Imma Let You Finish….When considering popular rap artists of our time, it is hard not to consider the infamous but widely popular career of Kanye West. Although West could be considered to be one of the top music artists of our generation, his career has also been marked by controversy after controversy. Many would argue that this has only increased his level of fame and caused him to become an even bigger celebrity. However, at the heart of much of Kanye West’s music is how he has constructed his racial identity throughout his career. Since he is a black man performing in a musical genre that has traditionally been dominated by black men, he must set himself apart in some way in order to achieve the level of success that he has attained.
Many of the lyrics in Kanye West’s music convey messages that can be viewed through a racial lens. For example, West’s first album, College Dropout, featured messages of discontent with the current educational system as well as critical evaluations of the racial divide currently occurring in America (Daws, 2007). As has been outlined by previous articles (Rodman, 2006), music artists that fall into the category of either hip-hop or rap face the unique challenge of having to substantiate the identities they portray in their music. The general public never questions if Eric Clapton really “shot the sheriff,” but rap artists are criticized for the demeaning social value of their music nearly every day. Thus, Kanye West has to prove that he is truly from the “streets” and worthy of his title as a rap artist. This is why much of his music and his lyrics focus on his over the top stances on issues like education. If Kanye West were to take a moderate approach to anything, he would not have achieved the level of fame that he enjoys today.
Even the controversies that have almost become expected of Kanye West could be viewed as sending a racially charged message. First of all, during a live telethon hosted by a number of celebrities in order to raise money for victims effected by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Kanye West famously stated to the camera that “George Bush hates black people.” While this could have been an opportunity for Kanye West to bring some serious awareness to a potentially serious racial issue going on at the time, very few people actually took his actions seriously. Another instance of a Kanye outburst was featured during the infamous MTV VMA Awards in September of 2009. As a result of awards show in previous years, it had become almost expected of Kanye West to express some discontent if he did not approve of some of the night’s winners; however his reaction to these particular awards was like nothing anyone had ever seen. When Taylor Swift was announced to have won one of night’s first awards, Kanye West promptly ran up on stage, snatched the microphone away from Swift and proclaimed that Beyonce should have won the award instead. A media frenzy ensued shortly after that night. By utilizing the lens of critical race theory, a person could view this event as an occasion of a black man asserting his dominance over a young (almost a minor), white woman. Thus, even these supposedly “spur of the moment” actions could be viewed to have a deeper, racial meaning.
Clearly, much of the career of the widely popular music artist, Kanye West, has featured some sort of message being put forth regarding race and racial identity. Perhaps Kanye is attempting to bring more critical attention to the issue of race in America. His actions are not easily ignored and thus people are forced to begin talking about these issues whether they like it or not. However, the real question becomes whether or not the attention that Kanye is bringing to the issue of race is positive or not. At this point in his career, do the majority of people really take what Kanye West has to say seriously?
