"I Support Kanye West" The Opening of a Much Needed Conversation.
I support Kanye West. Yes, I said it. Now, before I begin down this path of self-ostracizing, I’d like to venture that everyone approach this without preconceived biases or whatever your current stance on Mr. West is. Instead, let’s view this without the noise of media frenzy and give it an open mind. If only for the fact that, despite everything, Ultralight Beam is still a certified banger.
Kanye West is a Black American artist raised in Chicago, Illinois. Home to one of the highest murder rates in the country, most of them sharing the same hue as Kanye himself. I was born in Detroit; a city close to Chi-town in both proximity and homicide statistics. Like many young Black kids growing up in the early 2000’s, especially those who fit comfortably in the ‘outcast’ category, Kanye’s music spoke to us through the authenticity of his struggle.
Kanye wasn’t a drug dealer, he wasn’t a gangster, he wasn’t even the shock value and parody epitomized so well through an artist such as Eminem. Kanye West was a creative, college dropout who worked incredibly hard, was able to meet his idol, and find impossible success under the tutelage. Who hasn’t dreamed of dropping out of the grind, chasing their dreams, and somehow finding themselves crafting in the studio with Jay-Z? However, Kanye’s tale of rags-to-riches, nor his fancy pink polos, aren’t what ingratiated him in the culture. It isn’t what made him mean so much to so many brown-skinned people.
For us it was his message. His unfiltered pursuit of saying the truth of the black plight in America. “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.” In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a tragic disaster that left many Black Americans uttering those same familiar feelings of perceiving our lives as less valuable, one man said what no-one else seemed able or willing. Did George Bush particularly not care about his citizens of color? Does it matter? People were hungry, displaced, sad and dying. Kanye spoke his truth, and it resonated with the Black community, because it seemed to be our truth as well.
“…That’s what he does, he’s like the lightning rod for culture. No, he’s actually like the cowboy. He runs over the hill, the Indians hit him with the arrows, and he comes … and then we go over there and conquer.” Jay-Z, in regards to Kanye, way back in an interview with The Breakfast Club in 2013. After Taylor Swift, After Kim Kardashian, after Yeezus. After every instance of Ye becoming famed for being the person who expresses his truth, and takes the brunt of the pain, in order to push culture forward. Results may vary, but many tolerated, if not loved, him for this very reason. What’s different now?
If you’re a standard left-leaning liberal, and in casual conversation a person mentions they’re a Donald Trump supporter what is your reaction? Is it a discourse of opposing ideas, conflicting in stance, but otherwise civil in communication? Odds are likely it’s a lot more vitriolic. As to be expected in the current political climate we’ve found ourselves in ever since the results of 2016’s presidential election.
How wistful now do the days of Bush and Gore seem in hindsight. A time when democrats and republicans could disagree in conversation, yet still share understanding as human beings trying to uphold the values of what they believe is right. This isn’t an apologist piece for Trump, nor Kanye for that matter. Nor can the blatantly racist viewpoints espoused by many modern conservatives be ignored or loved away. But, herein lies the true issue with Kanye West. He’s an honest, expressive and unique individual. Yet, at times, ironic considering his masterful songwriting, he’s objectively tactless when communicating his inner philosophy.
What exactly is this inner philosophy? Well, among the twitter tirades, live national interviews, and viewpoint of every celebrity slightly associated, it can get a bit muddled. Essentially, Kanye’s point boils down to, “Love everyone”. And love means a lot. Yet, it doesn’t have to mean hug someone who hates you for the color of your skin, or smile at men bearing Nazi symbols. All it has to mean is empathy. Opening your heart to accepting the fact that not every supporter of Trump is a racist, or at the very least minimizing the initial reactive fury and being able to have conversation again.
In early 2018, Jay-Z dropped another jewel during an interview with CNN’s Van Jones. In reference to the immediate penalizing of Donald Sterling, Jay said, “What you’ve done is spray perfume on a trash can…. You create a super bug, because you don’t take care of the problem.” Racists hide in closets, much as many mongers of hatred. Like insects of the night, when one is sprayed with repellant, they scatter back into that closet. It’s a sad fact of life that, in order to bring light to the shadows, you have to venture inside of those very shadows.
The racial strife in this country, with the long history that it has behind it, is steadily growing to a fever pitch. Beyond that, we’ve now entered a climate where public debate has morphed into infuriated hatred. You’re either on the right team, or you’re the enemy. If every liberal immediately writes off any Trump supporter, and every conservative follows suit for those against them, where do we end but at war with each other? How can a conversation begin to heal a broken country, when no one will stop yelling about why their beliefs are right long enough to hear another person speak?
So, why does any of this offer reasoning to potentially continue supporting Kanye West after such controversial comments? He’s attempting to fix the problem. He’s being the lightning rod. The cowboy that runs over the hill to make conversation possible with the other side. Kanye, as he always does, has taken on the position no-one else would. He’s become the lynchpin connecting the Black community, which feels rightfully disrespected by Trump’s presidency, to the many struggling fellow citizens who felt left behind by their country and found hope in an outcast who spoke his unfiltered opinions.
Wrong as one may feel those opinions to be, you can’t fix an underlying problem with disassociation. I don’t think I’ll ever find the personal strength in myself to say, “Donald Trump is my boy.” Yet, I can find it in myself to say I love him as a human. I love all his supporters as humans. In all their myriad of flaws and misguidedness, same as I hope any human would extend to me. I can view Kanye’s thoughts not through the lens of how media chooses to portray him with select, out of context sound bites and quotes. I can truly listen to the meaning of his sometimes disarrayed wording. I can get where Yeezy’s coming from.
Kanye gained his moral foundation in Chicago, myself in Detroit. That’s an easy conversation. A left-leaning, bleeding heart liberal such as myself speaking to a Hillary supporter? That’s an easy conversation. Holding those same values and trying to discuss our country’s future path with a staunch conservative born in West Virginia? A harder dialogue. It requires open communication, empathy, and love. “Love is the strongest force in the universe.” Yeezus is still a genius. May he take the pain, so perhaps our society can learn to love a little better.
Guest Writer: Kevin Midas
The Legend, Kevin Midas is a Highland Park native who loves raps, reads & redheads. Musician, writer, and CEO/Co-founder of Mythoi; Media he lives by the creat- principle. Because creativity is never finished. Kevin can be found lost in the fantasy world of albums and novels, or ReWriting Dawn after intense meditation in Tha Void Room. His main purpose in life is to become and emanate modern mythology. One word at a time; inshalla. The Legend Continues. ☼
