https://www.usatoday.com/story/life...d-into-just-another-internet-troll/576573002/
Greatest rapper alive? How Kanye West devolved into just another internet troll
Maeve McDermott, USATODAY Published 11:45 a.m. ET May 3, 2018 | Updated 2:35 p.m. ET May 3, 2018
If a Kanye West album drops without controversy, does it make a sound?
Since Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey welcomed West back to Twitter on April 13, all hell has broken loose on both the rapper’s virtual and real-life timelines. He tweeted his support for President Trump, and the president tweeted back his approval. He’s palled around with far-right commentators Candace Owens and Charlie Kirk, appearing on TMZ Live this week alongside Owens to allege that slavery “is a choice.” He debated basic tenets of American history on Twitter, sharing screenshots of texts from famous friends like John Legend and Charlamagne Tha God rightfully disputing his logic.
As tweets piled up and West’s statements became more radical — to the point where his wife Kim Kardashian had to confirm that he's not having another mental breakdown — it became clear to fans that this was no album-rollout stunt, but rather the rapper’s new reality. From his Taylor Swift stage-crashing days, West has been the music industry’s most exciting villain, because through all his problematic news cycles, he’s delivered on his claims to be the greatest rapper alive. Yet, in the past, it was easier to contextualize West’s “BILL COSBY INNOCENT!” tweets and other incendiary dramas as the sometimes-misguided views of a gifted artist, whose music always delivered on his promises of greatness. Now, West seems to want to be defined by his increasingly radical worldview first, rather than his artistic merits.
But, without the art, West is just another internet troll
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https://www.usatoday.com/story/life...est-down-size-over-slavery-comment/576176002/
So 400 years of slavery sounds like a choice to Kanye West?
"No, Kanye, slavery is not a choice," explained Daily Show host Trevor Noah on Thursday's show. He is the latest celeb to denounce the rapper's incendiary remark to TMZ.
During West's TMZ Live conversation on Tuesday, he'd told interviewers Harvey Levin and Charles Latibeaudiere, "When you hear about slavery for 400 years? For 400 years, that sounds like a choice ... like, you was there for 400 years and it's all of y'all?! It's like we're mentally in prison."
The biracial Noah, who detailed his childhood under apartheid in South Africa in Born a Crime, set it straight: "Going blond is a choice. Both are terrible but one is easier to undo," Noah pointed out. "Although when I think about it, slavery was a choice — for white people. White people were like, 'Hey, should we keep doing things ourselves or make other people do it for us? Hmm .... Yeah, other people. That sounds good.' "
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https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/03/entertainment/ti-kanye-west/index.html
The pair teamed up on "Ye vs. The People," a song in which they debate West's support of President Donald Trump.
Kanye West just released a new song defending his praise for Trump
T.I. said it was the fastest he has ever recorded a song and it came after a four-hour discussion with West.
He said he questioned West about his reasons for backing Trump, who is largely unpopular with the African-American community because of racially charged comments he has made and other issues.
"I said, 'What's up man? I'm sure you have a very logical explanation to all this,'" T.I. said. "Like, 'what's happening? What's the punchline?'"
He said West's answer was simple.
"He said 'Man, just being a free thinker, man," T.I. said.
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http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-kno...endship-with-trump-he-sometimes-speaks-out-of
Waters, speaking to Politico on Monday during a meeting with Congressional Black Caucus members to discuss diversity in Silicon Valley, said that while the Grammy Award–winning artist "is a very creative young man," he sometimes needs help to "formulate some of his thoughts."
“Kanye West is a very creative young man who has presented some of the most revolutionary material in the African-American community," Waters told Politico at the event. "But we also think that sometimes Kanye West talks out of turn and perhaps sometimes he needs some assistance in helping him to formulate some of his thoughts.”
"We don’t think that he actually means to do harm, but we’re not sure he really understands the impact of what he’s saying, at the time that he’s saying it and how that weighs on, particularly the African-American community — and for young people in general," she added. "And I think maybe he should think twice about politics, and maybe not have so much to say."
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Greatest rapper alive? How Kanye West devolved into just another internet troll
Maeve McDermott, USATODAY Published 11:45 a.m. ET May 3, 2018 | Updated 2:35 p.m. ET May 3, 2018
If a Kanye West album drops without controversy, does it make a sound?
Since Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey welcomed West back to Twitter on April 13, all hell has broken loose on both the rapper’s virtual and real-life timelines. He tweeted his support for President Trump, and the president tweeted back his approval. He’s palled around with far-right commentators Candace Owens and Charlie Kirk, appearing on TMZ Live this week alongside Owens to allege that slavery “is a choice.” He debated basic tenets of American history on Twitter, sharing screenshots of texts from famous friends like John Legend and Charlamagne Tha God rightfully disputing his logic.
As tweets piled up and West’s statements became more radical — to the point where his wife Kim Kardashian had to confirm that he's not having another mental breakdown — it became clear to fans that this was no album-rollout stunt, but rather the rapper’s new reality. From his Taylor Swift stage-crashing days, West has been the music industry’s most exciting villain, because through all his problematic news cycles, he’s delivered on his claims to be the greatest rapper alive. Yet, in the past, it was easier to contextualize West’s “BILL COSBY INNOCENT!” tweets and other incendiary dramas as the sometimes-misguided views of a gifted artist, whose music always delivered on his promises of greatness. Now, West seems to want to be defined by his increasingly radical worldview first, rather than his artistic merits.
But, without the art, West is just another internet troll
------------
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life...est-down-size-over-slavery-comment/576176002/
So 400 years of slavery sounds like a choice to Kanye West?
"No, Kanye, slavery is not a choice," explained Daily Show host Trevor Noah on Thursday's show. He is the latest celeb to denounce the rapper's incendiary remark to TMZ.
During West's TMZ Live conversation on Tuesday, he'd told interviewers Harvey Levin and Charles Latibeaudiere, "When you hear about slavery for 400 years? For 400 years, that sounds like a choice ... like, you was there for 400 years and it's all of y'all?! It's like we're mentally in prison."
The biracial Noah, who detailed his childhood under apartheid in South Africa in Born a Crime, set it straight: "Going blond is a choice. Both are terrible but one is easier to undo," Noah pointed out. "Although when I think about it, slavery was a choice — for white people. White people were like, 'Hey, should we keep doing things ourselves or make other people do it for us? Hmm .... Yeah, other people. That sounds good.' "
---------
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/03/entertainment/ti-kanye-west/index.html
The pair teamed up on "Ye vs. The People," a song in which they debate West's support of President Donald Trump.
Kanye West just released a new song defending his praise for Trump
T.I. said it was the fastest he has ever recorded a song and it came after a four-hour discussion with West.
He said he questioned West about his reasons for backing Trump, who is largely unpopular with the African-American community because of racially charged comments he has made and other issues.
"I said, 'What's up man? I'm sure you have a very logical explanation to all this,'" T.I. said. "Like, 'what's happening? What's the punchline?'"
He said West's answer was simple.
"He said 'Man, just being a free thinker, man," T.I. said.
-------
http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-kno...endship-with-trump-he-sometimes-speaks-out-of
Waters, speaking to Politico on Monday during a meeting with Congressional Black Caucus members to discuss diversity in Silicon Valley, said that while the Grammy Award–winning artist "is a very creative young man," he sometimes needs help to "formulate some of his thoughts."
“Kanye West is a very creative young man who has presented some of the most revolutionary material in the African-American community," Waters told Politico at the event. "But we also think that sometimes Kanye West talks out of turn and perhaps sometimes he needs some assistance in helping him to formulate some of his thoughts.”
"We don’t think that he actually means to do harm, but we’re not sure he really understands the impact of what he’s saying, at the time that he’s saying it and how that weighs on, particularly the African-American community — and for young people in general," she added. "And I think maybe he should think twice about politics, and maybe not have so much to say."
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