The Downfall of Kanye West

May Luntumbue, Staff Writer

Kanye, oh, Kanye. The well known artist has come a very long way. He released his first album “Kon the Louis Vuitton Don” in 2004. He reached success with his music. His lyrics truly marked people all around the world. Not only do people admire him for his ability to “spit bars”, but also his fashion sense.

In 2016, Kanye West had an “Uh Oh” moment. He suddenly got all his tour dates canceled, and was later hospitalized (NBC News). He ranted at one of the concerts, and was “under observation” (CNN) in a Los Angeles hospital. After that moment, he decided it was time he focused on himself, and more relaxing hobbies. Many of his fans were devastated, yet they soon realized that it was for the artist’s own good.

For the year of 2018, Kanye probably had a New Year’s Resolution: Get back to being social! He began tweeting again. He spilled some tea on his plans for the year: A new album! According to Kanye, the album will consist of 7 songs. Hey, short, but better something than nothing. He also mentioned how he wants the album cover to look like. The plan for the album cover was to be the photo of the man who performed his mother’s last surgery. Although Kanye said it was meant to be a way for him to forgive and move on from the 2007 incident, the surgeon decided he’d pass on the opportunity. Kanye took the news well.

Aside from working on an album, Kanye has been quite involved in political matters that many of his fans did not take lightly. He spoke about his somewhat support to Donald Trump, and bashed former President Obama in the process. He said Obama did not help the city of Chicago (his hometown) while he was in office. Of course, people found a way to prove him wrong. Many of his celebrity friends told him what they thought through social media or through text (which Kanye posted screenshots of). One of those friends consisted of John Legend. In the midst of the turmoil, he had an interview with TMZ. He explained how he felt about slavery, saying that at some point, 400 years of slavery was a choice. Once again, many fans lost it. As a result of his comments, he lost not 1, not 20, not 100, but over 10 MILLION followers on Twitter. According to Cosmopolitan, the celebrities that unfollowed Kanye are as follows: Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, The Weeknd, Nicki Minaj, BTS, Harry Styles, Justin Bieber, and Kendrick Lamar. What a large number! Watch those words next time, maybe?  

Kanye tried to get out of his shell. He tried to become more involved with social media and the press. However, his plan backfired on him. His wife, Kim Kardashian-West had to jump in several times to defend her husband. Despite the controversy that Kanye caused, we’re glad to see he’s back and trying to better himself. Best wishes to him!