Kanye West -- Music Execs Made Him Feel Bruce Jenner's Pain

Kanye West was set up to play the hero -- helping Kim Kardashian better understand Bruce Jenner's transition -- thanks to a bunch of crap he himself had to take on while coming up in the music biz.

As Jenner told Diane Sawyer ... Kanye lead Kim to a breakthrough by telling her everyone has to be true to themselves. Sources tell us Kanye was referring to how music execs made him feel about his identity in the rap game.

We're told Kanye felt like he stood out when his career was taking off -- he was a rapper who also had strong interests in other fields, such as fashion. But he felt like the honchos ignored his true identity, and were constantly trying to mold him into someone they could market better.

Sources say Kanye explained to Kim that standing up to those execs was the only thing that eventually brought him true happiness.

Pretty savvy on Kanye's part ... to recognize Bruce going through the same thing he did, and then convey that to Kim.

Welcome to the Good Life.