Is Kanye West still a respectable musician?
The downfall of Kanye West has been slow and painful to watch. The formerly respected musician has been relatively volatile in his behaviour both publicly and behind the scenes, and since the release of Jesus Is King in 2019, there has been a marked and significant downturn in the quality of his music.
After his collaboration with Lil Pump in 2018 for ‘I Love It’, West claimed that he would begin making more music that is more aligned with his “Christian values.” However, this version of Kanye was short-lived. Every time the Chicago native makes an appearance, he seems to show fans a different version of himself and many previous fans feel that they have lost the West of old.
The change in Ye’s life seemed to occur when he married Kim Kardashian. Although it didn’t immediately change his sound, it undoubtedly made the rapper more sheltered, and despite his wife’s outward-facing role as a model and influencer, he rarely seemed to appear alongside her.
West has always been political. However, his politics were not the centre of his brand, and since 2016, he has chosen to alienate vast swathes of his fan base by promoting Donald Trump and supporting both his presidential bids. That said, many lifelong Ye fans saw it coming, considering his rhetoric towards George W Bush after Hurricane Katrina.
The College Dropout creator has never been afraid to speak truth to power. However, as he amassed more money and became more exposed to the business world, it is safe to say that the West developed somewhat of an obsession with money, power, and those who have it.
Whether it’s his previous obsession with Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Donald Trump or Elon Musk, Ye showed an unhealthy desire to be part of America’s billionaire upper echelon. From screaming at Sway Calloway in an interview about business to getting frustrated with Charlamagne Tha God for calling out his money-hungry ways, the ‘Good Life’ rhymer showed us the signs before the manic meltdown.
It is undeniable that he displayed creepy tendencies here and there before. His 2016 video for ‘Famous’ was not only polarising but lambasted by many as “distasteful.” However, at the time, people chalked it up to his “creative genius”, which is perhaps a mistake the culture made with Kanye West for too long.
West is undoubtedly talented. However, it is clear now that after decades of nothing but praise, he has developed a messianic complex that has ingrained itself so deeply in his head that he is willing to commit acts of self-destruction on an unprecedented scale.
His 2018 TMZ rant was an eye-opener for many hip-hop fans, and his “slavery was a choice” comment, which he recently reiterated via X (formerly Twitter), was previously unchartered territory, and he didn’t like the pushback he got. Since that moment, every Kanye West album has seen diminishing returns and widely negative feedback.
In fact, his divorce from Kim Kardashian only fuelled the decline in the quality of his material. Still, 2022 could be considered the last year of Kanye West and the beginning of the “Ye era.” His actions and their ramifications were so visible, and the fallout happened so quickly that it was pretty jaw-dropping to watch.
The Graduation creator was happy to have millions taken off the table, brand deals and endorsements cancelled, and his name tarnished due to a firmly held belief that a certain demographic of people was purposely destroying his life. In his rants on Drink Champs and the controversial podcast Infowars, West preached about Ari Emanuel, Lyor Cohen and the so-called evils of Jewish people in the music industry, and he continues to dig himself into a hole.
The figure of Kanye West once held a certain prestige. However, it is fair to say that since 2018, he has willingly destroyed people’s perceptions of him. With repeated stunts, such as the controversy he was recently involved in at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, hip-hop and pop culture, more broadly, are positively numb to his shenanigans.
Vultures 1 and Vultures 2 were not received well, and they were two underwhelming bodies of work. Concerning respect, many draw a cut-off line and distinguish a Kanye of old from the current iteration of Ye we currently have.