Vanya HQ, with everyone out fighting for discounted TVs and slowly getting over their turkey hangover. So clearly we jumped when we saw this pic of a young Kanye West in China. No, we won’t make a Black Friday joke. But Ninjas in Nanjing is pretty tempting.

Oh, right, since you’re wondering WTF is going on here, our homies at Consequence of Sound have the necessary details..

For the course of fifth grade, West and his mother, Donda, lived in China, where she taught at Nanjing University as part of an exchange program. Despite being the only foreigner in his class, Donda West later recounted Little Ye’s aptitude for the native language and his studious behavior.

For a (literal) snapshot of that period, Rap Genius user Frak has shared the above photo, which was given to him by a colleague of his father who was also a close friend of the West family during their stay in China. What we see is a glimpse of a pre-lift-off Kanye, a scrawny little kid who had no idea of what lay ahead for him, be it good, bad, or involving Kim K.

Praise be to Yeezus.