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Originally Posted by Severian
I have taken great pains to defend Kanye to naysayers and idiots who think he's just an autotone and a pair of sunglasses. I've devoted hours of my life, even before I really liked his solo work (or more specifically, his rapping) to arguing with haters and I have usually schooled them, and turned the argument into an intellectual one about hip hop, it's purpose, it's history, and Kanye's place therein.
However, I am now encountering arguments against his character that I cannot refute. I still know he is the heart and soul of mainstream hip hop, and that he's an integral and eccentric artist who is constantly both challenging and reinventing the norms of the game, but when people bring up his quotes and tweets and interviews with this or that fucking magazine, I'm dumbfounded.
I don't pay attention to that shit. To me, he is his music, and that speaks for itself. No argument or defense necessary. But what am I gonna do? Play "So Appalled" or "Everything I Am" or "Power" for all the honkers I run into dissing his apparel, his ego, and his choice in women?
Fuck no. I'm gonna have NOTHING to say in his defense to people who haven't heard his music. That's going to suck.
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Such is fame. Its also why generally speaking, I like to avoid hyped and mainstream music of any genre, because I don't like having to apologize all the time for the character flaws. It seems that in indie music, such traits are more reserved less exaggerated. Its not that they're not there, its just they are less pronounced. As to Kanye, these character traits/flaws (depending on your perspective) have always been prominent, since day 1, and it is part and parcel of the Kanye package. You can't have the music without the personality of the musician. Its sort of like dating a bi-polar person, you of course always enjoy the sheer joy and passion of their manic up modes, but when they crash into the depressive side of the coin, suddenly shit seems sour. Its like, duh, the manic is part of the depressive, its the same person. You either accept people for who they are, or you don't. For example, I venerate Tupac probably MORE and MORE OBNOXIOUSLY than y'all like Kanye, and the guy has very serious issues with his relationships with women, his blatant/brazen combative attitude, and his charming self-absorption. He is what he is. Many people have strongly and rightfully criticized Tupac for his flaws, as they should, and when you're under the microscope these flaws become all the more glaring. However, for myself, I never personally found Kanye's music fantastic enough to justify his personality. Y'all would have to spend more time defending/explaining his music to me before we ever got around to the customary apologies for his personality. Tupac was abrasive, Kanye is just getting ridiculous. Severian, you mentioned he is using meth, is this true? If that is the case, IT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING. And the guy needs to stop, meth is bad news, it makes heroin look tame by comparison, seriously.