Tyler Pearce | Head Editor
October 7, 2022
Without a doubt, Kanye West is known for his unique, unhinged, and egotistical personality. Most know him for his music, but in the past 5 years, we have watched his clothing brand, Yeezy, grow. Due to the rapid growth of his brand, Yeezy is now valued at just over two billion dollars. With his success in the music industry, his net worth is valued at about six billion dollars, making him the wealthiest Black man in America.
In America, where money goes further than just giving people the opportunity to buy items, a place where money is power, people like Kanye West are at an advantage. Over the years, Kanye West has had his fair share of starting controversies online, like his tone-deaf comments on slavery and uncommon requests like “How much does the earth cost, I want to buy the world and be King.” In 2009, at the VMAs, Kanye West stole the mic from Taylor Swift just after she won an award for the best music video, grabbing the mic just to say that “Beyonce had the best music video of all time.” These acts are patterns that keep recurring in pop culture, raising the question of whether or not he is a ridiculous bully or a commonly misunderstood creative genius. We know many celebrities think Kanye is ridiculous and childish, but some students have different opinions. Junior Mikey Berkowick says “Kanye West is one of the smartest people that has ever lived. He is a creative genius, and I listen to him both for the music and the ideals, like I said, I just think he is the best musician of all time and if you disagree with me you don’t know anything about music.”
In more recent years, this kind of behavior has not died down. Kanye is still currently trolling the internet with his controversial behavior. Just this past week at Paris fashion week, at his season 9 Yeezy show, models and Kanye were both seen wearing shirts with the text “WHITE LIVES MATTER” on the back. When this was noticed at the show multiple celebrities spoke on the matter either calling him a “Bully,” “a joke,” or “childish.” Even members of the Kardashian family (ex-wife, Kim Kardashian’s family) have called him out. One African American Vogue editor, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, was invited to the Yeezy show, but after seeing the offensive shirts, she decided to publicly call him out on it; she said the act was “incredibly irresponsible and dangerous.” Kanye did not like her criticizing his show, so he made the decision to publicly criticize Gabriella on his Instagram story for his 17 million Instagram followers.
These acts being done by Kanye definitely raise questions about his morals. Like every story, there are many ways to interpret it. But has Kanye taken it too far with this last one? Is he doing it for the press? Or does he actually believe what he is saying? How come someone with so much money and power, constantly uses it to get under people’s skin?
Great job covering this complicated figure. I loved the words “uncommon request” to describe his desire to buy the world and be king. Let’s hope that never happens.