Re: Kanye West
Posted: Sun May 06, 2018 9:51 pm
The performance art thing, like I said earlier, has always been a part of Kanye's persona. He's said so himself:
I don't think he's being disingenuous or anything, but intentionally rocking the boat/putting himself out there with no filter is a just a part of who he is.
I think there's a couple things going on with the Trump stuff.
1. Kanye is very naive. He truly believes the stuff he's preaching about love healing the world. It's all very Michael Jackson (whom he admires greatly). Part of that is extending love to EVERYONE, including people in the Trump camp (he has also tweeted about loving Hillary and Emma Gonzalez; it's not JUST conservative junk). It's worth noting that this approach is rooted in a lot of Christian teachings; loving everyone including your enemies, turning the other cheek, forgiving people, all that jazz.
2. Kanye is very impressionable. I think he has some gross alt-right voices in his ear at the moment (like Candace Owens). Some of the stuff in that TMZ rant seemed to me to be him parroting points he's heard them say ("Candace can give you the details."). This stuff is really a bummer for me, because the points he's regurgitating are so tired and ignorant and dumb ("Trump is helping business owners" fuck offffff).
3. Kanye relates to people he feels are being persecuted. Again, this is not new. The reasons for this seem pretty self-evident; how many recent pop culture figures have been as persecuted as Kanye in the public discourse? This has led him to defend some pretty disgusting people, like Chris Brown and Bill Cosby. Trump is just the latest.
4. Kanye isn't very political. He doesn't understand the actual policies and implications of Trumpism, or what it represents to a lot of people. He just looks at Trump and sees a person who is hated by a lot of people, and that triggers a compassion reflex. Which isn't inherently BAD, but it does tend to create some pretty egregious blind spots and biases for him.
I don't think he's being disingenuous or anything, but intentionally rocking the boat/putting himself out there with no filter is a just a part of who he is.
I think there's a couple things going on with the Trump stuff.
1. Kanye is very naive. He truly believes the stuff he's preaching about love healing the world. It's all very Michael Jackson (whom he admires greatly). Part of that is extending love to EVERYONE, including people in the Trump camp (he has also tweeted about loving Hillary and Emma Gonzalez; it's not JUST conservative junk). It's worth noting that this approach is rooted in a lot of Christian teachings; loving everyone including your enemies, turning the other cheek, forgiving people, all that jazz.
2. Kanye is very impressionable. I think he has some gross alt-right voices in his ear at the moment (like Candace Owens). Some of the stuff in that TMZ rant seemed to me to be him parroting points he's heard them say ("Candace can give you the details."). This stuff is really a bummer for me, because the points he's regurgitating are so tired and ignorant and dumb ("Trump is helping business owners" fuck offffff).
3. Kanye relates to people he feels are being persecuted. Again, this is not new. The reasons for this seem pretty self-evident; how many recent pop culture figures have been as persecuted as Kanye in the public discourse? This has led him to defend some pretty disgusting people, like Chris Brown and Bill Cosby. Trump is just the latest.
4. Kanye isn't very political. He doesn't understand the actual policies and implications of Trumpism, or what it represents to a lot of people. He just looks at Trump and sees a person who is hated by a lot of people, and that triggers a compassion reflex. Which isn't inherently BAD, but it does tend to create some pretty egregious blind spots and biases for him.
