In light of recent buzz within the realm of pop culture, something needs to be said.
Kanye West is awful.
To the readers who are completely outraged by such a statement – hear me out. I am not saying that West is not an artist, or that he is not talented. I am saying that Kanye, as a human being, is of low quality.
Lyndsie Kiebert
Rawr
A stain on the music industry. A disgrace to anyone who calls themselves an artist. A piece of trash – to be rash.
Despite my strong feelings, I am not disputing West”s undeniable success. Somehow, the man is an acclaimed recording artist and fashion designer. I may have jammed to “Stronger” in my junior high days, but his more recent albums – riddled with brute misogyny and outrageous material-driven fame – I have a hard time enjoying. Regardless of his popularity, I can”t bring myself to support West”s endeavors because I simply can”t take him seriously.
Take, for instance, his rambling embarrassment of a 2015 VMA acceptance speech. Or his consistent claims that people call him out on his blatant sexism in attempts to “censor him as an artist.” At no time in my life have I ever been so astounded at a celebrity”s shameless audacity – and I watched the Miley Cyrus/Robin Thicke performance on live television.
In recent news, the attention-hungry West announced via Twitter that he is $53 million in debt. Following West”s request for financial support from the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, a fan created a GoFundMe page to create a place where average people can contribute to the apparently struggling artist”s quest to “bring more beautiful ideas to the world.”
Gag me.
Another inspiration for writing this anti-Yeezy piece is the West/Taylor Swift feud, back in the public”s eye after recent developments.
West”s new album “The Life of Pablo” has made recent headlines not for its genius artistry, but for one line in the track “Famous”: “I think me and Taylor might still have sex / I made that b*tch famous.”
The rapper is referring to the 2009 VMA”s, when he hopped onstage and grabbed the microphone from Swift as she accepted an award for Best Music Video, and after a quick, “Taylor, I”mma let you finish,” proceeded to tell the audience and viewers that Beyonce”s video actually deserved the award. West sees the debacle he created as Swift”s first taste of fame – which is funny, since she was accepting a highly acclaimed award.
Still, in the seven years since, Swift and West have done their fair share of joking about the event. Water under the bridge, right? That is, until West released “Famous” – proving to the world that he is just as self-centered and misogynistic as we had guessed.
Despite his claims that he and Swift talked about the lyric before its release and that Swift thought it was funny, her publicist released a statement saying that West had asked Taylor to promote the track on her Twitter – to which the pop star responded with adamant disapproval.
Just in the last few weeks, the story has continued to develop. Swift threw shade West”s way in her Grammy acceptance speech for Album of the Year, saying, “There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame,” and that young girls everywhere should just keep their eyes on their goals and pay no attention to such pettiness.
You go, Taylor.
This is only a glimpse at the outrageous, fame-driven train wreck that is Kanye West”s career. From begging for charity to being a pig in his music and making an outright fool of himself at award shows, the man can”t seem to stop giving me reasons to address his idiocy.
Those who support West”s abhorrent actions and outlandish pursuits need to seriously consider taking their money and attention elsewhere.
Lyndsie Kiebert can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @lyndsie_kiebert