This is the guy who took the silly Auto-Tune trend and used it thematically, to convey isolation, on 808s & Heartbreaks - even if it was to mixed results. This guy has his own inconsistencies, but they’re far more engaging and fruitful to discuss. What’s more, all that nonsense obscures us from a much more interesting side to Kanye, and that’s West the Rabid Music Fan Turned Artist. Easier to ride the West-as-bad-guy train until we tire of it and the wheels fall off. This megalomaniac image of West, though, is one we feed to ourselves, since the motivation and remorse behind these actions are murkier waters to wade into.

It probably has less to do with racial coding - which some might claim - and more to do with our fascination with this sort of eccentricity. 17, 2010).īullying the President? Really? We’re treating West like he’s the first self-important, ego-inflated celebrity, and our inability to accept his remorse, when he finds it, is perplexing. Hell, The New Republic‘s John McWorter recently claimed West was bullying the leader of the free world with his post-Katrina comments (reprinted at, Nov. Bush calling West’s claim the most disgusting moment in his presidency, but few talk about the wild absurdity and lack of self-awareness inherent in that claim, or about Bush’s own petulant tone when he said it. He made millions of Today Show viewers squirm with his awkward and, yes, petulant reaction to Matt Lauer’s baiting.īut is it possible we’re too hard on Kanye West? That this is just a story we’ve convinced ourselves of, that we’re unwilling to change? With the exception of the VMA fiasco - which there’s really no defending, and Kanye knows it - little is said about Lauer’s amateurish prodding, not to mention the clear image of West’s silent contrition that then turned snippy when Lauer pressed for a sound bite to go along with it. He’s the guy that said the President didn’t care about black people. We know the Kanye West story: He’s the bad guy, the loud-mouth on an ego trip.

Kanye west dark fantasy reaction