American rapper Kanye West has been the center of much controversy throughout the last decade. West's recognition as an artist is perhaps eclipsed by his status as an outspoken celebrity. Beginning with an infamous incident during a telethon for hurricane Katrina relief in 2005 (video below), West declared in an unscripted moment on live television that: "George Bush doesn't care about black people." The moment among others, (the Taylor Swift VMA stunt) has made Kanye West a subject of scrutiny and denouncement from critics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIUzLpO1kxI (Katrina Telethon Video)
When examining Kanye West's public persona, one can draw comparisons to the thought American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. In Emerson's most significant essay "Self-Reliance," he discusses the importance of the individual and non-conformity. Emerson's emphasis on being true to oneself and following ones instincts are values that Kanye West appears to exemplify. Both the Katrina telethon and Taylor Swift VMA controversies can be interpreted as Kanye West's demonstration of Emersonian thought; choosing to do something he deems necessary despite the public reaction and backlash.
Emersonian thought also can be interpreted to reflect itself in the music of Kanye West. West's first album The College Dropout (2004) dealt with the subjects such as post-secondary education and consumerism while popular rap music at the time was primarily "gangster" rap that depicted drugs, sex and violence. After a number of successful sub-sequent albums, Kanye West released 808's and Heartbreaks, an album that dealt with the death of his mother. 808's and Heartbreaks was a radical departure from his previous work, having Kanye sing in auto-tune (a production technique used to correct a singers pitch) for most of the album with little rapping. The backlash from fans was significant, yet in interviews West insists that the album had to be made for his own personal reasons.
Most recently however, Kanye West released Yeezus,/i] an album that has generated the most controversy. In addition to a grating and industrial sound, [i]Yeezus featured songs with titles such as "I am a God" and "Black Skinhead," inciting controversy among fans. The title of the album itself even suggests that Kanye West is comparing himself to Jesus Christ.
Yeezus, the rest of his musical work, as well as his public persona can all be interpreted as a modern-day reflection of Emersonian thought. Despite his problematic public persona, West is a larger than life example of individualism and non-conformity.
“Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and YEEZUS, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance
see what i did there?^ 😉
|