Why do people like/hate Kanye?

[Ak25]

I think he's way too arrogant and egotistical.

You and Stephen Colbert....

[Mc Cubz]

Do you not remember "George Bush doesn't care about Black people?"

Yes man, your completely right and I agree one hundred and ten percent. It's not like Kanye ever went on stage after losing an award and bitched, nor did he ever call himself the "voice of this decade of this generation" and never did he call himself bigger than Elvis Presley.

Thank you two for your feedback. That alternative view has inspired further insight into this topic. I agree that he may have said/done those things and think now that when I said record labels wouldn't want him to say something "controversial" or to "fuck up" I may not have been completely right or clear. However, after reconsidering the examples you have given (the george bush/black people, awards incident and elvis presley incident) I still maintain a similar thought.

Perhaps when I said a label wouldn't have wanted him to "fuck up" or say anything "controversial" I should have said do anything that would actually compromise the label. A main issue here would be the relationship between gangsterism and hiphop. (I still maintain both that Kanye is extremely successful in terms of record sales and venue locations (such as live earth) compared to other rival rappers and also that he is nowhere near as talented as other rival rappers, perhaps doing less well than him in charts for various reasons, one of which is the issue we are discussing.)

Kanye may be contoversial but what he has said/done may not be as bad as we may first feel. Kanye's claiming 'black oppression by the government', even in the strong way kanye did is not at all likely to lose him any popularity let alone lose the record label anything good such as likability/safety/etc etc. People have been claiming black oppression for decades in America, particularly in hiphop - he perhaps said it in a inappropriate situation, most likely, I believe, as a publicity stunt rather than in genuine concern (another issue). His label will certainly not have any bricks thrown through the window over that.

Kanye West is not a dangerous man in terms of gangsterism - he won't risk getting shot over beef - at least not like say tupac or biggie would have, who are indeed in my view, much more talented rappers that never got as big a venue as Kanye has been getting. (Its the same thing with Jay Z at glastonbury - he can't represent hip-hop with other rappers about - he completely goes against the values of creativity etc that are central to hiphop, yet he, like Kanye is, due to label arrangements, representing hiphop to a massive audience who perhaps listen to less 'real' hiphop than a die-hard pac fan and thus giving a 'lesser' view of it). My point is a label could get into real trouble if they had a dangerous man at such important events - if gangs are after someone and are following them around events it makes the event dangerous - an arguably-safe event such as live earth attracts families not rap-fans - if a gang are in the crowd booing Kanye or preparing to hurt him, this is a massive potential risk to certain areas in the music industry, in particular the labels.

This brings me to my next point - yes Kanye did appear to go mad at the awards. However, did you see the guys he did it to - they didn't exactly look like they were going to do anything to him. If it was a group like the Outlaws or NWA or whatever are seemingly more gangster-rappers they would of beat him up or worse on stage - which would of looked bad for the label. If there was any real danger to either kanye or the other people collecting the award the security would of rushed over much quicker and made more of an issue about it, which would have also looked bad for the label. The fact that he was allowed to continue for such a duration was, I believe, because there was no real danger there, thus there was no serious potential problem for the labels/music industry - all that happened was a small controversial event that will have increased the hype surrounding all partys involved plus the event itself and thus benefited all of them with no real potential for danger. The Elvis Presley issue has a similar train of argument.

Thank you for your point though - it did provide evidence for further discussion and allow me to correct and make better-clear the point I was making. I like to think that I can admit when I am wrong or miss-informed etc. I don't know what the all the banter was for though.

[Mc Cubz]

hip hop is an art form. wayne can claim shit, but believe what u want. in the end, its all to scurry ppl and make noise. its a business, and making ur name get out there, is a part of business. i know what u said bout him is true, but he's not stupid. get whatevever money u can when u can. vanilla ice, everybody hates, but he's still known worldwide. he's not stupid, he still makes money off whatever song that was. don't hate, congratulate. i'll be the person that everybody hates in the world, if i'm makin money off it too

Yeah, but not everyone can have that attitude that you have. Like you said, Hip-Hop is an art form. So to take Hip-Hop, this precious art form, and turn it into something commercial and all about money... That pisses people off. You can't blame them for getting mad.

I just think blaming Lil Wayne is such a cop-out 'cause most of his music is shit today, but he's been around since he was a kid. He's not just raping Hip-Hop, he's a part of it. He's been dropping albums since he was a teen, and giving all his fans so much free music. So I don't believe he's as bad as what people claim. He obviously has some love for the culture to be doing it for this long.

I think both points are true but should not, as has happened here, be argued against each other. Lil Wayne can be a 'good' person to remain in hiphop for such a long time but he can be commercial and non-good for hiphop in terms of its continuing to be a creative art-form.

[gutawafang]

I'm not exactly a BIG fan of his. What I like bout many of his songs is the way he do them. See, he alays adds color to his music. The clearest example would be the "female vocals" in the background. Some examples would be:

Jesus Walks
http://www.mp3raid.com/search/download-mp3/8/kanye_west_jesus_walks/1.html

and Livin' A Movie
http://www.mp3raid.com/search/download-mp3/1/kanye_west_livin_a_movie/1.html

Other than his "female vocals", he raps quite well as well. Though I know he won't beat Eminem, ever.
No offense. Ha.

If I hate Kanye, it'll definitely be his arrogance.

[Mc Cubz]

Lol @ the term "gangsterism."

But nah, I see what you're saying. I just never would have worded it like that... saying he handles himself well on live TV and such. But you're right, it's not something the labels will sweat over. Especially up to this point, no one takes Kanye's outbursts seriously anymore. They're just mad entertaining.

ye exactly - after saying I reckon they may be publicity stunts - I think its either that - or, as I later thought, that he has a screw lose you know, or maybe he was drunk, I dunno!

[James R.]

Kanye just really likes attention and can't control himself when he gets it. You never hear about him flipping out and shit randomly on the street or when he's shopping (aside from when he smashed that paparazzi's camera), but when he gets on tv or something similar with a large audience he tends to act an ass. He's just an attention whore that can't handle it when he gets it.

[Slim Zaddy]

Kanye just really likes attention and can't control himself when he gets it. You never hear about him flipping out and shit randomly on the street or when he's shopping (aside from when he smashed that paparazzi's camera), but when he gets on tv or something similar with a large audience he tends to act an ass. He's just an attention whore that can't handle it when he gets it.

that all right ,, props james for that

[mikefdw]

kanye rapper kanye r&b singer