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by onedev 4003 days ago
Kanye West is an amazing amazing figure, and a really interesting personality. If all you know about the man are his misplaced frustrations that manifest themselves in public ways, then you really don't know the guy or the influence he's had on millions over a decade.

He's produced greatness, but not only that, he's done so consistently. He's made some missteps along the way but if you really dig deep and watch his interviews over the years you'll start to understand the person he is.

People are very interesting, and it's so easy to characterize public figures in these black and white ways and dismiss their work, but it's far more difficult to truly understand the person, their motivations, and their frustrations.

I've watched hours and hours of Kanye interviews, listened to days and days of his music, and watched him grow as a person as he progressed through his legendary career. It's truly incredible.

I think there's something be learned from Justin Bieber as well, whose music I don't like and whose fanbase I dislike even more.

People are fascinating, you just have to dig deeper to find those parts, and put forth effort to learn something from other people. Even those people you don't like.

3 comments

but you can legitimately dislike someone, Kanye is incredibly conceited. I appreciate his music (well first 4 anyway) but his attitude sucks. Even at glastonbury he was stopping the performance to tell the crowd they were witnessing the greatest rock star ever. That just isnt true and if he actually believes it then he is making more of an idiot of himself.

You dont decide you are the greatest rock star, the people do, and they discuss it for a long time before they come to that conclusion. You need to be compared to historical greats to even come close. The only person I see talking about Kanye in that way is Kanye.

I should not need to wade through hours of footage to see him portrayed in a favourable light, if he acts a dick when he knows he is being watched/recorded/broadcast then it is a safe assumption to make that he is generally a dick.

I've actively avoided digging "deeper" into the ego maniac that is Kanye West, but I do enjoy pointing out that he tried to rip off Aphex Twin by lifting a sample and not paying for the usage rights. Kanye is quite an inspiration though, in that if he can get ahead in this world with the limited talents and acidic presence, then there's hope for other, better people to achieve influence. I mean, it's not really difficult to find a snippet of music, loop it, add a beat that sounds like it came pre-programmed on an MPC, and claim to be a production genius, but it definitely takes some hubris.
reddit seems to have a fascination with Kanye's "thug face". It's practically a meme where he's jovial and happy until the camera is put on him.