Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is a man who truly needs no introduction. He is not just a producer, rapper, fashion designer, or the latest celebrity in crisis. His catalog spans two decades, with more inescapable radio hits, criticized shoe designs, and a ridiculous amount of controversies, more than anybody can count.
Ye’s music and fashion have impacted generations. A large number of prolific artists today credit his timeless discography as their inspiration and millions of people around the world have soundtracked their daily lives with his music since The College Dropout album was released in 2004. The point is, Ye is one of the biggest artists in our lifetime and has a personality large enough to match his pedigree.
It’s important to reminisce on Ye’s impact and legacy to not only humanize him but also to contrast with his current image. Everybody and their mother has had memories of listening to “Gold Digger,” “Flashing Lights,” and “Heartless” — and we are now witnessing the ultimate downfall of the man behind them. This is not just another “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” moment or Ye walking on the stage of the video music awards to say that “Beyoncé had the greatest video of all time” during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech. Instead, this is the true destruction of a great artistic legacy.
The event that seems to have kickstarted the streak of controversy was Ye dawning a tee that read “WHITE LIVES MATTER” on the back, alongside Grifter, Candace Owens. For those unfamiliar, Owens is a controversial author and political opportunist. She initially ran a blog posting anti-conservative rhetoric. Seemingly “overnight” (a word used by Owens herself), she made a complete turn-around and started spouting conservative rhetoric, quickly becoming a loud and controversial figure. Owens’ role in American politics in recent times can be summarized as stirring the pot and causing needless controversy, with some examples being her comments on the George Floyd protests and the #MeToo movement. Owens and Ye are both publicly anti-abortion, with Ye saying that abortion is a “black people’s holocaust.”
The problem with the “White Lives Matter” event was not the content of the tee but the association with Candace Owens. Presented the right way, the tee could have had some sort of satirical substance, but Owens’ presence destroys any semblance of self-awareness. This would become a common theme in the upcoming months, with Ye’s attempted messages being muddied by similar figures.
The real downfall began on Twitter, which shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody familiar with Ye. On Oct. 8, after making various Instagram posts alluding to Jews being in control of Puff Daddy, Ye tweeted the now infamous “DEATH CON 3” tweet, which was some kind of attempt at a typo joke. People who are accustomed to Ye’s personality likely did nothing more than laugh and roll their eyes, but for those unfamiliar, it sounded like a personal threat of death to Jewish people. The “joke” did not land. Ye was almost immediately suspended from Twitter.
Ye entered a sort of social media purgatory, with spurts of posting mixed with suspensions between Instagram and Twitter. He participated in short-lived social media beef with Tremaine Emory (creative director of Supreme ) and Puff Daddy, throwing out some memorable posts culminating in the creation of a shirt that mocked Emory. Donda Academy, Ye’s non-accredited K–12 private school located in Southern California, seemed to shut down and pop back up again with no real answer as to if they were up and running still. Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics player and member of Donda Sports) campaigned on Twitter for any school that would host the Donda Doves basketball team and faced heavy criticism for being affiliated with an anti-semite. Ye ended his deal with The Gap, as he’d been trying to do seemingly all year. The climax of it all, is Ye’s severance with Adidas, ending the Yeezy collaboration.
Throughout all this, Ye has appeared in all sorts of podcasts and interviews, stuffing the meat grinder that is the American media. Starting with Drink Champs and recently appearing on Alex Jones’s Infowars, he has lied about George Floyd’s death, enforced dangerous Jewish stereotypes, and openly praised Adolf Hitler.
This moment was the absolute tipping point. Fans lost hope, and the media had the ultimate blessing of pure rock bottom from Ye. Anyone trying to explain or reason with Ye’s words in the past are now completely speechless. Nobody could say anything to make Ye look worse than he already does. This moment will likely be remembered for decades as the ultimate low for a man with a sizable legacy and influence.
This is not the first instance of controversy with Ye, and it certainly won’t be the last, but this is distinct, never-before-seen level of self-sabotage. In the past, Ye’s behavior has been criticized, but this time it seems as if he is seeking criticism. Whereas Ye’s prior actions seem to be genuine, and occasionally misconstrued by headlines, this feels like deliberate senseless controversy.
I don’t believe that Ye is really a Nazi, but rather an attention-seeker and a mentally-ill man with billions of dollars who commands the media’s spotlight. His mental health struggles and desire to always be a contrarian is being weaponized by grifters like Milo Yiannopoulos, Candace Owens, and Nick Fuentes. However, at some point, Ye needs to take accountability, apologize and denounce the evil he is surrounding himself with.
Nick Fuentes is a proud leader of the Incel (short for involuntary-celibate) movement, white nationalist, and Holocaust denier. There are mountains of clips of Fuentes’ blatant racism towards black Americans, enforcing uneducated and violent stereotypes. He not only celebrated George Floyd’s death but once went on to say he wished there was a “zombie apocalypse so we could kill George Floyd two times.”
Hopefully, Ye will wake up and realize who exactly he is giving a platform to. Hanging with hateful Grifters is a complete detraction from Ye’s attempted “love everyone” rhetoric. One can love and forgive from afar without supporting and empowering white nationalism. Surely Ye believes he is making a brave and invaluable point with all of this, but the message is lost in translation. The last few months, as well as the newly-announced YE24 presidential campaign, is an improvisational masterclass in career suicide.
The YE24 campaign itself has no apparent direction and already screams disaster. It’s absolutely comical to think any single person other than diehard fans and skinheads would vote for Ye in the upcoming election after the trainwreck that is the past few months.
It has been unbelievably disappointing to watch someone many would consider an idol and an inspiration for decades hit such a low. The best thing to come out of this would be, again, an apology, as well as a recovery for Ye’s health. At this point, Ye is seriously unwell, and his relationship with the media and fame itself is becoming toxic, more than ever before. People love to play armchair psychiatrist with Ye, but nobody except him and his family knows the full reality of the situation. All that can be hoped for is for Ye to find peace and a way of dealing with whatever he is struggling with, and it looks like a good start to that solution might be stepping away from the limelight.