Dear Kanye,
I must admit that you had me going for a while. Your musical genius was once without precedent, and no one this side of Wu-Tang’s the RZA could match your ability to turn even the most obscure audio clip into the bedrock of a hit record. I truly believed you were the “New Version of Pete Rock.”
I have witnessed your genius, Mr. West. And I have ardently defended your liberal administering of said genius to the masses time and time again. Remember when you said, “George Bush doesn’t like black people,” during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina? Remember the look on comedian Mike Myers’ face?
Man, the laughter exploded from my mouth with such violence my lips were numb for the rest of the day. Wow, that was way back when your music still relied heavily on the careful selection of only the most soulful samples.
The Taylor Swift incident? The sheer brashness of it all was a thing to marvel at, indeed. Man, the look on Beyonce’s face was classic. HA! I defended you when the President called you a jackass and even reassessed my own feelings on interracial dating in part because of the way you have so ardently defended your situation with Kim Kardashian.
A universal truth is that the heart wants what it wants. Who is anyone else to say otherwise? When you appeared on the Kris Jenner Show to defend your relationship, I defended you as well, despite the fact that you were speaking in your ‘white people’ voice. Hell, every Black person who works in the business world has a ‘white people’ voice-which is not to be confused with speaking proper English. It’s a way of disarming Euro-Americans. I get it. But you have been jumping the shark as of late, Bro-ski.
When you came out the side of your neck and said your wife is more influential than the First Lady of the United States, the most powerful nation the world has seen in at least 1,000 years, it was clear to me that you were having trouble distinguishing between what is real and what are the fanciful musings of a stark raving lunatic.
You are aware that this woman’s likeness will sit alongside that of her husband in the White House long after all who read this have been converted to trace measurements of nitrogen and protein in the soil.
While I am not aware of the half-life of silicone implants, I am certain the painting of Mr. and Mrs. Barack Hussein Obama will be considered a national treasure by most Americans while the remains of your wife’s ass entertains an audience of earthworms and blowfly larvae.
But even though I raised several eyebrows with that statement, I was aware of its purpose. That being the promotion of your wife’s pop cultural relevance in a society in which pop culture is disposable by its very nature. In your world, if they’re not talking about you it’s a really bad thing. I get it.
The very mentioning of Mrs. Obama only verifies that she is in fact the most influential woman in America. You know it, and I know it. I get it. But your latest move is making people wanna holler and throw up both their hands.
You’re now selling apparel that features the Confederate Flag, a tangible symbol of rabid racism and forced black servitude in the Old South? You said it’s because the flag represents slavery and, “I wrote the song ‘New Slaves’ and I took the flag and made it my own.
“What are you gonna do about it?”
Well, first off, I’m going to stop buying your records. Secondly, I am going to stop defending you. Thirdly, I am going to do everything in my power to make sure no one I know ever again does so either. The only “hoods” that are actively flying this flag are in the KKK. You couldn’t wait to be seen wearing that jacket, huh? You wore it to allegedly racist prone Barney’s, at that? Man-o-man!
Do you plan on schooling people as to the true nature of this flag? If not, then what? Is it simply for financial gain? No money earned from the sale of these items will do anything to substantially affect your financial situation barring sales in the millions.
You also went on to say, “It’s colorless, also. It’s super-‘hood and super white boy-approved at the same time.” It’s true, there have been several rappers from the south who have worn clothing adorned with the flag – which in many cases was more of a political statement than anything else.
But to my knowledge, none of them ever made a profit off the items. I don’t think you wanted to get that deep. In fact, I am certain this whole thing is a publicity stunt. I might be wrong, but this is looking like another in a long line of monuments to your chronic narcissism.
You, Mr. West, are an attention whore who will do anything to keep your name in the headlines. Is that the life of a “rock star?” Does your quest for constant notoriety cause you to make moves that promote the ideology of the sworn enemies of your ancestors? This will be the very last time I indulge you, sir.
It’s as if you have zero respect for the lynched, the butchered, the raped, those burned alive, those babies born with disabilities who were smothered in their cribs and those children drowned by their masters for being too weak to work, those who are still missing and whose earthly remains are hiding in the swamps of Georgia, Florida, Mississippi and the Carolinas, those blown to pieces and those drawn and quartered under this flag.
Also, I believe you truly have a lack of understanding as to the visceral hate that some who still fly this flag have for you and I. You may not want to get too deep, but now you’re obligated to do so. And I seriously doubt you’re up to the task. You’re approaching this whole thing as if it’s not a “big deal” when it absolutely is.
Long story short, I just can’t f**k with you anymore.
