Is it possible for me to hate your sunglasses more?
Strangely enough, I was beaten to the punch by Amanda on this subject today. More specifically, I was beaten to the punch by a site called "Mama Pop" which wrote up "the Top 10 reasons why Kanye West is a douche" here.
I wasn't going to write about why Kanye is an ahole (although there is plenty of material why - three things Mama Pop missed include the monumental hissy fit he threw after the Grammy's when Maroon 5 won best new artist instead of him, the infamous "George Bush don't like black people" moment, and the fact he made sunglasses that you cannot see out of popular - I hate those so much) but about how it's too bad he is one, because he's really freaking talented.
I picked up his new album 808's and Heartbreaks and I have to admit, I really, really like it. It's more electro pop than rap and it completely abandons the ridiculous skits that would hamper his previous albums, and it is all the better for it. It has a ton of soul and some of the best beats featured in any of his albums. It's a really hard album not to like.
Of course, with a guy who is assuredly very intelligent and matches that with a natural charisma and immense talent, why is it that it's impossible for him to not be needlessly controversial? Is he just an attention whore? Can he not live unless someone is paying attention to him at all moments? He surrounds the release of his album with such tomfoolery as claiming he's the "voice of the generation" or other such nonsense seemingly just to draw attention, when the album can stand on its own with clear cut number one singles like "Heartless" and "Love Lockdown."
The worst thing is he spent so much time establishing himself as intelligent and focused on different things than the rest of the artists in his genre, and then progressed to destroy that by developing what may be the single biggest ego on the planet.
It kills me. I'll continue to enjoy his album, but man, the guy needs to stop being so in love with himself and stop being so in to being controversial. It makes me want to hate the guys music, just because of his personality.
Lock it up Kanye. There's no reason to be so ridiculous. You make good music. Sell yourself on that, not on the controversial things you brew up in the old noodle. Next time you come up with something ludicrous to say, sit the next few plays out and stop talking for a while. You'll be thankful for actually not talking for once, as unbelievable as that seems.
