I no longer long for Ye, the “new” Kanye West. I wish we could quit bringing up the new Ye because I’m sick of hearing about him. Especially with regard to the latter, many of you are undoubtedly in the same situation. But we can’t because he continues to be one of the most powerful figures in the world and he uses his influence to sow discord and hatred. It would be negligent not to point it up.
Ye declared on Sunday that he will “go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE” on Twitter, where he has twice as many followers as there are Jews in the entire world. It’s significant to remember that even though Jews are the targets of nearly 60% of religious bias crimes makes up only 2% of the U.S. population.
We should stop discussing Ye as a musician, fashion designer, and artist in general, but we should maintain voicing our opposition to the hatred that he is sowing with the use of his enormous platform.
As a result, Twitter barred him from accessing his account. This action was taken immediately after the rapper’s Instagram account was banned as a result of an anti-Jewish post.
Days earlier, he made an appearance on Paris Fashion Week with far-right commentator Candace Owens while sporting “White Lives Matter” T-shirts. Ye later told Fox News host Tucker Carlson that he found the garment to be “funny” to wear. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the Aryan Renaissance Society, the Ku Klux Klan, and other hate groups favor the “white supremacist motto” “White Lives Matter.”
Anyone should be able to tell that the Ye, who once claimed on national television that “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people” in reference to the former president’s appalling handling of Hurricane Katrina, is no longer around. I have to accept that as fact as I was once a fan.
I also wish that those who formerly admired him for setting cultural trends in music, fashion, and even self-confidence would now feel the same way. To stop requesting the return of “old Kanye,” for example. By doing this, he dangerously approaches being absolved of his damaging actions of the present.
Not that I don’t comprehend the yearning for the Ye of the early 2000s, mind you. He seemed like one of the nice guys to me. He was stylish, intelligent, and handsome. Ye was a son of the South, just like I was. I was born in Texas, whereas he was born in Georgia. We both had capable Black single mothers who raised us.
However, the artist has transformed from a creative genius offering fresh perspectives on the future of Blackness to a purveyor of antisemitic conspiracy theories and an apologist for white supremacy, driven by vanity and self-delusion.
We haven’t been able to look away from him as he changed into this new version of himself, even as his once-magnificent energy became hysterical. It’s similar to how we slow down to watch vehicle accidents. Some claim that his bipolar disease or his reluctance to accept the passing of his mother, Donda West, in 2007, are to blame for this downward spiral. My mother passed away the year prior. I had the impression that everything was going wrong. I can therefore relate to the extreme pain and anguish that might result from losing the most significant person in your life. But whatever the reason, his destructive behavior at the moment is unacceptable.
That information was just learned by the “The Shop” producers, Lebron James’ internet discussion program. It was revealed on Tuesday that an episode starring Ye will not be broadcast. The cause? Maverick Carter, CEO of SpringHill Company, which produces the show, claims that Ye used it “to regurgitate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes.” Carter stated that he had spoken to Ye the day before filming and “believed he was capable of a respectful dialogue and he was ready to address all his recent comments” after Ye had been scheduled for the show weeks in advance.
Without a doubt, Carter was in error. It’s an obvious illustration of how Ye keeps getting opportunities, perhaps because people want to see him again as the man who previously meant so much to the Black community, only for him to show us (again) that he doesn’t deserve them. The only way to discuss someone like this without labeling him as “intellectual” or a “free thinker” is to be critical. That entails denying him any benefit of the doubt in any setting or field, regardless of how awesome you think his music or clothes are.
Ye’s debut album, “The College Dropout,” which was released in 2004, was the catalyst for my adoration of him. Even a stiff-upper-lip goody-two-shoes like myself felt, if not quite cool, then at least cool nearby. His lyrics offered fresh perspectives on what rap could be because they were so blatantly emotive and skillfully crafted.
Ye continues to be given opportunities, perhaps because people want to see the Ye who previously meant so much to the Black community again, only for him to show us (again) that he doesn’t deserve them.
But the Ye who sang on his debut record, “I want to talk to God, but I’m terrified because we haven’t spoken in so long,” is no longer alive. Let’s give up looking for him.
I speak from experience when I say this. I overcame my nausea after Ye snatched Taylor Swift’s microphone at the 2009 MTV Music Awards and used it to shout about Beyoncé. I moved on once more after giving him the side-eye during his 2013 performance at the grandson of the authoritarian president of Kazakhstan,‘s wedding. I continued to sing the words to the album’s tune “I Love Kanye” in 2016 when his “Life of Pablo” album was released days after he tweeted his support for Bill Cosby,, who had been accused of sexual assault by more than 50 women.
“I miss the old Kanye, right from the go Kanye,” the song begins. Set his aims and chop up the soul, Kanye. I initially sang the words hoping that the “old Kanye” would show up again, that he would put aside his ego and reemerge as the creative force whose every move we looked forward to rather than dreaded. I then recited the verses with melancholy as Ye kept losing ground.
What came after included statements like him telling TMZ in 2018 that “slavery is a choice.” Later that year, he posed for pictures with Donald Trump while sporting an “Make America Great Again” hat and engaged in increasingly weird propaganda. I’m now unable to endure to listen to that song or any other of his creations.
Kanye has turned into everything he used to be so critical of. He is sinking more into racism’s muck rather than fighting racism in all of its forms. He has transformed into a circus barker, peddling antisemitic myths and entertaining bigots. We should stop discussing Ye as a musician, fashion designer, and artist in general, but we should maintain voicing our opposition to the hatred that he is sowing with the use of his enormous platform.
