Why kanye west is a genius

It was a few years before West started really embracing his own skill as a rapper, and in , he released his debut album, The College Dropout. The album became instantly popular, and West became a star.

West is a successful businessman in addition to being a rapper and his clothing and shoe lines manage to sell out in record time.

The rapper has also become notorious for meltdowns. These days, he keeps his rants mostly confined to Twitter. Trump debases everyone he touches, and his latest convert is also his latest victim.

The irony is that none of his recent behavior necessarily breaks new ground for Kanye. Or when a mere two years ago he tweeted that Bill Cosby was innocent? Fans rolled their eyes and rubbed their temples and waited for him to shut up. We were indulging him, in part, because of our unwavering belief and his that he is a Genius. Every disheartening development during the last few weeks—the MAGA hat , the TMZ interview , the doubling down in the face of heartfelt pleas from those close to him—is a devotional performed at the altar of genius.

This idea has fueled him and absolved him in the past, but it is killing him now. Genius is by nature troubled and unmanageable. A genius is by definition inexorable. Kanye has insisted that he remains in control of this wild narrative, but he has been elbowed offstage by a series of passionate critics, from T.

He stands completely outside of the conversation he has tried to start, and every time he opens his mouth he looks lonelier. What would Steve Jobs have been if he never returned, victorious, from his ignominious exile to Give The People iPods?

Yet Hartley believes there's one thing that's been stopping West from reaching a pure level of advancement. They let you think what you want to think. Bono will do stuff and walk it back. With the release of his new album though, there's a distinct sense that his mindset has changed. The Life of Pablo feels like the album West has cared about the least in terms of how it will be perceived by the public.

A little over a month has passed since West hosted that grandiose listening party for The Life Of Pablo , which he beamed out from Madison Square Garden and into cinemas across the world. The unveiling felt like a moment; a rare snapshot in time where music fans were able to simultaneously experience a first listen through an album together. As he has many times throughout his decade-long career, it felt like he'd advanced.

Since its unveiling, however, the discourse surrounding The Life of Pablo has expanded far beyond the weird excellence of that early release party. It has also been pirated over , times — enough for a Gold record. Prior to its release, the album also went through three last minute name changes and track-lists. That's not to say there hasn't been some self-awareness about it though. West has called the album , "a living breathing changing creative expression.

Who publically changes the name of their album three times in the three weeks before its release? On the other, the roll-out for TLOP is all part of his grand creative master-plan and the work of an advanced genius.

So which is it? There are some genuinely brilliant moments on the record. Several of the lyrics on there are unforgiveable; songs stop and start and never seem to sound finished; all the best moments on the album come from artists that are not West. So is TLOP as great of an album as everyone thinks it is, or has our perception of West informed our glorified response to this mish-mashed collection of songs?

West is brilliant; West falls off; West is a genius; West is an asshole. It changes what we think we know about him each time.