by cheryl s.
Kanye West wants (some of) his fans to go away. In his most recent interview with Vibe Magazine, he said:
“I want the freedom of having less fans. It’s like the freedom of having less money. If you have less money, you have less responsibility … It’s like Björk. If she wanted to pose naked, you’d be like, ‘Oh, that’s Björk.’ But if I wanted to [do so], people would draw all type of things into it.”
Right.
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That makes as much sense as my mother after a glass of wine. But before I go on, I’d like to clarify a couple of things:
First of all, and contrary to his belief, less money equates less freedom – not more. I should know; I’m broke. There is nothing “free” about being forced to work 40+ hours a week, every week, for 40-50 years. There is nothing “free” about having to scrounge money together in order to pay the bills. There is nothing “free” about having only three weeks’ vacation per year, and there is nothing “free” about mounting debts and mortgages. If I want to keep taking care of my responsibilities, I’m going to have to work until I’m 65. Kanye, on the other hand, can stop working whenever he wants and live quite comfortably. If he’d like to get rid of some of his money, he can give it to me.
Secondly, if Kanye wants to talk about someone who possesses “less” fame and money than him, he shouldn’t be citing Björk. To date, Björk has sold 15 million records worldwide. Kanye, on the other hand, still has some catching up to do – having only sold 11 million records as a solo artist.
Don’t get me wrong – I’ve been a fan of Kanye for years. I’ve ignored the way he disrespects his peers, the way he throws temper tantrums, and his ridiculous delusions of grandeur.
(Some) of his lyrics are poignant. His music is almost always catchy. But is he as groundbreaking as he believes he is?
I don’t know. Kanye’s brand of “socially conscious” rap is nothing new and it was perfected years before he burst onto the scene by legitimate artists like A Tribe Called Quest, Dream Warriors, Tupac, De-La-Soul, and Common.
If you were to take Kanye out of the studio, peel away the fancy packaging and remove the marketing machine that catapulted him to fame, would he still be great? Again, I don’t know.
If Mr. West wishes to delve into mediocrity by giving up the fame, fortune and fans that most can only dream about, I won’t stand in his way. Kanye, I will no longer listen to your music or support anything with your name attached to it. I know it’s a small thing, but I’m doing my part. You’re now one step closer to showing the world your penis.
You’re welcome.
13 Comments
This is awesome. Couldn’t have said it better…
Mr West is a whiny bitch. 808s and Heartbreaks is one of the worst albums i’ve ever heard. Well done.
Yeah, he’s slowly been going downhillsince College Dropout …
C
This is what great articles are made of.
The poor Bonnaroo performance might have been the catalyst…
Rock!
yeah when i was home for xmas my friend tried to get me to dig kanye’s synth album while we blazed. That experience must be what hell is like. You can blaze but the only record that plays is kanye singing horribly on synth – he’s going to die of an ego explosion in his head
Oh no!
That would give me the worst trip ever …
yeah, like an ego trip… which is what the fuck Kanye must be on
What the fuck are you people on ?
Kanye is just going through a rough time .
& 808’s and heartbreak was one of the best albums ever.
I think he is just tired of everybody being on his back.
but opinions are opinions and that is what they always will be.
Well…admittedly, Kanye seems to be fried. His perception of reality is totally skewed, and he has been on that ego trip for a while now.
Most of it is that self imposed gigantic chip on his shoulder. But that isn’t the point.
I ONLY TRIED TURNING ALEX ON T0 THE NEW ALBUM BECAUSE HE GAVE UP ON KANYE ALONG TIME AGO; and he refused to even try and listen to it! I can only hope i didn’t kill his buzz.
Anyway, I agree that some of the tracks do stink, but I stand by my opinion that there are some solid ones. I like it for the most part, despite the ridiculously ignorant quote above.
At least it provided two friends with an amusing topic for discussion.
Great post. Kanye is full of himself for sure and brags about being the best in the game, but in a way, he sort of can get away with it. IMO his three albums to date are fantastic. Nearly every song on each LP could have been a hit if released. I’m not saying it’s OK/cool for him to be so full of himself (it’s not), but at least it’s not 50 Cent claiming the same things.
“If you were to take Kanye out of the studio, peel away the fancy packaging and remove the marketing machine that catapulted him to fame, would he still be great? Again, I don’t know.” ??
Who would be anything if you took away the hard work of the many, many people that help ’stars’ to get were they are? The man has put many, many hours into what he has achieved. I wont knock hard work. Hard work is what it’s about.
Kind regards
http://www.quietcolor.com/media/mp3/2009_1/BrandNew.mp3