A black man has dared to stray from the plantation. Beside bring him back.

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Quote:When Kanye West was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in 2010, Elon Musk, who wrote the blurb about the rapper-producer-designer, noted that he "fought for his place in the cultural pantheon with a purpose."
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The Kanye West Question

The enigmatic rapper’s conflicting ideologies may ultimately lead his fans to a fork in the road

Of all his varied talents, arguably West's most useful one has been his ability to command attention whenever he saw fit. West has always been his own biggest advocate, and after years of telling us how he important he is, he induced many to fall in line with the sentiment. This is a man who has been considered one of the greatest artists of the 21st century, hailed as the most influential man in style history, praised as a game changer in media, and cited by his contemporaries as one who helped shaped their own art. When an artist achieves an almost deity-like presence in culture, they don't have to resort to publicity stunts to command our attention – they'll have it no matter what they do.

Therein lies the flawed reading Kanye West's touting of right-wing commentators like the black but Black Lives Matter–bashing Candace Owens or his declaration of "love" for Donald Trump as mere exercises in attention-whoring. So when I read people dismissing these declarations as such, and going as far to say that we needn't be "outraged" over West, I am further infuriated. It's easy for some – particularly if you are white – to say that an extremely influential black man with a cult-like following aligning himself with a demagogue and racist movement is much ado about nothing, but the rest of us can't shrug off the ramifications so swiftly.

Whether one likes it or not, and no matter if it's right or wrong, Kanye West moves the culture. There is a reason I often jokingly refer to him as a "hip-hop David Koresh." People worship this man and will follow him wherever he goes. The magnitude of his stardom cannot be overstated.

Kanye knows this too, which explains why he once told T magazine, "I'm not a celebrity, I'm an activist. The fact that when I see truth it's really hard for me to sit back and just allow it to happen in front of me on my clock makes me, a lot of times, a bad celebrity."