Riffing on Kanye West

I'm sure you've heard how one of the things that happened last year, in 2016, was that Kanye finally had a meltdown. In a concert in Norcal, he stopped for a brief rant, that turned into a long rant, that turned into him being admitted to a locked psychiatric facility. 

I think it's time, personally, that we show him (Kanye) some love. Why? Because to a degree, we are (or some of us are) all hypocrites. Last year we lost Bowie, George Michael and Prince. Millions grieved. So what if we lost Kanye today? Would not millions also grieve? Those same voices who have recently disavowed their support of the "once great Kanye West" would change their tune quickly were he to (God forbid) pass away this day.

A Pastor at my church once told me that people seem to either crucify or deify. In other words, fans see their favorites as either gods or devils, when the fact is, they are humans. 

Kanye is arguable the most profound voice of our generation in one music genre and some would say, even beyond. Without deifying him (hey, obviously he's got issues, like we all do) let's at least say now what we'd say, were here to pass on:

"Kanye is a freakin' genius and we love him, in spite of what might seem like aberrant behavior. His music is ingenious, artful, cutting edge, ground breaking and empowering." 

He's a master of media and Trump (part of his meltdown and scorn is related to the President-elect) proved that knowing how to manipulate the media is where we as a culture are. People confuse this with supporting Trump's and Kanye's moral flaws but were not saying that. We (or I) are not making moral judgments but just saying this is how it is.