I blame y’all for Kanye West.
Pop culture’s stans have reinforced his mania with every award, every creative accolade, and every chart-topping single. Not that his creativity didn’t deserve praise, but it has been clear for a long time that the man is going through some major issues.
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Many point to his mother Donda West’s death in 2007 as the start of his breakdown. Her guidance seemingly grounded the artist. Absent that anchor, his mind went untethered.
However, that still doesn’t address the fact that Kanye still needs to face Kanye. But it is a near impossibility when the media keeps your name on the tip of their multimedia tongues and you feel an incessant competitiveness with damn near everybody.
From his famous fallout with former mentor and collaborator, Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter, to his denial of Taylor Swift’s moment at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards; West is always in a beef.
He took on the entire global fashion business, calling them out for ostracizing him and collaborator Virgil Abloh, only to become a billionaire from his Yeezy brand and still he is in a funk.
Presidentially Bi-Polar
Now he kicked off a 2020 Presidential campaign run.
He made his first stop in South Carolina on Sunday night under the Birthday Party. Politically, he is taking on Democrats and Republicans like a neutron coming for the Bloods and Crips.
During his speech in North Charleston, which saw him donning a bulletproof vest and flanked by security, West showed his manic nature was the new dominant personality trait.
He ranted against “Moses” herself, taking actual shots at Harriet Tubman on Sunday, saying the Underground Railroad conductor “never actually freed the slaves, she just had them work for other white people.”
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These comments not only take away from actually believing in West’s potential as a Presidential candidate but adds the current toxic circus the country is experiencing through the Trump Administration.
West’s monologue veered from palpable to outright disrespectful as he ranged on topics from abortion and religion to international trade and licensing deals. Nothing was cohesive and everything was true to West form, about his incessant narcissism.
A narcissism propped up by a youth culture that while idolizing creative achievements enjoys watching the breakdown of its heroes.
For this generation, Kanye West is like Jean Michel Basquiat, a tortured soul that gets ever more famous with each public flaw.
But no one is ever there to throw West a life line.
Radio personality Sway Calloway tried during their famous heated interview in 2013 where West famously tried to shut him down by simply saying, “you don’t have the answers.”
I've been watching Kanye's campaign rally for 5 minutes. So far he's said:
-He had a Percocet addiction after plastic surgery.
-He will walk away from Adidas and Gap deals if they don't put him on the board.
-Made an "I'mma let you finish" joke.
-Said to stop watching porn.— Linz DeFranco (@LinzDeFranco) July 19, 2020
No one has the balls or the temerity because this is a country that worship money and fame over health. Kanye West has been living in his own personal Truman Show and the fans and detractors refuse to help him out of his own bubble because it is too entertaining.
But now he is playing in politics during the most pivotal election year since Obama’s first inauguration in 2009. President Donald Trump has proven ineffectual during the COVID-19 pandemic and has brought back a level of overt racism to the Presidency not seen since Andrew Jackson and Woodrow Wilson.
Although the country is at yet another lesser of two evils crossroads with Joe Biden facing off against the incumbent Trump, West’s actions are seen as a way to split the vote and cause dissension within the voting rank and file.
Mo’ Money. Mo’ Problems.
In addition, West’s mental acuity seems askew with every regrettable quotable.
On deterrents to abortion, West said, “Everybody that has a baby gets a million dollars.”
However, in that same vein he admitted that he’d urged wife Kim Kardashian to have an abortion when she was pregnant with their first child, North.
A heckler was just escorted out of the Kanye West event by police.
— Beatrice Peterson (@missbeae on all platforms) (@MissBeaE) July 19, 2020
“She had the pills in her hand,” said the 43-year-old rapper, until God told him: “if you f–k with my vision I’m going to f–k with yours. I almost killed my daughter. No more plan B, plan A.
“So even if my wife were to divorce me after this speech, she brought North into this world,” he said. “She stood up and protected that child.”
He also said his father, Ray West, wanted him aborted.
“My mom saved my life. My dad wanted to abort me,” he said, nearly breaking down. “There would have been no Kanye West. Because my dad was too busy.”
West touched on gun control, sounding very NRA-ish with: “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people,” he said with the crowd joining in.
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West said it’s important to have weapons in case the country is invaded. And, he then asked, “what do you think is going to happen?”
As usual Kanye West is having a public counseling session with himself. It is the reason why his music is so good and why he is a superstar; because he allows himself to be vulnerable in big moments.
However, his toxicity disguised as love and newfound overt Christianity masking self-hate is evident. But as his newly acquired Forbes billionaire status has been achieved, the world will listen, eat popcorn and sip tea for the entertainment value they’ve always seen West for.
But when the Truman Show is over, will Kanye West be healed? The answer is probably no unless we tune him out so he can tune himself in.
