Kanye West: Controversial Kanye’s Latest Mix-Up
The perpetual circus surrounding Kanye West lives on, as West’s newest track appeared briefly on Apple Music only to inexplicably vanish. The College Dropout’s latest work, entitled Saint Pablo, was met with initial rave reviews, before going MIA.
That West’s debuting single would suddenly go incognito on one of the world’s largest streaming services is just par for the course concerning the 38-year-old musician’s latest studio offering.
West has vexed and perplexed fans with numerous incarnations of The Life of Pablo since the album officially debuted February 14. Pablo is Yeezy’s seventh studio album –all of which have captured Billboard 200’s top spot upon release. Fans of Mr. West voiced displeasure concerning Pablo’s constant tweaks. However that did not deter the masses from streaming Kanye’s “sort-of finished” Pablo a staggering 250 million times from April 1 through the 10th, according to Tidal.
“I wrote Saint Pablo after admitting to my greatest shame my personal debt. But I’m not ashamed anymore.”
That’s classic Kanye, as West has received equal amounts of public derision for his impulsive, often nonsensical behavior as critical acclaim for an array of groundbreaking artistic contributions. West’s ascension to fame began as a cutting-edge producer for lauded 90’s hip-hop acts Foxy Brown, Harlem World, Carl Thomas, and Nas.
However, the apotheosis of Kanye West’s production career came in the early millennium, when as an in-house beat-maker for Roc-A-Fella Records, West put down legendary tracks on Jay-Z’s universally renowned Blueprint album.
From that point, West pined desperately for his own record deal. Unfortunately, most labels were unwilling to sign Kanye as an act. It was ultimately a reluctant Damon Dash, then head of Roc-A-Fella, who gave the Georgia-born superstar his first break.
From the onset of Kanye West’s classic debut-album, The College Dropout, West has proven himself as one of the world’s premiere entertainers. So much so that Entertainment Weekly had this sterling deceleration concerning West’s freshman offering:
“West delivers the goods with a disarming mix of confessional honesty and sarcastic humor, earnest idealism and big-p*mping materialism. In a scene still dominated by authenticity battles and gangsta posturing, he’s a middle-class, politically conscious, post-thug, bourgeois rapper — and that’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
Nothing to be ashamed of, indeed. In fact, West’s preppy, self-aggrandizing style gave rise to a new niche of hip-hop performer. Unabashedly, West’s bombast has seen no tangible separation from art and real-life. That West’s “life imitates art” or “art imitates life” has made the husband of media maven Kim Kardashian an undeniable attraction.
“The concept of commercialism in the fashion and art world is looked down upon. You know, just to think, ‘What amount of creativity does it take to make something that masses of people like?’ And, ‘How does creativity apply across the board?”
However, for every deep, thought-provoking statement from West, we are given these self-indulgent nuggets of vainglory:
“If I was just a fan of music, I would think that I was the number one artist in the world.”
In fairness, many of Kanye’s fans agree with the latter statement. West’s latest single Saint Pablo has been described as the audacious rapper’s finest work in some time. The six-minute piece includes an appearance from Sampha and is described as “pretty awesome” by Esquire.
Though the track is currently down on Apple Music, it will no-doubt be streaming again soon. After listening, check back with The Inquisitr to see what Kanye West will do next.
[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]
