NEW YORK -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- To understand how close Kanye West and his mother , Donda , were , one only needs to listen to his music . Donda and Kanye West , here during her book tour , were very close . He regularly made reference to her in his lyrics , discussing everything from her insistence that he receive a college degree to her unshakeable support of him when he ultimately decided to pursue a rap career . Donda West , who died at 58 over the weekend , appeared to be as tough as she was loving . On `` Ca n't Tell Me Nothing , '' a track from his latest album , `` Graduation , '' he rhymes about his mother 's attempt to discourage him from spending money on jewelry and `` Louis V. '' On `` Touch the Sky , '' from his 2005 album , `` Late Registration , '' he recalls how his mother drove him from Chicago , Illinois , to New York in a U-Haul van . -LRB- Read the obituary of Donda West . -RRB- She was also the inspiration for the song `` Hey Mama , '' from the same album . `` I want to scream so loud for you / because I 'm so proud of you , '' he rhymes . `` I know I act a fool / but I promise you I 'm going back to school / I appreciate what you allowed for me and I just want you to be proud of me . '' Watch how Kanye West is mourning his mother '' Donda West was indeed proud . She regularly attended her son 's concerts and often could be found dancing and rapping his more radio-friendly lyrics . Watch Donda West talk about `` Raising Kanye '' '' At the MTV Video Music Awards in September , she and a gaggle of girlfriends were perched in the VIP section at a party for Rolling Stone magazine . As Kanye West whipped the crowd into a frenzy with hits such as `` Gold Digger '' and `` Through the Wire , '' his mom waved her hands in the air side to side and bobbed to the beats . When asked if her son would sell more records than 50 Cent -LRB- both rappers released their albums on September 11 -RRB- , she answered coyly . `` Good music will win out , '' she said with a smile and a wink . -LRB- Her son 's label is named Good Music . -RRB- Gallery : Donda and Kanye '' `` Graduation '' would go on to trounce 50 Cent 's `` Curtis , '' debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard charts and selling more than 950,000 copies in its first week of release . Long before her son became an international superstar , Donda West was an English professor at Chicago State University . She stepped down as chairwoman of the university 's English department in 2004 to manage her son 's burgeoning career full time . The two collaborated on a book , `` Raising Kanye : Life Lessons From the Mother of a Hip Hop Star , '' which was released in May . And most recently , she became the CEO of Super Good , the parent company of Kanye West Enterprises . She also was the chairwoman of the Kanye West Foundation , which , interestingly enough , is focused on keeping students from dropping out of school . E-mail to a friend