‘I Miss the Old Kanye’

Kanye West continues to stir up controversy.  PHOTO CREDIT: NBC News

Here we go again. It should come as little to no surprise that artist Kanye West made headlines throughout the month of February, airing his many grievances about ex-wife Kim Kardashian on social media, announcing the release of new music and even cutting ties with a long time collaborator and friend Kid Cudi. 

 With the release of his Netflix documentary, “Jeen-Yuhs” that’s composed of decades’ worth of rare footage showing his rise to fame and the emergence of his newest business venture, the StemPlayer, the timing of his most recent stunts were arguably no coincidence. 

If you’ve been a Kanye fan for a while or know anything about Ye’s history of controversies, his most recent actions, that of which are believed to have stemmed from his separation from the Kardashian billionaire, are almost expected. 

The self-proclaimed genius is known for being outspoken on many aspects of his life from his struggles with mental health to his issues with the music industry today. Ye rarely leaves little room for interpretation when it comes to saying exactly what is on his mind, allowing both fans and critics to get a glimpse of what he has planned next. 

Beginning in mid-January, Kanye and actress Julia Fox were on the front page of every entertainment news blog and website for their now short-lived and high-profile romance.

 Since their separation nearly a month later, Fox expressed her appreciation for their time together, telling Entertainment News it “felt like hitting a reset button” and that it “brought a spark back” into her life. 

I personally never followed the relationship closely enough to care all that much. For me, it’s become too exhausting trying to follow Kanye’s actions that don’t directly pertain to his music. I get nervous that he’s going to say something offensive again, or that he’s going to announce something that forces me to remember why I often choose to love his art from a distance. 

Regardless, I don’t believe Ye ever does anything without an ulterior motive and I wouldn’t put it past his ego to enter relationships post divorce for the guaranteed publicity he’ll gain from it. 

Soon after things with Fox died down in the press, West posted a photo of a truckload of roses on Instagram and tagged Kardashian, insinuating that they were sent from him to her for Valentine’s Day. Kardashian went on to accuse West of harassing her and their children online, according to BuzzFeedNews. 

Ye even went as far as encouraging his fans and followers to publicly show their support for him and disdain for Kardashian’s confirmed boyfriend, Saturday Night Live actor Pete Davdison, in a post writing, “If anyone loves me and my family if you see Skete in real life scream at the loser at the top of your lungs and say Kimye forever”. 

He was seemingly brought back down to earth after receiving text messages that he later leaked on social media from Kardashian, warning he was creating an unsafe and dangerous environment that would open the door for harm to come Davidson’s way. Ye posted screenshots of the texts, adversely referring to Davidson as “Skete” and captioning the photo, “Upon my wife’s request please nobody do anything physical to skete I’m going to handle the situation myself”. 

According to People Magazine, Ye eventually released a statement admitting his missteps in handling such a personal family matter so publicly, writing,  “I know sharing screenshots was jarring and came off as harassing Kim,” and “I take accountability. I’m still learning in real time.” To me, this was another classic example of Ye doing what he does best: getting and keeping the attention of the public, good or bad.
Then came a personally upsetting move on Ye’s end: publicly ending his friendship with long-time collaborator and rapper Kid Cudi. On February 12, Kanye announced Cudi was not going to appear as a feature artist on his upcoming album and “Donda” sequel, “Donda 2” because of the fact that he remained friends with Davidson despite the news of his and Kardashian’s blossoming romance. I know that loyalty is something Ye values, which is why this news came as the most shocking to me. Taking to Instagram again he wrote, “Just so everyone knows, Cudi will not be on Donda because he’s friends with you know who.” Cudi took to Twitter in response, referencing a private conversation the two had on the matter and stating, “We talked weeks ago about this. You’re whack for flipping the script and posting this lie just for a look on the internet. You ain’t no friend. BYE.” Cudi later added, “God opens the door so the wrong people can exit ur life,” according to his Twitter account. 

As someone who has loved both artists and their partnered projects for years, like their joint album, “KIDS SEE GHOSTS,” this development in Kanye’s month-long social media escapade actually made me sad. I couldn’t help but wonder whether or not he even cares about maintaining these relationships with other artists who have praised his work, in all its mediums, for years. While being a Kanye fan comes with a mix of both high and low expectations, this was something I could have never anticipated happening. 

I’ve learned to be cautious in my defense of Ye as a person, and as an artist. Despite his approach, there are some topics he speaks on like the role of streaming services in the music industry and the view of the Black man in our society, that I agree with. However, it gets harder and harder to take the time to listen to his gospels, in both his music and on his social media posts. I’m always going to remember how I felt the first time I heard Kanye’s music and how important it was in my journey to falling in love with rap and hip hop. But as his priorities seemingly shift farther away from his music and unto trivial things like a momentary spotlight,  so does my ability to remain a devoted fan.