Yeezy & Me vs The People
If we have been friends or in some way associated with each other in the last ten or so years, you will well and truly be aware of my borderline obsession with Kanye West’s music. Hell, I even have two tattoos dedicated to the man—HAM (Hard As [a] Motherfucker) tattooed inside my bottom lip, as well as the lyrics ‘champagne wishes’ inked under my left breast from my favourite ‘Ye track, So Appalled. I adore his body of work—from his releases (I’ll leave 808s & Heartbreaks out of this one), to his producing style and everything in between. This isn’t to say that I am a fan of it all, but I ask you to give me one artist that you are a fan of their entire back-catalogue of work…I’ll wait.
Come the middle of this year, Yeezy did something; he worked on and produced five of, what I deem to be, some of the best records to come out this year. Maybe even some of the best hip hop records to be released? Bit of a stretch? He collaborated with the likes of Cudi, Nas, Pusha T and Teyana Taylor. Listen to the song Freeee (Ghost Town Part 2) from his collab with Cudi Kids See Ghosts and I dare you not to feel something. Two men who have openly struggled in the spotlight, baring their soul for the world to hear. These albums were stripped back; short, sharp and sweet. There was nothing overtly whimsical about any of them—they were rough, they were raw, they were exceptional. Don’t you dare try and change my mind on this one, because you won’t be able to. And you are well within your rights to disagree with me, this entire piece is just my opinion.
Take Kanye West’s music out of the equation, and his recent—and not so recent—behaviour and temperament has been under heavy watch and a substantial amount of scrutiny. He’s not acting normally, I know. What I do disagree with, however, is the people calling him stupid, the people calling him a waste of space, the people telling Kim Kardashian to get rid of him, the people saying that he should blatantly not exist anymore. The man is going through something and has been for a long time. We don’t know what happens behind closed doors (even when he does sporadically feature on Keeping Up With The Kardashians), we only see what is televised.
Yes, I don’t agree with some, if not most, of his rants. Yes, I don’t agree with him actively seeking out Donald Trump as an ally. Yes, even I—as a very big fan—quiver at the thought of him being interviewed on live television. I have to admit, I haven’t watched a number of his interviews or even his recent meeting with Trump because I genuinely suffer from empathetic embarrassment. But it’s not because I deem him as a blight on this Earth like many do, rather because it is evident that the man merely does not belong in the spotlight, especially now. His art does, he does not. He was made for the fortune, not the fame that comes along with it. This situation, of course, is made all the more difficult by him being married to basically the most popular person on the planet. Kim thrives off being in the public eye, Kanye does not.
Now look, I am not a psychologist or any sort of medical professional, therefore my opinion on what I believe is going on with him is just that, my opinion. I have had friends, however, whom have eclipsed their human self with an almost holier-than-thou Jesus complex; they were not well. They were not okay. On the surface, and in my personal opinion, Kanye needs help. Period. And before everyone jumps on my back to say “Why isn’t Kim doing more? She’s his wife, she should be doing more!” Again, we don’t know what happens behind closed doors. We don’t know how they live, as much as we (or maybe just me?) keep up with the Kardashians. Remember when Britney shaved off all her hair? People criticised her endlessly for that when it happened…But I get why she did it. It was a call for help. It was her way of wanting to be set free from this life that, sure, she may have chosen but probably could not handle anymore. Remember when Amanda Bynes went on a Twitter rampage, expressing her desire to have Drake murder her pussy? Again, another call for help.
As humans, we are so quick to judge. So quick to react and feel that we know what’s best for others, especially when we’re not connected to them on an emotional level. Famous people or people in the public eye are the easiest to target because, ultimately, they are generally not connected to us. They’re a distant idolised image of what we may want our lives to be and, sometimes, we instinctually attack what they say and do. Because we feel like we can. Rather than seeking to understand, we find our assumptions and run with them. We’re all guilty of it. And that needs to stop.
And just to clarify, I’m not saying that I agree with most, if not all, of what he says. But that’s the thing, we need to delve a bit deeper—why is he really behaving this way?
