President Trump met with Kanye West in the spring of 2018. Illustration by Lusco y Fusco
Dear Kanye,
You don’t even deserve to be bipolar. But if you are, you’re a buffoon. You are a total faux-artist provocateur — not in a good way — and an egomaniacal rapper who’s now only in it for the fame and fortune. To reference Lady Gaga, you epitomize the idea of the “Fame Monster.”
I used to be a proud fan. You’re a hometown hero from my city of Chicago and you used to be a socially conscious rapper spitting meaningful rhymes on tracks like “Jesus Walks” and “BLKKK SKKKN Head.” But now, Kanye, you disgust me. Almost but not quite as bad as Chicago R&B singer R. Kelly. Yes, I rank you just a notch below (an alleged) pedophile.
Here’s why.
You’re a rude and despicable sore loser, who, upon getting bested by French electro act Justice at the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards, stole the mic to declare that “[My] video cost a million dollars, fam!… If I don’t win, the awards show loses credibility.”
You used to rap about the cultural milieu as it relates to blackness. Now you’re a complete narcissist.
You always were a tad egocentric, but I chalked it up to the swagger that nearly all rappers have. Now all you do is write about yourself. You rap about money and status and greed and pride. Your rhymes are self-serving.
You used to be bold. During a Hurricane Katrina benefit show on live TV, you once said — going off-script — “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” These days, you’re ranting about how “400 years in slavery” was a “choice” for black people and wearing a MAGA hat signed by President Trump. Not only that, you have referred to Trump — arguably the worst president in history, to borrow your hyperbolic attitude — as “my brother.”
Your seven-song studio album dropped last week, with a cover of a Wyoming mountain range scrawled with the words “I hate being Bi-Polar [sic]. It’s awesome.”
Why not slap a goofy polar bear on that cover and steal our meme outright? Don’t co-opt our slogans and reappropriate them. It’s not cool. It’s not controversial. It’s lame.
You think you shit gold. Your newest album is simply titled Ye (in honor of yourself— how humble) and on “Yikes” you declare your mental status like a badge of honor:
That’s my bipolar shit, nigga what
That’s my superpower nigga
Ain’t no disability, I’m a superhero!
I’m a superhero! Arghhh!
I have long said that people who are bipolar have superpowers, that we are programmed to feel emotions more intensely than other human beings. But, Kanye, you’re no superhero — even if you take to Twitter to call yourself the “future president” and boast about harnessing your “dragon energy.”
I heard your net worth is $130 million. You’ve got the fortune down pat — so now, like your buddy Trump, you’re jonesing for bigger and better fame. In fact, you’re addicted to being famous. That’s why you married reality TV star Kim Kardashian — a woman who is essentially famous for being famous.
You’ve got your hands dirty, cranking out the music, which is impressive I’ll give ya that. The brand-new Nas album you produced — NASIR— that came out this past Friday is a tour de force.
But bipolar is not an excuse for your erratic behavior, Kanye. We know you spent eight days in a psych ward in 2016, and that you got a bipolar diagnosis.
You could’ve used your platform for the greater good. You could take a cue from someone like Mariah Carey who announced she was bipolar and made the rounds in the press debunking misconceptions and blasting stigma.
What happened to your avant-garde shit, like the political ”New Slaves”? Looking back at your oeuvre, I’m reminded of how clever you used to be. How substantive. “Jesus Walks” talks about terrorism and racism and features some clever lines about religion in hip-hop:
So here go my single dog radio needs this
They said you can rap about anything except for Jesus
That means guns, sex, lies, videotape
But if I talk about God, my record won’t get played. Huh?
That’s the Kanye I knew. Who are you now? Is bipolar an alibi for your incoherence? A rationale for your bizarre behavior? Or maybe it’s because you’re fresh out of original material. You name-drop icons like Prince and Michael Jackson, but you will never be as iconic as either of them. Hell, Michael’s glove has more dignity and credibility than you ever will.
Bipolar is not a stigma. It is not a gimmick. It’s not a marketing slogan. And it’s not just another stepping-stone to greater fame and fortune.
Dare I say it: #BoycottKanye.
Signed,
The Eccentrics
