Well, hopefully the title here has drawn you towards reading this story. I confess, as I sit here writing while listening to The Life of Pablo (T.L.O.P.) for the 30th time in 10 days, I may have deceived you with the title. Indeed, this is a lesson in apologetics or the practice of defending a position or act.
I write this article with the goal of defending the most defining artist of our generation, or all-time, depending on which Kanye you ask.
How did we end up here you may be asking. Well last week my now estranged fraternity brother Cameron MacDonald decided to put Kanye on blast in the entertainment section of this highly esteemed publication.
Upon reading this, I immediately declared war and set myself on this dangerous journey to prove the worth of Kanye in our society.
These columns will keep flowing until one of us gets sick of writing or the editorial staff at The Gustavian Weekly stop accepting them. So here we go, sit back, grab a bowl of popcorn, and watch Cameron’s reputation as an entertainment editor crumble.
Last week Cameron chose to “cherry pick” a couple of tweets from Kanye West’s official Twitter account. I’ve actually been following Kanye on Twitter for the better part of a year and until the release of T.L.O.P. Kanye rarely tweeted, ever. Until December he had around 15 tweets on his account.
The three tweets that were chosen for this feature titled “Oh, Kanye!” were as follows:
“I’m not crazy I’m free”
“No slave mindset no more. I’m free. I’m free.”
“I’m happy and free and proud and confident. I’m not crazy. I’m free.”
Personally, I am quite happy to hear this from Kanye. I recognize the importance of his assertion on his mental state and freeness. I analyze the following tweets as a direct response to Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, and tabloid articles that question the mental state of Kanye following some earlier unfortunate incidents.
What most people don’t realize is that Kanye has had one hell of a month. He released an album, performed at Madison Square Garden, appeared on SNL, and worked on the stress of being a father to a new son. Not to mention dealing with the whole Kardashian clan.
The man doesn’t sleep and this was quite apparent when he laid down on the floor during his SNL performance. I’m not a doctor, but I would prescribe solitude and a bed for the next month for Kanye’s own health.
However, the hard-working nature of the “self-made” artist and entrepreneur is not what people jumped on when everything was said and done. Instead, people latched onto his tweets and speculation about whether or not he’s on Xanax and other prescription or nonprescription medication.
This is how the contemporary social media wheel whirls. One tweet from Kanye will generate 150 published stories all based on pure speculation.
This leads us back to the tweets in question. What would you do if you exhausted and dealing with the rumors swirling about your mental state? More specifically, what would you do if you were Kanye and knew that you could turn it to your favor?
Kanye knows how to work the media and shamelessly promote himself. He changed the name of his album 4 times, increasing the hype and excitement about its release. He learned from the best when he married a Kardashian. Trust me, they know how to work the media even better than Trump.
I encourage those who are quick to put Kanye on blast to follow his advice and “shut up and enjoy the greatness.”
While it is true that fame comes at the expense of privacy, we should all hold back judgment a little longer.
Kanye has made mistakes, given an apology, and then gone on with his life. I think that we could all learn a lesson from him about how we choose to live our own lives.