Why I’m no longer part of The Church of Yeezus
Objectively speaking, there are two kinds of people in this world: people who love Kanye West, and people who think he’s the scum of the earth. Up until recently I’d never considered myself the latter: I’d always had such a strong appreciation for Yeezy. From his ground-breaking music, to his work in the fashion industry, and even his choice in kids’ names, I’d always thought of Kanye as a larger than life creative genius. But then, in less than 140 characters – just like when he thought Beyoncé was cheated at the 2009 VMAs – everything I’d thought about him was robbed.
“BILL COSBY INNOCENT !!!!!!!!!!” sprawled across my Twitter feed doesn’t exactly make for an appetising read. Sure, Kanye’s tweets are usually pretty ridiculous anyway. It’s usually self-indulgent content or outlandish rants on the fashion industry. But this was different. This wasn’t purely about Kanye. This was about him publicly dismissing the rape accusations of well over 50 women since 1965. This wasn’t about how great his new album was; this was the beginning of the misogynistic and homophobic undertones he’s always carried with him coming to the forefront of my mind.
[quote]I don’t want to be a fan of a neurotic sexist – that’s not what I signed up for.[/quote]
Maybe I’d just been blind to it up until now. Call it a strong amount of blissful ignorance on my part, but I’d always thought of his big ego and dramatic outbursts simply as aspects of his media personality. I mean, yeah, he’s said some pretty eccentric stuff, but I always thought it was all for exposure. Any publicity is good publicity, right? I was under the impression that he’d come home at the end of the day, step in through the door, take off his attitude, and pop it on a hat stand. He’d hug Kim and the kids, and just be a genuinely nice husband and dorky dad. Now, I’m not so sure.
We’re not very far into this year, but this isn’t the only problem he’s caused lately: there was that infamous line about Taylor Swift on his new track that lead to Austin Swift binning his Yeezy 350s; the feud with Wiz Khalifa that resulted in some pretty poor stuff being said about Amber Rose; the claim that he was 53 million bucks in debt and needed Mark Zuckerberg's help (maybe he should stop buying Kimmy K ridiculous handbags); and not to mention when he revealed that he’ll never release his new album on anything other than Tidal. OK, so the last one may not be as vulgar, but it’s still disappointing. Really, the last couple months have pushed me further away from Kanye than I thought possible. I don’t want to be a fan of a neurotic sexist – that’s not what I signed up for.
[quote]Myself and (hopefully) a few other people … are caught in some sort of confused Kanye purgatory.[/quote]
This puts me in a delicate position: I feel like I’m caught somewhere between the Kanye lovers and the Kanye haters. I should probably revise the opening line to, “Objectively speaking, there are three kinds of people in this world: people who love Kanye West; people who think he’s the scum of the earth; and myself and (hopefully) a few other people who are caught in some sort of confused Kanye purgatory.”
Don’t get me wrong; I’m in no way saying he’s not as creative or influential as ever. I’m not saying he hasn’t inspired countless numbers of creatives to follow their dreams and passions. My argument is that this is not an appropriate way for someone to act, least of all for someone with as much influence as Kanye.
So no, I am no longer part of The Church of Yeezus, but I can’t say I’ve given up the religion completely either. In time I might be able to listen to his music again, but it’ll be in the same way I’m able to listen to Michael Jackson or Justin Bieber – by distancing the art from the artist.
Keir Hale
Keir is a freelance writer and dad joke enthusiast studying journalism and creative writing at the University of South Australia.