Kanye West stopped by Big Boy TV to promote his new album Jesus Is King, but he had much more to say about the influence of social media and politics on “The Culture” and its subsequent brainwashing.
West, 42, is not the one to filter his words. Early interviews of the “Jesus Walks” rapper shows a young West talking about politics, religion and the black community since the very beginning of his career.
The son of a Black Panther activist and university professor, West is often misunderstood for his analytical thinking that sometimes lends him unpopular ideologies regarding the black community. For instance, when he wore the “Make America Great Again” hat and endorsed Donald Trump publicly, people on social media who claimed to be black denounced the music artist and added him to the unforgiving “cancel culture” list.
To add to the flames, West really agitated the black community when he went on TMZ Live and said, “When you hear about slavery for 400 years… For 400 years? That sounds like a choice.” Many interpreted what he said as “Slavery was a choice”. Never really able to articulate himself well, many people took what he was saying as disrespect to the ancestors of black people and all those who worked toward abolishing slavery.
“I’m the guy who said stop gay bashing, I took that “L”,” he told Big Boy. “Hip Hop was dropping F bombs and I said stop it. As soon as I said “closed on Sunday just like Chick-Fil-A”, there was LGBTQ articles saying they need to boycott my company. I said George Bush don’t care about black people. As soon as I wore a red hat, I’m a coon. You can’t do enough for nobody out here! So, how about I stop. People forget so quickly.”
The noise that comes with West’s messages is partly due to his inability to explain his thoughts well, but also the quickness of detractors to want to cancel people before they even try to understand the message.
In their haste and desire to be the first to comment or get that look, some social media users and press operate like termites eating away at soundbites and headlines often misinterpreting the information. The result is a serious case of telephone where the final message is one that is misconstrued and inaccurate.
The bottomline is that Kanye West wants “The Culture” to have a mind of its own and think outside of the box. “Wake up culture! Hip Hop has never been about following rules…We not even speaking in our own language,” West said in the interview.
With a very serious disposition, West addressed the issues with Hip Hop. “The culture has you focused so much on f**king somebody’s b*tch and pulling up in a foreign and rapping about things that can get you locked up and then saying you’re about prison reform. We brainwashed out here, bro.”
The father of four is highly disappointed with the state and trajectory of Hip Hop. The genre of music is indeed influential in the black community, but because of the current content that’s being put out by artists who do not care about their responsibility to their community and commercialization of the music, Hip Hop has essentially sold out.
Not all music and every artist, but the popular music that’s pushed to the ears of the impressionable youth. There is an issue if the art that is supposed to reflect real life only has one perspective and that is one that views black people in a denigrating or disparaging way, such as being a glamorized drug dealer, gangster or sex worker of some sort.
The on-again-off-again guest star of Keeping Up With The Kardashians went in on social media and how people don’t realize that apps like Instagram are specifically built to make people addicted.
He mentioned that he learned the swiping motions create dopamine in the minds of users and give them a sense of accomplishment, which is a false reality. “Social media is doing more to hurt families than it is to help families, and families are the key to health,” said West.
The producer also addressed politics implying that just because you’re black doesn’t mean you should automatically vote Democrat. “Democrats had us voting Democrat for food stamps for years, bro…guns in the 80s, taking the fathers out the home, plan b, lowering our votes, making us abort our children.” He followed up saying that the most racist thing people could tell him is to make a decision based off his race.
While West makes a point about Democrats not really blazing a trail in significant change for the black community, he seems to be a little bit misinformed about the realities of American politics and U.S. history. In fact, the Republican party was ultimately responsible for creating the stigma and myth about black people on welfare.
Narratives about black people being the main recipients of public assistance and being too lazy to work were crafted under the Ronald Reagan administration who had “anti-poor resentment” and led a crusade to give poverty a face in America. This same narrative is found in today’s politics, but has enlarged to include the Latinx community. The reality is that historically the white population, the largest demographic of the U.S., was the main recipient of welfare.
Even more pressing is the fact that the welfare system penalizes recipients for making substantial progress in their lives. For instance, benefits can be reduced significantly if the recipient happens to be in a two parent home or obtains a new job or seeks a higher education, even if assistance is still needed to achieve and maintain these goals. The system should be built to get people on their feet, not keep them on their a**.
West has valid concerns about social media and today’s Hip Hop demoralizing the black community, but he’s also a walking contradiction. Big Boy attempted to point this out when he asked the music star how he could judge social media when his family, the Kardashians, use social media as their livelihood. West deflected from the question.
Even when he yells that he doesn’t need the validation of anyone but God, yet West is still concerned with what “The Culture” has to say about him.
Another troubling aspect about West’s rhetoric is his overinflated infatuation with white counterparts and businessmen such as, Steve Jobs, Jack Dorsey, Walt Disney and more.
Big Boy, who clearly did not agree with West’s sentiments, had a stinger question when he asked ‘Ye if he cared what white Twitter says about him. Yeezy responded, “I’m happy that that’s a term. Yes, as a matter of fact I do. I love Jack Dorsey, the owner of Twitter, that comes over my house and gives me business advice, looks at contracts, respects me, honors me. He is my favorite founder.”
Big Boy responded, “Jack Dorsey, Steve Jobs, Adidas. Don’t forget about us.”
Despite the mixed messaging, at the end of the day West does have some important things to say that should be considered. One major purpose for college education is for people to train their minds to question, become critical thinkers and innovate.
But, in today’s society, education has become a laissez faire status quo factory pulling in students to push them out with memorized knowledge and piles of debt. From college, people are expected to follow the system and do it just like the person before them. West is simply saying it doesn’t have to be like that. Break the mold.
Watch the interview HERE.
