Lauren Kashefi

Staff Writer

What do Taylor Swift and George Bush have in common? They have both been victims of Kanye West’s unfiltered wrath. Kanye is known as a free spirited loud mouth who speaks his mind uncontrollably and at all times. These qualities of his have both helped and hindered his career.

Let’s start with last years Video Music Awards on MTV. We all remember how Kanye rudely interrupted Taylor Swift, but people interrupt each other all the time. I understand this was on a greater scale, since it was a live broadcast and ruined Swift’s first big award acceptance speech, but the public blew it way out of proportion and responded with confusion, anger, and eventually boos. After his outburst, Kanye fled the country and spent the next few months in Japan, Italy, and Paris, where he interned for fashion big shots like Karl Lagerfeld and Fendi. Kanye then traveled to Hawaii where he recorded his new masterpiece, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

More recently, Kanye had a misunderstanding with Matt Lauer on the Today Show. During the interview, Kanye was angered when he tried to express how he was empathetic to Bush because they have both been labeled as racists (Bush by Kanye, and Kanye by the public after the Taylor Swift incident). While trying to apologize, something Kanye rarely does, video and audio of Kanye interrupting Swift started playing. You can see his reaction and what he had to say to Lauer after in the video below.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNMxHfmXKVU[/youtube]

After the public saw the full footage of the Today Show interview, there was a split decision about whether he responded correctly or if this was another break down of his. I think Kanye is trying to have a positive and strong comeback and, with a new album and a twitter page constantly being updated, the last thing he wants is flashbacks from his slightly shameful and narcissistic past. Kanye simply wants to move on and give the world the best music he can possibly create.

Kanye’s biggest and most well known outburst is when he strongly stated, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” during the Hurricane Relief Efforts for Hurricane Katrina in 2005. After the incident, some claimed Kanye was a hero, declaring that he said what had been on everyone’s mind for a while. Others said he should be ashamed of himself because of how rude and inconsiderate he was for labeling our then president as a racist. Recently, Bush said that Kanye calling him a racist was the lowest point of his eight years in office. Although Kanye’s outburst seemed uncalled for and inconsiderate, he was frustrated and said what came to his mind first.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pVTrnxCZaQ[/youtube]

Whether you love or hate him, Kanye is one of, if not the greatest, artist of our time. His music has radicalized pop culture, and we have to accept his unique personality that comes with it.

(Featured picture from http://www.afropunk.com/profiles/blogs/reasons-kanye-might-think-hes?xg_source=activity)