When I think about Kanye West, I am reminded of what the late, great David Crosby said about him. There’s quite a lot:
“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.”
“(West is) an idiot and a poser … has no talent at all”.
“(West) can neither sing, nor write, nor play … 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.”
Look away now if you are easily offended, but every single word is demonstrably true. Not “the greatest living rock star” as he described himself in his headlining slot at Glastonbury in 2015, nor that he is “50% more influential than any other human being”. No. He’s an absolute weapon. Also, he’s not a particularly nice person.
West has been invited by Melvin Benn, the MD of the Festival Republic to perform at the Wireless event this year, despite West’s appalling record of anti-semitic hate speech, releasing a song called Heil Hitler, which appeared on T shirts from his merch department and, which is strange from a black man, anti-black racism. Unsurprisingly, there’s been a reaction from those who are opposed to anti-semitism, racism, fascism and pretty well all the unpleasant isms you can think of and major sponsors like Pepsi have concluded it might not be conducive to their businesses to be so supportive of such an unpleasant bloke.
The idea that the organisers of Wireless have booked West for three nights out of forgiveness is laughable. He’s been booked because it will make the promoters, and of course West himself, shed loads of money. West is promoting a new album on what is effectively his comeback tour. He’s not coming here to say sorry. And the one thing that gets me is this: West published his one and only apology for his comments in January of this year. Does anyone seriously believe that talks over his three appearances at Wireless weren’t ongoing long before then? Pull the other one. But there is one thing that pisses me off more than anything else: West’s cover story for his offensive behaviour. His bipolar diagnosis.
The mental health and neurological condition gambit has been played for as long as I can remember. What if I said something grossly offensive? Would it be okay if I simply responded that it wasn’t my fault at all and my clinical depression and ADHD was to blame? I’d say it wouldn’t be. I have to manage my life with no medication for my ADHD and less than I feel is necessary for my clinical depression but still I manage to avoid saying being an antisemitic, racist, fascist bigot. Funny that. Perhaps, it’s because I am not an antisemitic, racist, fascist bigot? Just a thought, eh?
I’ll be fair to West, more fair than he has been to Jews, the black community and those who oppose fascism by adding that I cannot know for sure that his vile comments aren’t caused at least in part by his bipolar condition. I know and have come across numerous folk with bipolar disorder and to date have not come across anyone with similar views to West. And anyway, with his vast wealth, surely he is not some kind of lone wolf with no one to help and guide him through life? Hell, I’ve been a virtual autodidact in almost every aspect of my life, including my mental health and conditions. To date, I have never got as far as selling merchandise with Nazi insignias on it.
I’ve never publicly supported Donald Trump either, as West has done consistently over the years, but with me it keeps coming back to Kanye West, the alleged musician and here, once again, I return to the words of David Crosby, who himself was a super-talented writer, musician and singer. “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.”
I don’t know if his shows will be cancelled or not. My view is that if people want to pay good money to see such an untalented, unpleasant performer, it’s a matter for them and their conscience. I don’t think there is any excuse for what he has said and am baffled as to why anyone would think there was. Either way, the purpose of his visit is not to say sorry. And to suggest as much is disingenuous to say the least.
