I was in line at my bank this morning and the tv screen behind the bank teller counter was showing random facts and news to read so that the 20 people in line don't get frustrated and bored out of there minds. A fact came up about Kanye West and how all of his albums collectively makes him one of the richest men in America today yada yada ya something along those lines but anyway, The 2 women ahead of me in the line also see the fact and one of the women says "that guy should be in jail for being a jackass. Did you see what he did to Taylor Swift on MTV?" which brings me to the reasoning of my post today...about a year too late.
First things first. It is a sad and depressing world in which the antics of an inebriated musician dominate news coverage and take priority over drastically more pressing issues facing our nation. Due to the nature of the incident I feel like this is the proper venue to be talking about it, but for major news stations to continue offer coverage for this story is frankly pathetic.
I was sitting on the couch at a friends house when our favorite unabashed practitioner of speaking one’s mind hopped onto the stage and proceeded to add yet another gaffe to his resume of public mishaps. Although I was probably one of the few in the world laughing at the immediate time of the interruption it took no time for the issue to be the talk of the entire nation. No really, the entire nation. CNN, NBC, ABC, Nas’s favorite news station FOX and broadcasting channels I’d never heard of before were handling this incident like it was the OJ trial all over again.
So besides highlighting the fact that the vast majority of people have no lives and even less things to speak intelligently about this whole issue brought one sad thing to light for me personally. The depressing and fickle state of media and the frightening racial realities that still exist today in America.
Take a look at the above. Back in 2005 the good folks over at the time honored publication known as Time magazine took it upon themselves to declare Kanye West “the smartest man in Pop music.” Find any media outlet still stating the above and I’ll literally grant you my life savings. (It’s mostly sneakers don’t start Googling just yet.)
Kanye is a jerk. Or in the words of the man who lives in the House of eternal Whiteness, a “jackass.” But here is my problem with the whole world going off at one time and deciding to brand Kanye an ass at this particular juncture.
We’ve known Kanye to be an asshole for a very, very, very long time.
There is nothing new about these revelations. This is the artist who calls himself the international asshole after all. Hell, this isn’t even the first time the man has jumped onto stage. But low and behold here comes the entire world who only years ago was declaring Kanye West a genius of the genre because he wore clothes that fit, rapped about leaving college, was the son of college professor and spoke on “socially conscious” topics rather than those of the street. The media was quick to embrace a rapper who diverged from the gangster imagery 50 Cent and others had made so popular at the time Kanye came to popularity.
Anything to make rap safe for the suburbs and mainstream consumption the major media outlets were ready to promote. Than, low and behold here comes Kanye in his Ralph Lauren Polo sweaters and Gap chinos. What more could they ask for right? Well I guess they didn’t do their research because Kanye never lied or changed who he was. An asshole right from the jump.
He has been doing things like this from day one. If you appreciate Kanye as an artist than you should expect things like this to occur. And if you stand behind him as a person that you should not only expect these things, but you should in fact support those same actions since they come from a man you support. I think what he did was idiotic and in extremely bad taste but I still support Kanye and his actions that night and all the bone-headed, thick-skulled mistakes he’ll make in the future.
First things first. It is a sad and depressing world in which the antics of an inebriated musician dominate news coverage and take priority over drastically more pressing issues facing our nation. Due to the nature of the incident I feel like this is the proper venue to be talking about it, but for major news stations to continue offer coverage for this story is frankly pathetic.
I was sitting on the couch at a friends house when our favorite unabashed practitioner of speaking one’s mind hopped onto the stage and proceeded to add yet another gaffe to his resume of public mishaps. Although I was probably one of the few in the world laughing at the immediate time of the interruption it took no time for the issue to be the talk of the entire nation. No really, the entire nation. CNN, NBC, ABC, Nas’s favorite news station FOX and broadcasting channels I’d never heard of before were handling this incident like it was the OJ trial all over again.
So besides highlighting the fact that the vast majority of people have no lives and even less things to speak intelligently about this whole issue brought one sad thing to light for me personally. The depressing and fickle state of media and the frightening racial realities that still exist today in America.
Take a look at the above. Back in 2005 the good folks over at the time honored publication known as Time magazine took it upon themselves to declare Kanye West “the smartest man in Pop music.” Find any media outlet still stating the above and I’ll literally grant you my life savings. (It’s mostly sneakers don’t start Googling just yet.)
Kanye is a jerk. Or in the words of the man who lives in the House of eternal Whiteness, a “jackass.” But here is my problem with the whole world going off at one time and deciding to brand Kanye an ass at this particular juncture.
We’ve known Kanye to be an asshole for a very, very, very long time.
There is nothing new about these revelations. This is the artist who calls himself the international asshole after all. Hell, this isn’t even the first time the man has jumped onto stage. But low and behold here comes the entire world who only years ago was declaring Kanye West a genius of the genre because he wore clothes that fit, rapped about leaving college, was the son of college professor and spoke on “socially conscious” topics rather than those of the street. The media was quick to embrace a rapper who diverged from the gangster imagery 50 Cent and others had made so popular at the time Kanye came to popularity.
Anything to make rap safe for the suburbs and mainstream consumption the major media outlets were ready to promote. Than, low and behold here comes Kanye in his Ralph Lauren Polo sweaters and Gap chinos. What more could they ask for right? Well I guess they didn’t do their research because Kanye never lied or changed who he was. An asshole right from the jump.
He has been doing things like this from day one. If you appreciate Kanye as an artist than you should expect things like this to occur. And if you stand behind him as a person that you should not only expect these things, but you should in fact support those same actions since they come from a man you support. I think what he did was idiotic and in extremely bad taste but I still support Kanye and his actions that night and all the bone-headed, thick-skulled mistakes he’ll make in the future.
For those who just scrolled to the end, here is the synopsis. Kanye is an asshole, but you should expect these things from him, he has made no efforts to hide his feelings in the past why would he start now? The media is fickle and looking only to serve it’s agenda and in realizing that Kanye is not the squeak clean, sweater clad, suburban rap icon they would like him to be are now enjoying a period of crucifying him for something that should have gotten 120 seconds of coverage and nothing more.