I want to like you Kanye…

Published: February 12, 2016

That's barely disputable. Even the many people who hate him have to acknowledge he's compelling, both as a musician and as an icon. Their hatred is evidence. And, since much of that hatred (and the petitions it signs) is rooted in thinly-veiled racism, defending him can be as knee-jerk as dismissing him. That's actually one of the most compelling things about Kanye - he forces you to take sides. And I want to be on his side. He just makes it so damn hard.

Last week, after the botched TIDAL release of Rihanna's Anti and the lead-up to Kanye West's new album (then called WAVES), I started writing a piece about how messy album rollouts might actually be a good thing. Then The Fader stole the words right out of my mouth (or WordPress draft). I'm glad they did, because a week later I would have been eating those words.

In a lot of ways the (apparently still ongoing) rollout to what's now known as The Life of Pablo has been exhilarating. While some celebrities (including Kanye's own wife) use social media as a very carefully manufactured marketing platform, to the point of being subject to advertising laws, Kanye's has given us a real glimpse into both his process and his psyche.

We saw him set a release date he couldn't back out of - a listening session/fashion show at Madison Square Garden, livestreamed to 20 million people around the world on TIDAL - and then scramble to get his album done in time. His scrawled notepad of a track list took on mythical properties. For a magical moment it seemed like anything could happen. No one knew who or what was on his album, or even what it was called. And time was ticking down.

Watching Kanye try to make a masterpiece under intense scrutiny is immeasurably fascinating. And it was also immensely satisfying... at first. It was clear people were craving more Kanye, and they got it. Until it became too much Kanye.

It seemed like a lot of people were able to forgive the Amber Rose slutshaming that accompanied his twitter blast against Wiz Khalifa if it came with gems like #Wizwearscoolpants. But it's not easy to stay onboard after his now-infamous Bill Cosby tweet, where Kanye typed out that he doesn't believe women (in so many characters), added some exclamation points, and hastily hit send:

Kanye of course met his deadline and embarrassed anyone who doubted him with a weird spectacle it's a wonder anyone let him put on a stage that big. He unveiled a barely-complete album that somehow meets the pressure of his own descriptions ("a gospel album with a whole lot of cursing on it") and his ever-inflating torrent of hype (and Yeezus). But that Cosby tweet still rings around in my head, especially when "Famous" dropped (around 17:35) and the world heard the line “I feel like me and Taylor Swift might still have sex / I made that bitch famous.”

It's hard to keep up the "it's just Kanye being Kanye" mindset when his megalomaniacal drive seems to be pushing him to spout misogyny, seemingly without even realizing it's misogyny. The problem isn't just the word "bitch," as he seems to think it is. It's the assumption (or "joke") that if he does something for a woman like Taylor Swift (which, already, is debatable) she then owes him sex.

The reason Kanye has the stature to pull off something like TLOP is because he backs up his big words with big music. But it's his words outside the album that most publications cover, first and foremost. It delivers the page views. And that's fine, it's a part of the project. But that blurring gets messy when it includes outright misogyny. And it gets even messier when it bleeds into the music.

Since the livestream, the album's tracklist has changed again to include "No More Parties in L.A." and the just-dropped "30 Hours." Maybe the title will change again. Maybe so will the lyrics. It's not too late. Maybe.

I want to like you Kanye… by Richard Trapunski | Chart Attack.

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