You remember the kid from Chicago that Dame and Jay found to produce for the rest of the Roc? The one back in the studio right after a car accident with his jaw half wired shut? The one striving to be successful rapping because everyone said he could only ever make it as a producer? Yeah, that's the Kanye West we fell in love with. If you haven't noticed, that kid is hard to recognize in the borderline 2013 version by the same name. He's a deliberate attention whore - in a relationship with a beautiful but talent-less attention whore famous for her sex life - who's wearing Confederate flags, calling himself a God, and vocally challenging everyone from fashion moguls to the Obamas. He seems constantly upset and at times seems to be losing his grip on reality. I never thought I'd say this: but I'm starting to understand him. Not saying I agree with him, or can even vouch for all of his bullshit, but I think I get it. He's acting out in a combination of anger and envy for those who possess the true power and freedom he wants; I read an interesting article referring to this as a Frantz Fanon complex (here's the article,
http://ourlegaci.com/2013/12/02/kanyes-frantz-fanon-complex/). Just the way producing was not enough for him when he wanted to rap, hip hop culture itself is not enough for Kanye now. His experimental creativity agency DONDA, named for his deceased mother, is an embodiment of his desire to be an all-around creative genius without bounds; we're talking music, fashion, art, cinema, marketing, technology, the works. He states that his calling is to leave a creative imprint on the world as significant as that of Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, or Michelangelo. He also thinks Kim Khardashian is the new Marilyn Monroe. That being said, he's on a crusade to increase his global profile to force the hand of those - especially in the fashion and footwear industries - who he believes seek to pigeonhole and marginalize his influence because they can't control him. He doesn't want to be Jay-Z or Russell Simmons running "urban" clothing labels, he wants to be the neo-Marc Jacobs or Ralph Lauren with the power to sell anywhere to anyone at any price as he feels. He's gotten his feet wet in the industry (designing shoes and clothes) just enough to encounter the glass ceiling stopping him from. His focus has switched to getting as much attention, money, and power as he can attain so that no one can ever deny him ANYTHING ever again. Hell, he doesn't care what anything thinks or listen to anyone (except Jay-Z sometimes) now, but he seeks the power that billionaires (or maybe secret societies) possess so that he can bring any idea of his to fruition without needing anyone. Even as rich and fearless as he is, he's already lost $13 million and can't afford to keep misfiring without backers. So to get there, he's frequently pushing whatever bounds exist to stay in the spotlight even when he's not making music; because his relevance is powerful. But that's where it can go off track. It goes as blasphemous as trying to make Confederate flags fashionable or bringing Jesus out on stage. Or something as fearless as wearing women's clothing or giving an album cover vile cover art of his darkest fantasy. Or as ego-maniacal and brash as taking to radio waves calling for fashion protests of those who denied him meetings to "stifle his influence" and claiming he and Kim should be getting all the fashion-related attention the Obamas get. I think he frequently misfires and goes way overboard. How the fuck you really gonna put Kim and Michelle Obama in the same sentence? Michelle is the first lady while the first time I saw Kim it's because she was just the pretty girl spit-shining Ray J's dick on a sextape. Oh word, people are supposed to get over their feeling towards the Confederate flag because you made a song called "New Slaves" and said it's ok? Really nigga? But rather than dismissing him as a lunatic, I'm trying to see the bigger picture of what he's trying to achieve. He's a dreamer with all the passion imaginable to chase it and I"ll always admire that. He just has to refine his technique. For the record, I hope he creates the imprint he seeks to, I'd love to see what come out of it.
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