William C. Walker Jr.
June 5, 2018
So last week Kanye West dropped his latest the 7 track album titled Ye. I've seen the responses from some that have reviewed the album. Claims of it's back to the soulful Ye the more mature Ye the combination of Graduation and Yeezus Ye. Now very quick disclaimer I haven't listened to it, don't plan on listening to it. That's not what this post is about at this point I couldn't care less about the quality of this album. The reason is because I'm never going to forget the events that transpired leading up to this album. That being when Kanye West proclaimed his love for Donald Trump which was promptly followed up by his insane take that "slavery was a choice" . Yeah he actually said that! That's where it was over for me, and while others maybe able to dismiss his statements and actions as further evidence of his descent into madness after the passing of his mother he doesn't get that pass from me.
I mean the majority of black people were quick to turn on artist like Chrisette Michelle and Mary Mary's Tina Campbell for performing during Trump's low attended inauguration. They're still feeling the consequence of their choices, so how is this dude supposed to get a pass? If he was a woman would he get that pass? As poor as this country is in it's race relations it's almost equally as poor in it's treatment of women. Kanye had tried to justify his actions by stating he wanted to take the "Make America Great Again" message and add empathy to it. Feeling like why can't you try to get along with a man in power to try and come together as opposed to constantly warring with someone. That'd be valid if you weren't dealing with a man that IS SO BLATANTLY RACIST. It's almost comical that the same guy that went out of his way to state George Bush doesn't care about black people, would feel such a kinship with someone that can't even denounce the KKK as being racist.
My issue with Kanye is that he always was a self proclaimed his genius. In the musical area I could almost give him that. But he also reminds me of the self proclaimed WOKE brother that swears he knows more about an issue than you, when in reality he's talking out his butt, with zero knowledge of the actual issue. I could even understand to some extent the point he was trying to make where people have to make their own decisions. Don't be caught up in the mob mentality be your own person. Those are commendable ideals, I think in this social media age and this desire for likes and clicks it's easy to lose self. I recently saw and interview by Charlamagne tha God where he stated how he feels like people use social media like a temperature gauge to see how they should feel about a subject rather than having independent thought. Charlamagne made a good point on individualism, Kanye dismissed over 400 years of abuse and torture as a choice. That's an idea that's beyond insane, as the TMZ staffer pointed out at the moment of the comment it's irresponsible for someone in Kanye's position. I can't deny that I enjoyed Kanye's work Late Registration, Graduation, and My Dark and Twisted Fantasy were instant classics. But I can't let that make me forget what this dude said, and neither should you. Do yourself a favor and cop Black Thought's album instead, that's a truly conscious brother who's talent matches his ideals. Ye could continue to make good music and hope that his talent would overshadow his insanity and maybe people would forget. Sorry Ye most of us will remember those are statement and actions that we can't and shouldn't forget.
