I don't get Kanye West's popularity

[itsrobert]

Maybe I'm just too old? I guess he's a showman, but so is Trump.

[Wounded Bear]

1. Was never into the hip hop thing, so I'm with you...

[Submariner]

26. Likewise, I miss Berry Gordy's MOTOWN of the 60s/70s with the Funk Brothers playing the melodies

of the real singers (Temptations, Supremes etc). The hip hop sounds (to me anyway) like just reciting (talking voice) of lyrics with no melody. No bass, soprano, falsetto, just talking loud to the beat.

[Lebam in LA]

28. his wife made a porn video?

[FromTheAshes]

2. I really don't think he is popular.........anymore. nt

[Arkansas Granny]

3. Maybe because he married a Kardashian? I dunno.

[2naSalit]

4. You're not alone.

I'm a musician and I don't see any talent there.

[Wellstone ruled]

11. Same here,

the Guy has no real Talent. Mostly connections to the so called Entertainment World of Vegas and Hollywood via his arm Candy.

[Power 2 the People]

19. +1000

[redstatebluegirl]

5. The white people I know who like him are Trumpers.

They bring his name up saying they aren't racist because they like Kayne.

[MariaCSR]

7. Exactly. Ask them to name a song and they go blank.

I really wish he would go away.

[empedocles]

6. PROMOTION!PROMOTIONSEXB&WPROMOTION!

[MariaCSR]

8. He hasn't been right in the head since his mom passed.

He's been living out his mental illness on the world stage and yet no one around him will pull him.back. its quite sad.

[violetpastille]

34. His self-hatred and mental illness is making some people some money.

Including himself, I guess.

I can't look. I can't watch. It's too exploitive. He should be getting better care.

[MariaCSR]

38. Agreed.

[JaneQPublic]

9. Loved his bottle costume...

...not.

[pwb]

10. Kayne is a guy?

I thought Kayne was a women's name. I don't know the guy. Never heard him perform. Sounds like from here that he is full of himself like trump.

[Tipperary]

13. The name is "Kanye" - op misspelled it.

[Totally Tunsie]

20. When Ye's* not a bottle, he's a guy.

*Ye is apparently now his preferred new name, probably because his new-found audience of tRumpsters had too much difficulty with Kanye. Either that or he's trying out new names for his KardASSian Protection Plan where he ditches wifie and kidwests and disappears.

[mythology]

21. Because some things must be experienced to be believed

Here is an example of him "performing". Please note, I'm not responsible for any lost lunches or therapy bills that result from watching the below.

https://vimeo.com/132078549

And to soothe your ears, here's a proper version of the song:

[pwb]

22. i have no desire to hear him. Queen i love.

Last edited Sun Sep 30, 2018, 06:28 PM - Edit history (1)

thanks though.

[yonder]

25. I'm not a ye-Kan fan one bit, but objectively, that was awful. Perrier bottlesuit wouldn't help.

Maybe his monitors were dodgy but he wasn't matching the notes of the original mix, even after trying to slide up to them. Blame the sound guys? Then, he would stop and expect the crowd to hit the high parts. What, he doesn't have a falsetto? Also, his voice didn't have projection power of the original vocals. Overall, he just didn't put forth a lot of effort, IMO.

[vi5]

12. Honestly it's white hipsters that put him over the top in popularity....

Yes, he's got a lot of non-white fans in the hip hop community, many of whom are just apolitical. But he has a lot of white hipster 20 and 30 something fans who don't like the politics but who more than anything like to up their bonafides by praising him as a genius and it's that added demographic loyalty that puts him over the top in popularity.

[Sunsky]

14. Well I don't get it either

His songs have declined in quality along with his mental state.
My daughter came to me singing- Poopity scoop, scoopdiddy whoop... I asked, poop what? What is that? She said it's the latest Kanye song and her friends in elementary school are always singing it. I listened on YouTube and I couldn't believe that a big man (he's years older than me) would sing such trash.

[tenderfoot]

15. I know who he is and what he looks like - wouldn't know his music if I heard it.

I don't listen to the radio much these days and if I do, it's either EDM or classical.

[YOHABLO]

16. I'm sorry but I can't stand him nor his music. Can't stand the Kardashians either.

[Cousin Dupree]

44. That is so gracious of you to call what he does music

[rusty fender]

17. He is popular with teen boys

He really is just a ‘personality’ much like his wife.

[Brainstormy]

27. famous for being famous

as they say.

[ADX]

18. Back in the day, he used to have talent...

...then his Mom died and he went off the deep end. Now he's nothing but an attention whore who married into the quintessential attention-whoring family and thinks the world hangs on his every word and opinion. What gets me is that the very same Trumpsters who now love him called him a "despicable ghetto n*gg*r" when he had the audacity to interrupt poor little Taylor Swift's Grammy speech years ago.

[no_hypocrisy]

23. IMO Yeezy is winding down.

Last edited Sun Sep 30, 2018, 10:06 PM - Edit history (1)

Once there was Sean Colmes (a/k/a Puffy, Diddy. Puff Daddy). Then there was Kanye. Waiting for his replacement.

[The Polack MSgt]

24. Kanye has had more than 2 decades

Making music. Some of it's truly great - some is complete trash.

Don't let disdain for his politics color your opinion about his talent.

This guy ain't Kid Rock FFS Kanye's actually talented.

&index=2&list=PL0g3vd4QVlkTw4uyEXUpOSE_iCsPxa1nF

[Brainstormy]

29. whatever.

got to give it to that one, though. I can understand most of the words, a rarity in today's music.

[Lebam in LA]

30. Sorry but talented?

We used to say about that kind of singing: He couldn't carry a tune in a gunny sack (yes I am showing my age)

[The Polack MSgt]

33. I like a lot of Hip Hop

It is not about the ability to sing it's the words and the construction of the song

Neil Young, Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan couldn't sing for shit and all of them were mile markers in the road to where music is today.

it was never about the voice alone - after all, Bobby Vincent and Gino Vinelli had marvelous voices and impeccable technical skill and made schlock and nonsense.

I get that most old white people simply don't get hip hop at all, but dismissing an entire genre out of hand - and denigrating the skills of all those involved in making it is a mistake.


So even though Kanye has gone nuts and his last 2 records are weak, I have to push back against this thread

[JHan]

39. from one of the best albums of 2004,

and one of the best debut albums ever.

[Lebam in LA]

45. I'm not dissing HipHop

I am dissing kayne

[FromTheAshes]

49. What age do you consider old because people aren't "getting it"? nt

[The Polack MSgt]

54. I use the "Me Scale" for all judgements

Fatter than me is fat, older than me is old, dumber than me is dumb etc. We all use that scale - I just admit it

All kidding aside I am talking about people my age or older.

I'm in my late 50s

[FromTheAshes]

56. LOL the me scale !! Great...I have another 10 years before I'm old !!! But I'm getting there

because I find myself complaining about the hip hop out there nowadays and I think it's fallen off since back in the day...so yeah I guess it's official...I'm old !

[Codeine]

65. Oh come on, I'm not old and even I know

Neil Young can sing. You take that blasphemy back!!

[ADX]

40. Yeah, "College Dropout" and "Late Registration" were dope...

...but just about everything since has been garbage, especially the later you get in his catalog. Like I said earlier, when Donda died, he lost his last, best guiding influence and it's all been downhill from there.

[The Polack MSgt]

42. I agree he's been on a downward slide

With the occasional (lately Very Occasional) good track mixed in for probably 12 or 15 years

But your comment is not what I'm pushing back on.

Your comment is fair and has an informed starting point.

[nolabear]

53. I loved both of those too. But he seems to have badly lost his way.

Maybe his mother helped keep him together. Maybe the craziness of Kardashian World makes an obvious problem worse and those who ride the train let it run out of control.

I can’t decide what his problem actually is, but he’s got some. I’m just sorry it’s out there.

[Freddie]

61. My kids loved those albums

When they were in HS 10+ years ago. To my age group a lot of hip-hop is song stealing and he was very creative about it. Son still listens to that stuff, daughter likes country now.
I think he’s got serious mental problems and marrying into That Family didn’t help.

[rockfordfile]

41. No. No way in hell.

[tulipsandroses]

60. I totally agree - and I hate to see what has become of Kanye

If you don't like hip hop - fine - That's one thing. But I think its a bit unfair to disregard his past contributions to Hip Hop. His music today, does not compare to the work he's done in the past. Not to mention- his work with other artists.

So I agree, separate his politics from his contributions as a musician.

I don't think its fair either to look at it through the lens of I don't like hip hop.

I don't like some other genres of music. It would be unfair of me to criticize an artist in a genre I don't even like.

For instance, I am not a fan of opera, folk music and most country- I am clearly not the best person to be critical of artists in that genre.
I find that his music has declined. Not what it used to be. As I said in another post, he is certainly not the greatest lyricist but he was a talent to be reckoned with when he was on top of his game .

The Kanye that gave us All Falls Down, Stronger, Jesus Walks, Can't tell me nothing - is not the same Kanye today.

Many people are still trying to reconcile that person with the person we see today. That person that was open about his own insecurities - even with his big ol ego- was refreshing back then.

Today its quite sad to see his decline.

There is a lot to criticize about Kanye. However, to question his talents and contributions IMO, is an unfair criticism if you are not looking at the totality of his contributions to the Genre. And especially if you are approaching it with a dislike of the genre.



What is Kanye's appeal to many? His history - His past contributions to the art of hip hop. Those that are hip hop fans, can still respect that. The people that know him from his days as a producer for other great artists before he became a recording artist himself.

Others may be drawn to his over the top statements for their own nefarious reasons, but many of his long time fans are still waiting for the old Kanye to return.

Having said all of that. Kanye is canceled as far as I am concerned. I am just not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
I hate that he is still an influence on young minds. That is my problem with Kanye. Not his talent.

[crazycatlady]

63. I don't care if he has talent, he's still an asshole

Sometimes I can separate the person from the talent. In KAyne's case, I can't.

[The Polack MSgt]

66. Yes he is an asshole

Not even arguing that

Just bugged by the whole "This guy is an asshole and that means the whole genre he's performed in is shitty - just like I've been saying since 1988!!!!" vibe this thread has

[Gothmog]

31. I can not explain this popularity either

I really do not like this idiot

[milestogo]

32. Me neither.

I met a young man who told me he was preparing for 2 careers: to be a rapper and a paralegal.

He saw being a rapper as a backup to being a paralegal - like he thought his success as a rapper was a sure thing, a paralegal not so much.

[JCMach1]

35. I ain't saying he a gold digger...

[Docreed2003]

36. Once upon a time...

He was extremely talented and made good music...that seems like forever ago.

After his mother died, he changed significantly, perhaps it's his despair of losing her or his inability to deal with that loss, but he changed. Now he seems to buy into his own absurd image and is acting absurd for absurdity's sake. It's a sad loss of talent, because there was a time where he did make quality music.

[Locrian]

37. talented troll - similar to trump

Not so talented - I've seen performers that "haven't made it" with 10x the talent.
But he gets attention - he's a perfect fit for the jacked in social medial hype machine.

[Blueplanet]

43. Seems Kanye lost his way when his mother died

His mother died following complications from surgery. He was already on shaky ground.
Maybe this has something to do with his behavior.

[underpants]

59. That's what several people have said to me.

He went off the rails when his mother died.

[demtenjeep]

46. My students don't like him

Although we have a kid with three name so maybe another generation did

[JonLP24]

47. There are plenty of people that like his music but hate his politics

Kanye West is Kanye West. No matter how ridiculous his “real time” Twitter philosophy book is, we always know that when he drops (June 1 for his solo project, according to his Twitter), we’re going to get some game-changing art. He never disappoints. I hate Yeezus and can still acknowledge it for being brilliant. I may never listen again and I think it’s his worst album, but I also think Kanye’s worst is better than most people’s best. Kanye gon’ Kanye.

https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/im-really-excited-for-this-kanye-west-and-kid-cudi-albu-1825397997

I haven't listened to rap since the early 2000s last Kanye song I remember is Golddigger.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

48. Is he even popular anymore?

I think he is famous. People know him because his music used to be popular and he married Kim Kardashian. What has he done lately that is any good though? Nothing I can think of.

[JonLP24]

50. Every album he releases is successful

Kanye West Earns Eighth No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Ye'

He's earned all eight consecutively, tying Eminem and The Beatles for the longest streak of No. 1s.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.billboard.com/amp/articles/columns/chart-beat/8460189/kanye-west-eighth-no-1-album-billboard-200-ye

[FromTheAshes]

52. All the black folks I know cannot stand this brutha. nt

[JonLP24]

55. He has a new fan base with white conservatives

Same types that are fans of Candace Owens.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

57. I never heard of her before.

I had to look her up. Yeah, young, black, female conservative commentator... she's just a sell out for the money.

[shanti]

51. Me neither

Watching the man have a public mental decompensation is not my type of amusement. It seems like his mother, who is gone now, kept him in check. The man seems to be bipolar, and he likes his mania, so doesn't want his meds.

I know he's known as a rapper, but he fancies himself as a sometime singer? Check out the cringeworthy video where he attempts to upstage Freddie Mercury's performance on Bohemian Rhapsody.

[DFW]

58. I didn't even know who the guy was until a couple of weeks ago.

No one in these parts has the slightest idea who he is.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

62. Kanye has made some truly fantastic and genius music.

He also makes a lot that isn't so great and is really self-indulgent.

But dude knows his music.

[Lucinda]

64. He is occasionally brilliant and occasionally waaaaay off in understanding the world

And I agree with others, he seems to have had a lot of trouble since his mother passed

[wellst0nev0ter]

67. He was a DU darling

when he said in 2005 "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

Then his mother died two years later, and it's been all downhill from there.

[Initech]

68. The writers of 30 Rock based Tracy Jordan's loose cannon nature off Kanye.