I was shocked to learn that Kanye West was kicked out of Skechers yesterday. By an incredible coincidence, I was there too, in the Cribbs Causeway branch on the outskirts of Bristol. It could be that I was so engrossed looking at their hugely expensive golf shoes that I failed to notice him or maybe I’d already left to visit HMV and Waterstones by the time he turned up. if truth be told, I am very glad to have missed him.
I am forever being told how talented West – or is it Ka these days? – is, but as a trainee geriatric I am unable to see it. Surprisingly to some, I suspect, I am a great admirer of rap and hip hop but Ka leaves me cold. As does his antisemitic racism and his support for far right lunatics like Donald Trump. It’s still his lack of talent and enormous fame that baffles me.
The brilliant David Crosby described Ka better than I ever could: “He can’t write, sing, or play at all. He is an egomaniac, he is dumb as a post, he creates nothing, helps no one.” He added: (West is) “an idiot and a poser … has no talent at all.” And finally: “The thing that bugs me about him is the: ‘I’m the greatest living rock star’. Somebody needs to drive him over to Stevie Wonder’s house right now so he understands what a real one is. Secondly, they should send him all of Ray Charles’s catalogue so he can learn how to sing.”
This contrasts with Ka’s own opinion of himself which is that he is “the greatest living rock star” and “50% more influential than any other human being”. More than that, he is “God’s vessel”. I have no idea what the means, but in the unlikely event God exists, he must be a bit of a wrong ‘un if he chooses Ka to do his bidding here on Earth.
I understand that Ka was in a relationship with Kim Kardashian, a woman about whom I know literally nothing but who is described on wikipedia as an “American media personality, socialite, and businesswoman”, which suggests she makes a shed load of money out of doing not very much. That’s certainly better than I’m doing, making literally no money out of not doing much more than that. Kim came to fame in a TV show called Keeping Up With The Kardashians which, again, I know literally nothing about but it’s apparently made her millions. As with Ka, it seems you don’t need talent to be a billionaire. Why, then, am I living in an ex council house in a state of voluntary unemployment?
I’m very much hoping that Ka isn’t a keen golfer because I am fearful I might bump into him next week when I play the Thornbury Par 3 club just down the road. More likely, his golfing talents may well match his musical talent so maybe I shouldn’t be that worried at all?
