Kanye West Got Called Names Before Me
And a lot of us owe him for that
Kanye West sonned me (and literally any black kid that wants to break out of the archetype created by 90’s Hip-Hop). Kanye West is fighting a fight that people don’t want to make any attempt to understand. Kanye West is an artist-merchant in the truest form and so many of us want to be like him without knowing it. So many of you young entrepreneurs on Medium want to be Kanye West.
You want to be creators, honest, influential and you hope that one day all of your risks and hard work will be reciprocated. You want to be a household name.
When I see rap beef I instinctively side with who I think is right, not my favourite artist, but who I think is right. Kanye West paved the road for Kid Cudi. Without Kanye, there would be no Kid Cudi, Drake wouldn’t be as famous and a plethora of other artists would still live in their mothers’ basements. So, when the person you put on wants to take to Twitter to disrespect you, I understand being upset.
Kanye is still getting called names, Kanye is still investing in himself, Kanye is still taking chances (see signing Tyga to GOOD Music). So for all that work, please put some respect on his name.
Kanye West is carrying on a tradition of pushing the envelope, of not caring about his legacy, of inspiring the 5% not the masses. Before you call me a pretentious Kanye Stan, please Google Salvador Dali, please remember Pablo Picasso. Please read a book.
I will say this time and time again, Kanye West is not the best artist alive nor the best business man, but he will leave a legacy and catalogue worth studying. I wholeheartedly believe Kanye has single handedly influenced music, fashion and art. On September 11th 2007 solidified his presence as a cultural icon.
Thanks for reading this far, if you have any comments or concerns please respond. If you enjoyed this post please press the green ❤ below and follow :).
-Kyle
