Let me give you every reason that Kanye West is nothing but an undeserved scapegoat, who had provided nothing but top-tier music since his debut. Let me school you with some straight facts:
Kanye, despite his publicity stunts, is regarded by many as a kind, compassionate individual. He often talks to his fans, and from all accounts is genuinely interested in what they have to say, what their life is like, and what their goals are. This is somebody who for the past nine years has been public enemy number one. It would be easy for him to go into absolute seclusion, and bitterly resent everybody, but he doesn't. He has a passion behind what he does, and it reflects in his music. Rick Rubin regards Kanye as the most influential and groundbreaking artist in hip-hop at the moment. Paul McCartney regards Kanye as a genius. He invited Seth Rogen and James Franco to perform their "Bound 3" parody at his wedding. He has won the love and respect of anybody who genuinely takes an interest in his music (Which has won 21 grammy awards, might I add). Despite the VMA incident, Kanye and Taylor Swift are good friends, and Swift herself has a deep respect for Kanye as an artist.
Not to mention, the dude has not had it easy. He slaved for years as a producer before finally making his big break on the production for Jay-Z's Blueprint, with beats for Ain't No Love (Heart of the City) and I.Z.Z.O (Takeover). Despite his success as a producer, everybody told him he couldn't rap, and would never make it.
He eventually dropped College Dropout in 2004, reinventing the game with an album full of incredible soul-beats at a time where everybody was still trying to copy the G-Funk West Coast vibe Dr. Dre's 2001 had left. The album had smash hits like Through the Wire, where he rapped about his near-death experience in a car crash while STILL WEARING his reconstructive mouthgear; or his club-hit about Jesus in Jesus Walks, at a time where you weren't going to get anything religious on the radio unless you're on country/gospel station in the South.
Late Registration debuted 2005, with a completely fresh Soul sound, and featuring the talents of Adam Levine (Maroon 5), Nas, Jay-Z, and of course Jamie Foxx in his smash hit "Gold Digger". I don't care who you are, this song had everybody dancing and was played and still is played in every club from New York to Tokyo to Berlin. His other single "Diamonds From Sierra Lione" touched on the issues of Blood Diamonds and the exploitation of Africans by Africans
"Over here, its the drug trade - we die from drugs/ Over there, they die from what we buy from drugs".
This album also has one of his most heart-felt songs Kanye has produced to date: "Hey Mama", his tribute to his mother Donda West, who raised him as single black mother in Chicago, with all the trials and tribulations that brought. The song is a beautiful display of a man who has a deepfound respect for the one who gave him everything.
"I was three years old when you and I moved to the Chi/ Late december, harsh winter gave me a cold/ You fixed me up something that was good for my soul/ Famous homemade chicken soup, can I have another bowl?/ You worked late nights just to keep on the lights/ Momma got the training wheels so I could keep on my bike/ ... and it don't gotta be mother's day/ or your birthday for me to just call and say: 'Mama!' I wanna scream so loud for you/ cause i'm so proud of you."
2007 Kanye released Graduation. This was a completely new sound to his previous Soulful works. This had a heavy techno/EDM inspiration, from artists such as Daft Punk, in addition to the influence of House Music with its Chi-town origins. His hit song "Stronger", sampling the also famous Daft Punk song "Harder, Better, Faster" was played once again world-wide in every club from L.A. to London to Sydney. It was groundbreaking, as Kanye melded genres that nobody had been able to meld. He gave popularity to the Robotic Voice trope that many artists copy to this day, and re-purposed auto-tune. It was no longer for untalented hacks who couldn't sing: It was for artists who wanted to give a specific feel to their music.
Then by 2008, things really started going south for Kanye. His mother passed away due to complications with a cosmetic surgical operation, his relationship with his girlfriend was deteriorating, and he had a hatred of himself. It was in this despair and desperation that he produced his darkest work, "808s and Heartbreaks", which is essentially his thesis on pop music, providing us with an incredible set of pop beats, all of which were phenomenal, and embracing the cold, detached Robot Voice that he had popularized as a way of reflecting the depression and lack of joy and humanity he possessed. The album provided him an avenue to channel the dark times he was going through. The track "Coldest Winter" is directly about the passing of his mother, Donda
"It's 4am and I can't sleep/ Her love is all that I can see/ Memories made in the coldest winter/ goodbye my friend, will I ever love again/ If spring can take the snow away, can it wash away all our mistakes?/ Memories made in the coldest winter/ Goodbye my friend, I won't ever love again"
Then, in 2010 Kanye releases his Magnum Opus, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy". Critically acclaimed and regarded by many as the greatest rap album of all time, this album blew everybody out of the water, with not a single bad track. It received the near impossible 10/10 rating by Pitchfork, putting it in the same league as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Abbey Road" by the Beatles, "London Calling" by The Clash, and "Animals" by Pink Floyd. It was deeply self-reflexive, and in most senses a powerful declaration that he was not defeated, that he is in fact at the top of his game and that nothing can stop Yeezy season approaching. His song "Power" is nothing short of an inspiring, uplifting, empowering composition which firmly asserts that Kanye is back, and he does not give a flying fuck.
"Screams from the haters got a nice ring to it/ I guess every superhero need his theme music".
His other single "All of the Lights" has a whopping fifteen extra artists, including Rihanna, Elton John, Fergie, Kid Cudi and many others. I could write a whole essay on Runaway, or Blame Game
Then, in 2013 Kanye released "Yeezus", a.k.a. ABSOLUTE GENIUS. It is his anti-hiphop album of harsh, grinding samples, and disjointed jarring beats that comes together and by no sense of reason create some beautifully profound music. He denounces the institutional racism of the DEA and the CCA in his controversial track "New Slaves". He mocks the hubris and egocentrism that everybody sees him as having in his track I am a God, which takes the absolute piss out of the modern man who considers himself a god, with the absurd line
"I am a God/ So hurry up with my damn croissants!"
Kanye has stopped caring what people think about him a long time ago.
But that's not what makes the album ABSOLUTE GENIUS. It's the fact that the entire album is in fact an allegory depicting the Tragic fall of the "Yeezus" persona, going from absolute stardom and egotism with the strong, hard hitting, angry, egotistical tracks On Sight, Black Skinhead, I am a God, and New Slaves. Then, it shows the invevitable Tragic fall, like something straight from Aristotle himself: Hold My Liquor and I'm in it deal with Alcohol and Sex addiction in a way that shouts the typical social glorification of the Rockstar lifestyle, whilst robbing it of all its glory.
Had to stop at 7/11 like I needed gas/ I'm lying I needed condoms don't look through the glass./ Chasing love all the bittersweet hours lost/ eating asian pussy all I need was sweet and sour sauce
The distorted sound of the tracks and the uneasy schizophrenic sampling shows the deterioration of the Yeezus persona as he get in too deep, the distortion of his voice throughout the song makes the listener realise the horror of what it is to embrace these aspects of life.
Blood on the Leaves is the climax of the album. He returns to the Robot Voice to show the detachment and emotionless state that his sinful ways have led him to, removing his humanity and making him a heartless, soulless machine. This song is the Anagnorisis of the album (Similar to when Oedipus realizes that he's married his mother in the Greek Tragedy). Yeezus has fallen low since he declared himself a god.
"Now you sittin' courtside, wifey on the other side/ Gotta keep 'em separated, I call that apartheid/ Then she said she impregnated, that's the night your heart died/ Then you gotta go and tell your girl and report that/ Main reason cause your pastor said you can't abort that/ Now your driver say that new Benz you can't afford that/ All that cocaine on the table you can't snort that/ That goin' to that owin' money that the court got/ All in on that alimony, uh, yeah-yeah, she got you homie/ 'til death but do your part, unholy matrimony."
Guilt Trip is a continuation of Yeezus' road to redemption, his catharsis (Continuation of his Robot Voice). It's Yeezus' attempts to overcome his failed relationship and coming to terms with his own fallibility.
"Focus on the future and let the crew knock her" "If you loved me so much then why'd you let me go?" (x3)
Now, I hope that if you actually took the time to read at least half of this, you will see that the hatred for Kanye is little more than an attempt to marginalize one of the greatest artists of our time. His outbursts, though not classy, are not unfounded. Heck, John Lennon literally said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus; if that's not hubris I don't know what is. Both Lennon and West are icons and artists who have changed this world forever. Just because you haven't taken the time to see further than your limited frame-of-reference by no means makes Kanye a bad artist or a bad human being.
TL;DR Kanye what a guy