ALEXANDER REYES
Columnist
Kanye West is a musical genius. It needed to be said, you may not agree, but statistically and critically he’s an amazing talent.
Kanye is not an amazing PERSON, but many celebrities are this way (O.J., Sean Penn); they are amazing at their job and terrible people under any other circumstance. I don’t feel Kanye is on the level of those two, but you get my point.
Musically, however, I’d compare him to a modern day Bach or Mozart. I feel he’s musically talented because of his egomaniac persona; he constantly has something to say to anyone who disagrees with his words. So congratulations, people who feel the need to voice your hatred, you are the driving force behind Kanye’s music career. All but two of his albums have gone platinum. Think about that for a moment: All but two of his studio albums have gone platinum. There are famous musicians that have not even achieved platinum, period, while some of Kanye’s have gone double and triple platinum. This does not include his collaborations with other artists such as Jay-Z, Rhianna and Frank Ocean.
Each of his albums bring something new to the table. He experiments with new sounds and styles. His last two albums have stirred up more controversy than usual, with songs like “Black Skinhead” and “I’m A God” (See “egomaniac persona”). Now, pure instrumental and production value is phenomenal, but the lyrics and message many would and do not agree with. This is the conflict Kanye is facing a lot; he will continue to write songs about what he wants and how he feels, without fear of whether it’s adored or not. While I am a strong supporter of uncensored music of all kinds, I also understand that there’s a point that you need to calm down and not try to personally attack someone who doesn’t always agree with you.
Kanye has more than enough money to continue to do this, and he shall, though I wonder how his music will be affected now that he has a daughter. He didn’t change much whenever he got married, but when his daughter gets older will he slow down at least a little bit? I await the next album to find out for myself. If time has told us anything, it’s that Kanye won’t change, and as long as there are people to disagree with him, he’ll continue to churn out albums and mixtapes.