Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Yeah, "Kanye West Let Us Down," Myself Included.

Kanye West way back in the, "College Dropout," days.
I read an article on Vulture so perfect for me it even ends with a quote from OutKast. It discusses how maybe we should have seen Kanye's sudden swerve into Trump-boosting and conservatism coming. Perhaps this isn't a time to joke he's, "Gone crazy," or dealing with drug issues, because making excuses just puts a band-aid on the bullet wound of truth, that Kanye West let us all down.

The "Us," in this situation is anyone who believed in Kanye despite his flaws. He was narcissistic, he was egotistical, he was impulsive, but goddamn he was (and probably still is despite all this) a genius. He created masterpieces of music even on his off-days. He spoke his mind, making it clear he felt so many marginalized people had been given a bum deal. The first song on his debut album, "The College Dropout," is titled "We don't care," and is all about how people expect minorities to struggle and fail, but he's going to speak-out against that. He talked about how rap music should quit all the homophobic-talk before it was more commonplace for rappers to realize it was wrong. He cared a little bit too much about himself, but he also clearly cared about others.
When Kanye said what we were all thinking.
He was political and said on national television what so many people were thinking during Hurricane Katrina, that George Bush did not in fact care about black people affected by the hurricane, or in general. Kanye spoke truth to power, whether he had some of that power or not. Then he suddenly did a swerve into stating a love for his, "Brother," Donald Trump and declared that in some way or fashion, "Slavery was a choice." Kanye was the scorn of so many people who are now suddenly quick to grab ahold of him as a token trophy. I remember the past years reading online people saying the most terrible things about him when he spoke out against Bush, or admittedly acted foolish and interrupted Taylor Swift getting an award (something she has never let go, though).

I am witnessing the same people who called him, "A dumb nigger," an, "Uppity nigger," and a, "Loudmouthed. nigger," (the N-word was almost always used) now acting like he's their best friend because he said nice things about our poor excuse for a President. These people who were so quick to drop the N-word about Kanye or black people in general now love him because he's inexplicably a big fan of Trump and conservatism. As the article by Vulture notes, how can the same man who rapped about the Government possibly purposely keeping black people poor and addicted to drugs in, 'Crack Music," now be Trump's BFF?
He really said this.
I still love Kanye's old music, and the message it imparted. I feel the same thrill and wonderment at the lyrics and production on my favorite tracks of his today. I listened to his music so much during times in my life from the end of high school to now when I'm a father that his music has been there more than a quarter of my life. His music meant so much to me, with only OutKast being beloved by me any bit more (at least until the more-recent arrival of the amazing Kendrick Lamar on the scene). We--no, let's be personal here--I, yes, I supported Kanye when he was up and when he was down, and he repays all the people who cared about him and supported him by doing whatever this thing is he's doing now. I don't know what happened to Kanye in the past month that resulted in this 180-degree turn in his entire thoughts and beliefs. I just know that Kanye West didn't just let, "Us," down. He let me down.

It may sound silly for me to be writing this, some person Kanye has never met or cared about acting like he would even care how I feel. When someone is with you so much of your life and means a lot to you however, it stings when the person you believed in utterly betrays everything you thought he held dear. I know Kanye West doesn't care how about my thoughts, just as all the people who once hated him and now supposedly love could care less about my opinion too. I just am aware how I and many others feel, and wanted to say it.
Depressing.
We were there for you when you needed us most, Kanye, your fans and supporters. We backed you up when you fought against powerful forces who we all knew were wrong, but few were willing to stand up to. We offered condolences when your mother died. We worried about you when you needed hospitalization. We always stood by your side. Then you suddenly got, "Red-pilled," and quit believing everything you stood for in favor of stating horribly incorrect alt-right ideas and sharing your love for a conman who will cast you aside once you're no longer useful as he has done to anyone else associated with his Presidency. I'll say it again, you let us down and you let me down. Out of all the times you did something questionable and came back from it, I don't know if you can do that this time, or if you'll even want to. I hope you enjoy your new, "Supporters," and new faux-friend, we'll see how long it lasts.

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