The World Kanye West, the black king midas, loved, but more hated
Despite his fame and his super-celebrity wife, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West still draws rejection from almost everything he does
Everything you need to know about Kanye West, 'Mr. Kardashian'
"South Park", probably the most hooligan and irreverent series that television has produced in the United States, openly mocked him in one of its episodes the other day. Although it originally aired on April 8, 2009, the character hasn't lost any currency: Kanye West (39) is still rabidly current. His oversized ego, his insatiable urge for attention—he says, among other things, that he intends to storm the US presidency in the near future—and his music never stops making news, for better or worse. The black king midas has known how to care for and protect his empire.
No one can argue that he is one of the most popular singers of all time, with more than 32 million records sold worldwide and 100 million digital downloads of his songs. In addition, he has to his credit 21 Grammy music awards and three of his albums placed on the list of the 500 most important albums in music history, according to Rolling Stones magazine.
And in social networks she has a voice and a lot of it. On Twitter alone, he has 25 million followers, with the addition of being married to one of the most omnipresent celebrities in the world's tabloids, Kim Kardashian, both of whom are capable of selling an ad-loaded tweet for obscene amounts of money.
As you can imagine, his bank account is also impressive, with a fortune that, according to the oracle in this matter -Forbes magazine-, does not fall below 100 million dollars (about 89 million euros). combined with the 40 million (35.6) that are calculated for his wife, the head of the Kardashian clan, queen of reality or the art of selling her private life.
Still, his reputation is always in question. The headlines that surround him often have an undeniable aroma of antipathy. Those who can't stand him are legion. Enough with the latest in the life of this mass black guru, musician, producer, addicted to excess and always a kind of crooked gesture: a resounding misstep in his quest to stand out as a fashion designer.
Critics have been harsh on his Adidas clothing collection, Yeezy 4, described as boring for its gray colors and lack of imagination with the garments. She also did not help the long and tedious wait to see the designs that she subjected to the attendees on Roosevelt Island, a piece of land between Manhattan and Queens with little movement, shaken by the soporific heat that still reigns in the Big Apple.
The critic from The New York Times attacked the rapper, assuring that the ego of the Atlanta man "is probably his most perfect creation", something that unleashed a new chain of insults from the principal affected. "I'll fucking laser you with my fucking eyes and blow your fucking head off. Shut the fuck up, try to write a rap," was his reply.
He's basically saying that he's irritated at being labeled a rich kid obsessed with a new hobby, in this case fashion, because that's not true. According to his version, he has left everything he had trying to design those sweatshirts and t-shirts for Adidas that, so far, have not hit the mark.
Despite his previous notorious failures, West has never stopped trying in the fashion world. He sees himself as a natural creator, a young man who began very early with a taste for what he wore and who, despite the ignorance of those who criticize him, has a doctorate in art.
However, his pride is wounded, convinced that in the world of design that he began to venture into years ago, with collaborations with Nike or Louis Vuitton, no one is on his side. "I want to say that to this day no one understands what I am," he said in his cover interview for the latest issue of W magazine. "They won't understand me until I'm gone. They don't understand me and there is no one in the world of fashion that is on my side".
He has the consolation of having swept his Yeezy sneakers, a sales phenomenon for Adidas that has opened the doors for him to continue exploring with much less popular collections. What he seeks, they say around him, is respect and recognition. Not having succeeded so far irritates him deeply.
He hasn't found peace in the musical field either, where he shows more chest than in the other spheres where he moves. This week he got into a public fight -on Twitter- with one of his colleagues, the rapper Kid Cudi, who charged him with old feuds.
Kid Cudi accused him of never getting past the top five on the charts with 30 people writing for him, to which West replied with his usual haughty: "Never mention Ye [his nickname] I created you... Respect the god".
West was also in the news for his latest music video, Fade, presented during the MTV Awards, with an important erotic charge from the hands of Teyana Taylor, who dances like Flashdance for several minutes and who stars in a shower scene with her fiancé, Cleveland Cavaliers player Iman Shumpert.
Biography threat
But more than the music video, what stuck with the audience was the rapper's speech, used to giving long rants at these kinds of awards. His speech lasted six minutes, without forgetting Taylor Swift, with whom he has had a verbal war for years, but now respects, and sharing his list of idols with the public: Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Howard Hughes, Kanye West. "My name is Kanye West, and that's an especially big thing to say this year," he said at the start of his speech.
He also said a couple of days ago that another guy he deeply admires is Will Ferrell. His name came from being compared to one of the characters the comedian played, "Elf", basically because he too wants to bring joy to the world. "He's one of my particular gods. I'd like Will to play me in The Kanye West Story," a title that he's already mulling over in his head and that he hopes will one day hit theaters. Anyway.
The alleged tape could accommodate rumors about his homosexuality - a television presenter hinted at it earlier this year - or the death of his mother at age 58, as biographical notes. He apparently suffered a heart attack stemming from complications following cosmetic surgery, something that greatly affected West in the months that followed.
Then there is another of his most relevant aspects, his wife, with whom he began dating in April 2012 and with whom he went down the aisle two years later in an Italian castle. They have two children, North West and Saint West, with no rumors of any kind of turbulence between the two at the moment.
The character in question has generated so many headlines in recent times, that it was worth the well-known dissection, trying to understand the reason for the furor -we have already talked about the rejection- caused by this black rap figure married to show business in its maximum expression. Apparently, his music excites, but his attitude not so much.
