Coordinates: 52°58′N 1°22′W / 52.97°N 1.36°W / 52.97; -1.36

West Hallam is a large village close to Ilkeston in the County of Derbyshire in the East Midlands region of England. West Hallam has had its own parish council since 1894 and, since 1974, has been part of the Erewash Borough.

Although it is not known exactly when the village was founded, it existed at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086. St Wilfrid's Church is over 700 years old. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, West Hallam had a reputation for Catholic sympathies at a time when Catholics were persecuted.

Until the early 20th Century West Hallam was a small rural village and the property of the Newdigate family. Most jobs were in the agricultural area with mining work locally in the Erewash Valley coalfield. There was also a West Hallam railway station, connected to the Great Northern Railway and Derby Friargate Station.

The Newdigate family finally parted with their interest as Lords of the Manor in 1914.

The later 20th Century saw rapid change with both the collieries and the railway disappearing during the 1960s. Ilkeston Colliery was the last to close in 1959 and some buildings remain, now in industrial use. The railway station is now Station House, a private residence.

Scott West (born 14 November 1974) is a former Australian rules football player who played for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League(A.F.L). West was a tough "in-and-under" midfielder who was hard at the ball, especially around the stoppages, and was regularly one of the leading possession accumulators in the competition.

West is the current coach of the Werribee Football Club who compete in the Victorian Football League one level under the A.F.L

West attended Essendon Grammar and was recruited to the Footscray Football Club (now Western Bulldogs) where he made his debut in 1993. He won an AFL Rising Star nomination that season. From 1993 to 1997 He wore the number 14 guernsey on the back of his western bulldogs jumper before changing to his famous number 7 in the wake of Doug Hawkins' departure to Fizroy

West is regarded as one of the most consistent players in the AFL over a long time-frame. He has regularly made the most disposals in the AFL in the past ten years, and has made AFL All-Australian selection on five occasions in 1998, 2000, 2004, 2005 and 2006. He won seven club best-and-fairest awards (Charles Sutton Medals); his victory in 2005 overtaking Gary Dempsey's previous record of six.

Leslie West (born Leslie Weinstein on October 22, 1945) is an American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is best known as a member of the hard rock band Mountain.

West was born in New York City, grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey, and in East Meadow, Forest Hills and Lawrence. After his parents divorced, he changed his surname to West. His musical career began with The Vagrants, an R&B/Blue-eyed soul-rock band influenced by the likes of The Rascals that was one of the few teenage garage rock acts to come out of the New York metropolitan area itself (as opposed to the Bohemian Greenwich Village scene of artists, poets and affiliates of the Beat Generation, which produced bands like The Fugs and The Velvet Underground). The Vagrants had two minor hits in the Eastern US: 1966's "I Can't Make a Friend" and a cover of Otis Redding's "Respect" the following year.

Some of the Vagrants' recordings were produced by Felix Pappalardi, who was also working with Cream on their album Disraeli Gears. In 1969, West and Pappalardi would form the pioneering hard rock act Mountain, which was also the title of West's debut solo album. This was the second great "power trio" of the period, after Cream; Rolling Stone identified the band as a 'louder version of Cream'. With Steve Knight on keyboards and original drummer N. D. Smart, the band appeared on the second day of the Woodstock Festival on Saturday, August 16, 1969 starting an 11-song set at 9PM.

Sean Michael Anderson (born March 25, 1988), better known by his stage name Big Sean, is an American rapper. Big Sean signed with Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music in 2007, and then in 2008 signed with Def Jam Recordings.

Sean Michael Anderson was born in Santa Monica, California, and he moved at two months old to west Detroit (6 Mile and Wyoming) where he was raised by his mother and grandmother. He attended Detroit Waldorf School and graduated from Cass Technical High School with a 3.7 GPA. Big Sean is often heard saying " west side " in his songs; he is referring to the west side of his hometown Detroit, Michigan. In his later years in high school, Sean gained a valuable relationship with Detroit hip hop station WHTD; he would show his rhyming skills on a weekly basis as part of a rap battle contest held by the station.

In 2005, Kanye West was doing a radio interview at 102.7 FM. Hearing about this, Sean headed over to the station to meet West and perform some free-style. Initially Kanye was reluctant to hear the emcee, however he gave Sean 16 bars to rap for him, eventually according to Big Sean "As we get to the entrance of the radio station ... we stopped in the middle of the doorway. He starts looking at me and bobbing his head,". He left a demo-tape as well. Two years later, West finally signed Big Sean to GOOD Music.

Kanye Omari West ( /ˈkɑːnjeɪ/; born June 8, 1977) is an American musician, film director and fashion designer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and Janet Jackson. His style of production originally used pitched-up vocal samples from soul songs incorporated with his own drums and instruments. However, subsequent productions saw him broadening his musical palette and expressing influences encompassing '70s R&B, baroque pop, trip hop, arena rock, folk, alternative, electronica, synthpop, and classical music.

West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004, his second album Late Registration in 2005, his third album Graduation in 2007, his fourth album 808s & Heartbreak in 2008, and his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. West released a collaborative album, Watch the Throne with Jay-Z in 2011, which is the duo's first collaborative album. His five solo albums, all of which have gone platinum, have received numerous awards and critical acclaim. As of 2012, West has won a total of eighteen Grammy Awards, making him one of the most awarded artists of all-time. All albums have been very commercially successful, with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy becoming his fourth consecutive No. 1 album in the U.S. upon release. West has had 5 songs exceed 3 million in digital sales as of July 2011, with "Gold Digger" selling 3,086,000, "Stronger" selling 4,402,000, "Heartless" selling 3,742,000, "E.T." selling over 4,000,000 and "Love Lockdown" selling over 3,000,000 placing him third in overall digital sales of the past decade. He has sold over 30 million digital songs in the United States making him one of the best-selling digital artists of all-time.