Kanye West’s former collaborator Warryn Campbell is commending the rap mogul for being open about his mental health diagnosis on his latest album Ye.
Campbell, the music producer who is married to gospel music singer Erica Campbell, previously worked with West on his second and third studio albums Late Registration and Graduation. The album artwork for his eighth studio offering Ye hints at him being bipolar with the words “I hate being bipolar it’s awesome,” written in neon green across a mountainous landscape.
The current pastor of California Worship Center in Los Angeles, California applauded West’s decision to be transparent about his mental health diagnosis.
“I commend him for doing that and for consistently always putting out great music. When the album [Ye] dropped I was like my man is back, my man is back,” Campbell told HipHollywood Friday. “He is one of those guys he will tell on himself, he will control his narrative. That’s his power, if you let someone else tell your story you are powerless.”
The pastor and musician is gearing up to star in We’re The Campbells, a new TV One reality series documenting his family life. While Campbell was supportive of West’s decision to be transparent about his mental health journey, he did question West recently wearing a Make America Great Again hat signed by President Donald Trump and saying “slavery was a choice” when visiting TMZ last month.
“He’s one of the most militant people I know,” said Campbell. “So it was shocking.”
After West’s controversial statements, he released Ye which Campbell said seemed to make more sense of his public behavior. The music producer and preacher compared West’s methods of garnering publicity with that of Trump’s presidential campaign.
“He’s just doing exactly what Donald Trump did [when he was running for President] to get attention on him because he has the album coming out,” he said.
Earlier this year, West revealed that he received an official mental health diagnosis at the age of 39. Now 41, it seems he is embracing it.
On his album, the rapper called his “mental condition” a superpower instead of a disability. According to the National Institute of Mental Health , Bipolar disorder is characterized as a manic-depressive illness that can result in unusual mood changes and the ability to do day-to-day tasks.
At times the moods can range from manic periods where people can be extremely energetic to depressive episodes where people can become very sad.
