No matter what he does, I will forever love Kanye West.
Scoff all you want, but I think he’s amazing. I get a lot of crap for it, but if I could meet one famous person, it would be ‘Ye.
Ever since he infamously interrupted T. Swift at the 2009 MTV VMA’s or said that George Bush doesn’t care about black people, Kanye’s reputation in the public eye has been steadily declining.
However, let us not forget the many brilliant contributions Kanye brought to the rap scene before he made a song called “I Am A God.”
I think the most accurate description of Kanye I’ve ever heard is when PopMatters blogger Andy Belt referred to him as “socially aware with a flair for the superficial.”
Kanye expresses his love for clothes, cars, and money, but his raps are always filled with messages about genuine social issues. I’m a white female from a middle class family, so I can’t relate to most of the problems Kanye tackles, but his raps make me learn about and understand them better than any news story ever could.
Kanye’s first album, The College Dropout, basically satirizes the whole education system and the importance America places on college degrees. The whole album is brilliant, but I think the lyric that sums it up best is: “Told ‘em I finished school and I started my own business/ They said ‘Oh you graduated?’/ No, I decided I was finished.” It’s just so awesome, and pure confident Kanye.
Racial oppression is a topic Kanye addresses often as well. I could pick out a hundred lyrics that have really made me reflect on the issue, but one of the best is from the song “Gorgeous” when he raps, “Face it, Jerome get more time than Brandon/ And at the airport they check all through my bag/ And tell me that it’s random.” C’mon, that is genius, and probably a true story.
Kanye also tells us all that no matter how successful he is, he’s human and still faces racism and hate on a regular basis, which only grows as his fame does.
Just listen to “New Slaves” and listen to ‘Ye explain it himself when he says, “My momma was raised in an era when/ Clean water was only served to the fairer skin/ Doing clothes you would have thought I had help/ But they wasn’t satisfied unless I picked the cotton myself.” So, so brilliant.
I’ll admit it, Kanye went off the deep end for a few years.
But doesn’t Kanye seem much more chill and satisfied since having North and marrying Kim? His latest single, “Only One,” is nothing but heartfelt.
And the whole Beck stunt at the 2015 Grammys? C’mon, that was hilarious. That was Kanye acknowledging his obnoxious past and basically saying, “I know, I know, I was egocentric and awful. I recognize that now and can laugh at myself, so laugh with me.”