CRUEL FALL

October 27th, 2019
OPINION | CRUEL FALL
By Michael Wayne Carter

Kanye West, without question, is one of the greatest producers of all time. He’s a man who might have achieved iconic status quicker than any other artist in modern music history. You may or may not have heard Jesus is King, his latest album that is a gospel inspired project and I say project because by the time his next album drops, who knows what he’ll be on artistically. That’s the thing with Kanye, we’ve watched him grow since the early 2000’s to now and it’s been one of the most interesting journeys in music. From struggling producer to iconic fashionista, it’s not a small accomplishment. Dame Dash once said if the raps on Kanye’s album aren’t hot, it’s cool, we’ll just throw Cam’ron on every song. Imagine that! You see, it’s those slights that helped create Kanye. The notion that he’s a really good producer and that’s all he should be wasn’t enough for him. He had a dream and who can’t relate to that? I think that’s the nerve he struck with the public. If rappers are superheroes, Kanye would be Batman. Batman can’t fly, he can’t shoot lasers out of his eyes, he’s just like you and me, a person solely motivated by the circumstances of his life. He trained to become what he is. This is why you can’t tell him nothing.

When The College Dropout was released in 2004, the rap industry was in a state of flux. Jay-Z had just retired. The South was rising, and G-Unit was dominating the radio, the charts, even fashion, and then here comes along a rapper from Chicago in a pink polo with sped up soul samples. Kanye was brash, cocky, and self-assured. It all felt so fresh - from Beanie Sigel’s The Truth to his work on Jay’s The Blueprint, and Scarface’s The Fix. We’re talking about key production on classic albums from Talib Kweli, Twista and Alicia Keys. It felt like the dawn of a new era and when Jesus Walks dropped, holy shit, the dude no one thought could even rap had an ode to Jesus playing on the radio. Hip-hop had a new hero! Someone, almost everyone, could relate to his words and we carried him like water through all his ups and downs. We applauded when he defended gay rights in 2005 during an MTV interview and when he declared George Bush didn’t care about black people. He was our champion and when the champ decided to sing in auto tune, we waited with bated breath for the results of 808’s and Heartbreak, the album where Kanye openly grieved for his recently deceased mother.

Then on one fateful night at the 2009 MTV Music Video Awards, Kanye took the stage fuelled with that liquid courage and ruined Taylor Swift’s moment. Unlike previous award show outbursts, this one wasn’t greeted with cheers, rather condemnation. Kanye had gone from hero to villain and things were never the same. The VMA outburst was ten years ago and in the last ten years we’ve received a classic album in My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and an amazing collaboration album with Jay-Z, Watch the Throne, a really good compilation album Cruel Summer with his G.O.O.D. Music label roster, a hastily put together and divisive Yeezus album that was the first album fans questioned his musical vision on. Then came the Life of Pablo, again leaving the audience split. More importantly than the music, which was usually the main topic of conversation, became his erratic interviews, his much-publicized marriage to Kim Kardashian and the support of President Donald Trump. From George Bush doesn’t care about black people to him stating:

“For the greatest artist in human existence to put a red hat on was God’s practical joke to all liberals”.

All of this brings us to… Jesus is King. An album that at face value feels like a blatant exploitation of religion. Now when dealing in matters of spirituality, the goal is not to condemn but to convert and if Mr. West has found salvation in Jesus Christ I wish him the best, but if in a couple of months Kanye grows dreads and starts praising Jah as the most high and drops a track over a UB40 sample, don’t be surprised. Now the question at hand, do we ignore Kanye or not? Well that’s a hard proposition. Ignoring an iconic artist is like ignoring the sun and besides, track three Follow God from Jesus is King knocks. Always remember, the goal is not to condemn, but to convert. Ya’ll have a great week ahead, especially Sunday. Peace.

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