Kanye West is one of the most influential artists for today’s generation of musicians, and also one of the greatest rappers in the history of the genre. It’s tough to argue that the man has not left a lasting impact on hip-hop and music in general.

However, it IS easy to argue that the man can be an absolute piece of work on most occasions.

Being a Kanye fan is hard work.

 

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His inability to stick to a release date

All Kanye fans know that a Kanye album doesn’t really drop until you’ve heard it on Spotify 5 times through and hung its vinyl up on a musty wall. Even then, it’s impossible to tell if you even have the final version of it.

It’s infuriating when he promised Yandhi alongside a pretty substantial marketing campaign, then only for him to say that: “I didn’t finish it” after he failed to drop on said release date.

Now as his latest record – Jesus Is King is set to release this Friday (at the time of writing), fans aren’t just sceptical but some are straight-up denying that it will be launched at all.

So here’s hoping that Jesus Is King arrives on time, though who’s to predict that He actually will anyway?

 

The need for controversy to promote his records

You get the drill. In recent years, when a Kanye West album is on the horizon, media controversy is guaranteed to follow.

In promoting The Life of Pablo, Kanye started off fairly tame; saying that he owns Wiz Khalifa’s child. Following that he claimed Bill Cosby was innocent, being $53 million in debt and his whole unsightly debacle with Taylor Swift surrounding lead single “Famous”.

Then leading up to his 5-week Wyoming releases, fans were treated to 2-year’s worth of controversies that would make Azealia Banks blush.

Starting off by cutting his tour short after a Trump rant and then actually meeting Trump for a photo op. Followed by a year of silence, he bounces back with endless tirades of his political “philosophy” in which he praises Trump, claiming that slavery “sounds like a choice” and finally meeting with Trump again for a confusing discussion on nothing.

The controversies long outshined his music and it’s an absolute shame.

 

His now uncontainable ego

Watch the video above. That was a time when Kanye backed his ego up with pure artistry, with people accepting that he was JUST THAT GOOD.

Of course, his musical work since then has been impeccably stellar, providing solid justification of his claim to being one of the best artists of this generation.

Yet, Kanye’s boasts about his outings outside of music are much less convincing.

I think what Kanye West is going to mean is something similar to what Steve Jobs means. I am undoubtedly, you know, Steve of internet, downtown, fashion, culture. Period. By a long jump.

This quote essentially sums up what Kanye wants to be but also shows what he isn’t. Besides his discography and perhaps his hugely popular Yeezy shoe line, nothing that he’s done has left a large enough cultural impact to uphold what he’s said.

Of course, he might just be trolling all of us. Still, you can only joke about the same topic so often without it turning stale.

 

His expensive as hell clothing/merch that doesn’t even look that good

The Kanye West show, in my humble opinion, is proof that everyone can love fashion but not everyone can be a fashion designer.

–  Jessica Michault on Kanye’s 2011 “Kanye West” womenswear collection

From his love for polo tees to his popularising of stunner shades, Kanye has never shied away from standing out and wanting to influence the world.

So it was only a matter of time for him to start his own fashion line. After a number of failures, Kanye finally found his footing with his Yeezy Season fashion shows.

Now, I’m no expert in clothing, but when most of your lineup looks like it can be found on ASOS for $40 (save for the branding he puts on them), you know that your products aren’t exactly the cream of the crop.

Especially so when T-shirts are being sold for $195 and knitted sweaters for $1500. It’s almost insulting to think about.

The same can said for his most recent batches of merchandise, many of which are plain T-shirts with artworks pasted on it being sold for astronomically high prices as well.

Or to be honest, maybe I’m just salty that I’ll never be able to willingly afford any Kanye merch.

 

The amount of music he has locked away in his vault

Kanye. Please. Bless us with all the albums you’ve promised but never delivered. I need them.