Written by Youeal Abera, Peak Associate
As a hip-hop fan, it is impossible to refute Kanye West’s impressive impact on the genre. His iconic discography, his ability to introduce and launch the careers of other rap superstars (eg. Big Sean) through his record label G.O.O.D Music, and his indisputable capacity to produce some of the most artistic, profound music videos hip-hop has ever seen are all manifestations of the musical genius that is Kanye West.
Nevertheless, no matter how talented the man is, Kanye West’s political ideologies are atrocious. We need to call this spade a spade. To begin to pinpoint the deleterious things Kanye has said in the past two months is like trying to name each grain of sand on a beach: it’s a really frustrating task, and it would take a tremendous amount of time.
Some of Kanye’s more atrocious tweets would be when he tweeted “I Love the Way Candace Owens Thinks.” Owens, for those who don’t know, is a Conservative pundit whose rhetoric claims that black people are “whiny toddlers” who complain too much about racism, and that they should “get over” racist and prejudiced actions, verbalizations, and systems. Preceding this tweet, Kanye used the social media platform to state that “there was a time when slavery was the trend and apparently that time is still upon us. But now it’s a mentality”. Kanye elaborated upon the ignorant declamation of Ms. Owens in order to belittle the ongoing plight Afrocentric people face, stating that there really isn’t any “racism”, and that black people are just oppressing themselves by claiming that there is.
However, the most outrageous statement Kanye has made in recent weeks was not expressed via Twitter, but rather on an impromptu interview at the gossip mega-giant TMZ. In the midst of the interview, Kanye unabashedly stated, “When you hear about slavery for 400 years . . . For 400 years? That sounds like a choice. You were there for 400 years and it’s all of y’all. It’s like we’re mentally imprisoned.”
Yes, you read that correctly. Kanye West said that, by choice, black people endured slavery.
Now some may think that those undergoing this deep vexation resulting from Mr. West’s recent antics are overreacting, and that we should simply ignore the corrupt ideologies he chooses to believe and profess. However, the frustration manifested from Kanye’s words are much deeper than some people can comprehend.
I’ve been a Kanye fan since I was 12 years old. Albums such as Late Registration, College Dropout, and Graduation were not only hit albums, but they were also soundtracks to my, and many other young black childhoods. We loved Kanye! We cheered him on when he boldly stated (after Bush neglected the predominantly Afrocentric New Orleans community shortly after Hurricane Katrina) “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” We loved him for his authenticity, his immeasurable creativity, and his ability to say the things that many would be too afraid to even admit.
For many young black boys Kanye was, once upon a time, a role model: one who wasn’t afraid to embrace individualistic fashion, or to express hurt and pain in a genre where men don’t typically articulate emotional turmoil.
So imagine being a young, educated, black fan of Kanye who grew up admiring a creative figure — one who expressed love for his culture and community, and whose father was a black Panther — then logging onto Twitter one day and seeing him write that he agrees with ignorant political pundits and hearing him say that slavery was a “choice.” Imagine seeing Kanye on Twitter wear a “Make America Great Again” hat, or informing the world that Donald Trump — the outrageously bigoted and erroneously guided president of the US — is “his brother”. Imagine how these images and these statements make the young, black fans of Kanye feel, especially during a time when black men are arrested for sitting in Starbucks and white officers beat up black women at Waffle Houses.
For many, the pain of realizing Santa Claus isn’t real is felt just once in their lives. However, when someone like Kanye West, a person who was once a positive figure for us, constantly says ignorant and insensitive things, this same painful realization is experienced time and time again for his young black fans.
Yes, I have always been a fan of Kanye’s music. Yes, I can admit he’s made some incredible albums. However, it would be incredibly irresponsible of us if we were to ignore his dangerous rhetoric simply because he’s made some good music. We cannot disregard or overlook Kanye West’s problematic behaviour.
