Kanye West vs. The World

Mr. West has left the building.

Unless you live under a rock, you no doubt have heard and/or seen some of the ignorant, and at times, just plain stupid things that Kanye West has been spewing into the universe. 

Kanye tweeted last week “I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative !!!”

As the producer-turned-rapper-turned-designer-turned-Trump supporter retires from politics, here is a roundup of Kanye’s best political moments over the last 13 years that have molded present-day Ye. 

September 2005: “George Bush Doesn’t Care About Black People”

During the middle of a national broadcast to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, Kanye took the opportunity to call out the media’s racist portrayal of black evacuees. “I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a black family, it says they’re looting, and if you see a white family, it says they’re looking for food.”

Kanye then takes it a step further by proclaiming in his next breath, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”

September 2009: My Favorite Moment of All Time

During Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video, Kanye took to the stage to tell everyone who he thought should’ve won.

“Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.”

The stunt probably wouldn’t have been such a big deal if anyone else had been up on that stage. But because it just so happened to be the pioneer capitalist of self victimization, Miss Swift, the outburst sent Kanye into a year long “self-imposed exile.”

I am not saying what he did was right or excusable by any means; he deserved his timeout. But without this incident we probably wouldn’t have one of the best albums of all time, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

August 2015: The Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Just three bros hangin’ out.

September 2015: Listen to the Kids, Bro

For his acceptance speech of the Vanguard award at the 2015 VMA’s, Kanye announced his 2020 presidential intentions.

July 2016: Cuddle Sesh

For his “Famous” music video, Kanye recreated Vincent Desiderio’s painting Sleep, with naked wax dolls of George W. Bush, Donald Trump, Anna Wintour, Rihanna, Chris Brown,Taylor Swift, his wife Kim Kardashian, Ray J, Amber Rose, Caitlyn Jenner, Bill Cosby, and himself all laying naked in the same bed.

December 2016: “We’re just friends.”

Kanye meets with the President-elect to talk about “multicultural issues.” Watch the video to see their matching dye-jobs.

April 2018: Tweet Tweet

Kanye tweets a picture of himself in a MAGA hat showing support for Donald Trump. Apparently making an ass out of yourself every time you open your mouth means you have “dragon energy.”

May 2018: Slavery Was a Choice

Kanye goes to TMZ headquarters to speak his truth and to talk about his relationship with the founder of #blexit, Candace Owens. While doing so, he announces that “slavery sounds like a choice to me,” only to be completely owned by TMZ employee Van Lathan.

September 2018: Unaired SNL Speech

Click the image to watch the video.

While appearing as the musical guest on SNL, Kanye, in true Kanye fashion, took the opportunity to make an unplanned speech. The speech, which was cut out of the broadcast, had Kanye calling out members of SNL’s staff saying, “They bullied me backstage. They told me not to wear this hat on stage,” and then just hops back into the song like nothing had happened. He doesn’t call himself the ultimate Gemini for nothing.

October 2018: Ladies Who Lunch

Kanye West and Trump have another play-date, this time at the White House. Kanye talks about Yeezy factories in suburbs and how time has no meaning while Mr. President sits there and looks confused. A must watch.

October 2018: Real Eyes Realize Real Lies

And here we are. Kanye ran a slew of tweets last week to clear the air and announce that he will be “distancing [himself] from politics.” This comes after he learns that Candace Owens and Donald Trump were using his name for publicity.

Is this a desperate attempt at saving Yeezy sales?

Let’s be honest, being a “genius” does not give you the right to be a jackass. Nor does mental health. That being said, I don’t think that Kanye is stupid, nor do I think that his ideas and actions come from a malicious place. He’s a guy with a big ego that just doesn’t know how to properly articulate his ideas. He just happens to be one of the biggest influences on culture in the 21st century.

At least we have this, right?