Kanye West's popularity is the result of his fan base and album sales, writes the Huffington Post's Kia Makarechi, who examines the uproar surrounding his forthcoming studio release, Yeezus, which includes the song "I Am a God." He argues that any outrage over the artist's soaring ego should be directed at his fans.
"Yeezus," Kanye West's sixth studio solo album, doesn't hit stores until June 18, but the disc's title has already spawned enough internet comments to fill a haters' wing at the Library of Congress.
How dare West refer to himself as "Yeezus" and make a song called "I Am a God"? What a clown! He fathered a child with Kim Kardashian! They're so horrible they deserve each other! The Kanye Defamation League is as monolithic as it is prolific, a seething chorus of keyboard assassins ready to accuse anyone covering West — one of music's biggest stars — of accepting payola. (Quick side note: West doesn't even talk to the press, much less send us cash.) But the rage and derision that West's album name spawned smacks of an undeniable hypocrisy — one that reveals more about the rapper's detractors than about his ego.
Let's leave aside the fact that "Yeezus" is actually a nickname bestowed upon West by fellow musican Malik Yusef and popularized by Kid Cudi and that "I Am a God" is a direct reference Psalm 82 and instead take a look at how other performers have fared.
Read Kia Makarechi's entire blog entry at the Huffington Post.
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