I miss the old Kanye. I miss the socially conscious College Dropout Kanye. I miss the 808s and heartbreak Kanye that pushed the boundaries of hip hop and pioneered an emotional, confessional, sensitive subsection of rap that rappers such as Drake, Cudi and The Weeknd follow to a T. I miss the shutter shades and Louis Vuitton Kanye. I miss the Kanye that was known for repopularizing soul sampling in rap. The one using cheery, funky samples from Bill Withers, Nina Simone, and Ray Charles to make his own soul-infused hip hop. I would not go as far as saying I hate the new Kanye, but most definitely the “bad mood, always rude, spaz in the news Kanye.” From wearing a Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat, to stating that “slavery was a choice” and that the 13th amendment should be abolished – the days of Kanye confronting white privilege and vocalizing his support for oppressed communities in America are most likely over.
Kanye and Trump have had a long relationship of supporting one another. Kanye featured Trump in his “Famous” music video in 2016 and met with Trump that same year in Trump Tower. But he didn’t muster enough confidence until April 2018 to post a picture of himself on Twitter wearing a MAGA hat. Since building enough confidence to wear this hat, Kanye has expressed his support for Trump on Jimmy Kimmel Live over this past summer, on the 44th season premiere episode of Saturday Night Live that aired only a few weeks ago, and even met with President Trump at the White House on Oct. 11. During his White House visit, Kanye advocated for jobs to be kept in the United States, discussed problems in his hometown of Chicago, and most notably described how wearing his MAGA hat makes him feel like a superman. Although Kanye states how he “loves Hillary,” he goes on to say that the “I am with Her” campaign didn’t make him feel “like a guy who could play catch with his son,” whereas Trump has always been one of his idols, because he is a big American industry guy.
Even though Trump has made many controversial statements towards many marginalized groups of people such as women, immigrants, and people with disabilities, it is his long history of racial discrimination that makes many wonder how Kanye can so eagerly support him. Trump made comments after the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, about how “there are fine people on both sides” referring to alt-right, neo-nazis and the counter protestors. He also blamed “both sides” for the violence that took place. Additionally, Trump has made racist, degrading comments toward Lebron James, Colin Kaepernick, former President Obama, and many more. For someone who claimed at the time that “Bush doesn’t care about black people,” it seems almost unthinkable for Kanye to support Trump amidst all his racist remarks.
Therese Etoka ‘22 used to be an avid Kanye listener until he started going off the deep end with some of his views and political ideologies. Etoka claims “I think that as a person who identifies as a black male, it is so ignorant for Kanye to ignore the struggles that black people have to face in our world today.” She goes on to say that “slavery was in fact not a choice, and its completely rude to disregard the hardships that black people have had to face in America.” Etoka has chosen to not listen to Kanye’s music anymore because she doesn’t want to support someone who doesn’t respect the hardships of black people in America, nor does she want to feed into the cycle of Kanye gaining attention and media time through saying outrageous things.
Lilly Avril ‘22 feels similarly to Etoka. Even though she was a big Kanye supporter for a very long time, and took pride in the fact that they are both from Chicago, she too has recently become too uncomfortable to listen to his music and support what he stands for. Avril states “I personally can’t separate the art from an artist, and I don’t like supporting someone who is so ignorant to so many issues, and privileged enough to get away with it.”
Although Kanye’s political views seem to dissuade some people from listening to his music, others feel comfortable separating supporting his art from s upporting him as a person.
Violet Better ‘21 isn’t very well versed on Kanye songs. She does, however, believe that “depending on your values, sometimes you can give in and listen to a song as a guilty pleasure even if you don’t support what an artist stands for.” She continues stating “if you are someone who really stands by your values and opinions then I understand why you may not want to support the art of a controversial artist, however it is also okay to not like an artist, but their art.”
Kanye is complex. He is a man who wears a MAGA hat alongside a sweater with the words “Colin Kaepernick.” He claimed that “Bush doesn’t care about black people,” but enthusiastically supports Trump–a Presidential candidate who ran on stirring racial divisions. In addition to being hospitalized for a mental breakdown, but considering this breakdown as a “breakthrough,” it may be hard for some to get a grasp on what he actually believes and what is a media stunt. Some people believe that Kanye’s behavior is more calculated and strategic than most of the general public thinks as Kanye tends to find a way to get his name in the news before releasing a project. With SoundCloud rappers and other newcomers taking the rap game by storm, Kanye needs to stay relevant in the rap game and use his ego and controversy surrounding his name to his benefit.
Professor Nathalie Etoke believes that Kanye doesn’t have the credentials or knowledge to be engaging in the conversations that he does and stated in an interview with the Voice that, “Kanye is not a scholar, activist or philosopher. He is living in a reality TV type of world, where he is not only a public figure but uses his platform to become a public speaker.” Additionally, “why do we have to look at these issues through the distorted lens of Kanye West, he can have his opinion but you have to take it with a grain of salt. Politics can easily become a spectacle when there is a lack of substance, and that’s what is going on in Kanye’s case.”
To say the least, I and many others miss the old Kanye. •
