Kanye West has been around for over a decade and his dreams as an artist have branched him out into the fashion and shoe world, as well as his undeniable reputation in music. I have not always been a fan of Yeezy, I confess. I loved College Dropout but I constantly complained about the "new" Kanye. Kanye went from throwing shade at U.S. presidents to signing with Nike and causing three day camp-out queues for a pair of his sneakers. If there is one thing we can agree on; Mr. West is not predictable,
Indeed, Kanye expresses himself as an untouchable god. I have yet to find someone who does not consider Kanye as arrogant. But, why does our society refuse to accept his confidence? We miss the point about godly behaviour and what it means by taking the metaphor literally. Kanye does not mean that he is god; instead he wants to embody godliness. An artist is "godly" in the sense that he/she has a bloated self-belief, thus in theory all artists are innately narcissistic. Self-absorbed dreaming is what makes an artist an artist; abstracting your own vision and belligerently committing to it until the end. Essentially, if your belief is relentless then more people are likely to believe in your dream too. Possessing a relentless vision is not necessarily arrogant.
When Kanye compares himself to Picasso, Obama, Steve Jobs or Beethoven he is making a larger point about how we collectively underestimate talented people. It takes years for society to evaluate a genius, intelligent people are not easily understood. Confident conviction is what separates the visionaries from the rest. I slandered Kanye on the basis that he has excessive confidence which makes no sense because all dreamers, including myself are self-absorbed.
It is hypocritical of us to shun an artist simply because they are arrogant. Firstly, who sets the parameters for what how much you can like yourself? Secondly, we miss the point of what the artist is saying when we focus so much on how they say it. The vision itself supersedes the individual.
In a world where mega industries rely on our anxieties and insecurities, confidence ought to be rewarded and not punished. When I was younger, I read a line in the book the 48 Laws of Power which stuck with me: "everyone appreciates the bold, nobody admires the timid". From that moment on I made a promise to venture into everything I do with the utmost confidence. Indeed, I am godly in my actions, does this make me egoistical, narcissistic? It cannot be so.
Kanye says "i aint' got a problem with looking stupid or making mistakes in front of people". If he comes across as arrogant it could be his lack of boundaries which makes him open and flexible to new things. It is not a bad way to be deliberate and to own your existence. If Kanye stood up and said "I hate myself" rather than explicitly declaring self-love he might have more fans. Globalisation and individualism has a created an over-anxious, over-insecure earth and creative people are condemned if they lack insecurities.
In ontology, one idea is enough to change the world; ideas are sacred. In many ways, I admire Kanye's unwavering resolute. Despite all the slander, Kanye remains unapologetic for his fearlessness, no matter how much his ideas are ridiculed. It wasn't until I tried to understand where Kanye's confidence was originating from that I actually started to enjoy his persona.
All visionaries are protective over their dreams and sometimes it comes off as arrogance. If Kanye wanted to quit his career today and go into web hosting, I would understand. Kanye is allowed to criticise corporations and then work with them, he is also allowed to glorify wealth if he wants to. I support people who admit that they are a walking contradictions. Let him make his own mistakes because we are all hypocrites in some way or the other. Kanye's point is that we are "all slaves' and none of us are free, including him. We are slaves to our choices and it just so happens that Kanye has more choices to make..