Kanye West’s rise to fame stemmed from his provocative raps containing slurs and offensive lyrics. He has been known to the music world as an egotistical, narcissistic, rapper and encased the aspects of hip-hop that made it offensive, drawing in younger generations. These teens and young adults flocked to his derogatory songs. Kanye is good at one thing: drawing in a public eye to his antics and self-righteous beliefs. West has undergone multiple, seemingly life altering, changes relating to his personality and what he believes in. It is hard to say whether his discovery of the Lord is a valid and true statement or another grab at the public, resulting in controversy, and ultimately, growth in popularity. Not to diminish his beliefs, and attack his new found religious calling, but his abrupt change in form cannot truly be taken seriously yet. From top to bottom, style to actions, Kanye has changed himself completely. Shockingly, Kanye has been seen attacking the very genre that popularized his music, and overall, his name in the hip-hop world. This flip in personality cannot logically be understood, yet millions are accepting and supporting it. Can this ‘new Kanye’ really be true to his word, or is it another change that will soon come to an end, or be contradicted in the future?

Jesus is King is his first album to feature no curse words, and is a drastic change from his normal music. This change from a blatant internet troll, to a religiously motivated, Sunday service holding, God loving artist, must be scrutinized. Kanye’s music has featured clearly offensive lyrics that are actually too provocative and offensive to be placed in a school paper, therefore must be paraphrased. These lyrics included phrases relating to sexual actions with a highly respected religious figure. It doesn’t need explaining the blatant contradiction that this example puts forth, as Kanye’s latest change was a religious awakening, and he has spoken of a sexual fantasy relating to a nun, it is an egregious error on his part. Now obviously an enlightenment, and better summarized, change of heart, is valid, as people’s opinions change throughout their lives, but this drastic of a change causes people to think, “is it real”?

 Lyrics like this have drawn millions, as well as offended millions, yet today Kanye appears to bash artists simply following in his footsteps. How is that fair, fair to the public, fair to his fellow artists, or to put it bluntly, ethically just? The very fact that Kanye continues to contradict his own word, flipping his beliefs on their side, over and over. It’s impossible to take the man seriously, or even respect his word moving forward.

Kanye has made several severe changes related to his presence in the world. This can only leave the public to assume that his character is too tightly wound and unstable as he is seen continuously switching his beliefs, as well as aspirations as an artist and fashion designer. Kanye has always been the boastful, cocky hip-hop artist that his peers respect, but how? His rise to fame was a result of his signing with Roc-A-Fella centers, a record label that quickly swooped up the young artist in 2000. Kanye then went on to produce many albums, as well as feature on top selling artists singles. As Kanye’s name grew, so did his ego, and his die hard fan base. 

Kanye has had a consistent timeline of slip ups both with the media, and the general public. Uttering phrases like “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” on live television, a jab at the president to gain more followers due to his hysterical ignorance. Another example of his blatant lack of respect for anyone is embodied in a late night tweet written and shared by the man himself. Again, this is too offensive to actually quote, so it must be paraphrased.. Kanye wrote about how an abortion can cost a ‘rich man’ up to 50 thousand, maybe even 100. He then goes on to state that “gold diggin’” ‘woman’ must be getting pregnant on purpose. It s horrendous to see the ignorance to the influence he has and how blatantly disrespectful what he is saying is.

Taking into consideration all of the egregious errors and popularized mistakes, Kanye as a character can be labeled as unstable and untrustworthy. His word should not be believed in when relating to his new found religion, as he is contradicting previous lyrics from songs he has written. Kanye is a quick-fire character who acts upon impulse and he offers his audience an entertaining story, but nothing more. Being that Kayne has proven to be incapable of consistency and reliability, the idealization, or even following of his journey or beliefs should not continue to be supported.