Kanye West, The Internet & Mental Health
There are those that claim that he is exploiting his own bi-polar disorder (for which he was diagnosed in 2018) but anyone that follows West knows that he has demons he still hasn’t faced and things he still needs to heal from. Even in this latest episode, while speaking about abortion he broke down in tears as he explained how him and his wife Kim Kardashian nearly aborted their daughter North, saying “I almost killed my daughter… even if my wife were to divorce me after this speech, she brought North into the world, even when I didn’t want to.” He also talked about his own father, “My mum saved my life. My dad wanted to abort me. My mum saved my life. There would have been no Kanye West, because my dad was too busy!”.
These revelations and the manner in which they revealed themselves to the world led to uncomfortable viewing and the questioning of West’s mental state, but there were other problematic moments of the rally too. There have been videos and tweets on social media that show the disparity between how he treated white rally goers with questions compared to the black sisters that tried to question his statements and correct his wrong facts. The same black women whom he inspired and who celebrated his early work such as ‘College Dropout’, ‘Graduation’ and ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ and whose respect and love previously emanated through the way he cherished his late mother Donda who died from plastic surgery complications in 2007.
Throughout the years Kanye has never been the best at articulating his thoughts outside of his music. An enigma to the casual hip-hop fans, and a genius to those who have heard his work circa 2004. However, this serves as no excuse for the lack of clarity in the execution of his thoughts when publicly speaking. Being a global figure with a platform and level of fame that influences millions of people comes with an automatic level of responsibility. Even more so when you consider the fact that he intends to run for the most powerful position in the world. When Kanye said, “Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves. She just had them work for other white people,”, a possible interpretation of his words could be that the slaves were technically not free because they still worked for white people but only this time they got paid. The missing context of this thought though is that the slaves were free in that they were no longer bound to owners like ill-treated pet animals.
Throughout the week Kanye went on to tweet about Drake, Michael Jackson being murdered, accused Kim of cheating on him with Meek Mill in 2018, saying he’s wanted a divorce ever since and nicknamed his mother-in-law Kris Jong Un. He has more recently publicly tweeted an apology to his wife, but not before she made a statement of her own, letting the public into the “complicated” nature of their situation and the limitations placed on the family stating, “those that understand mental illness or even compulsive behaviour know that the family is powerless unless the member is a minor.
“People who are unaware or far removed from this experience can be judgemental and not understand that the individual themselves have to engage in the process of getting help no matter how hard family and friends try.”
Kim’s words make it hard not to feel sorry for her as she tries not only to help Kanye but also to protect their four children from the unpredictable nature of his outbursts and the implications they could have on them as they get older. But one thing is certainly clear. If Kanye West, with all of the resources available to him, is unable to get a hold of his bi-polar disorder and recognise the signs and when he may need some extra support or help, then there is no way he should be President of the United States. It is the most powerful role in the world and as we have witnessed with Trump, it is incredibly easy to do more harm than good, no matter what your underlying intentions might be. As someone who has massively contributed to the black community, we pray for him and wish him well, but the Presidency, for now at least, is a dream that should remain just that.
On July 19th Kanye West hosted his first rally in North Charleston, South Carolina in support of his presidential campaign. Speaking on topics such as abortion, religion and international trade, the rapper also made some controversial statements, one of which pertained to Black American icon Harriet Tubman.
“Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves. She just had them work for other white people,” he said. Tubman was born into slavery in the early 1900s and is believed to have freed enslaved Black Americans via an Underground Railroad system. These statements, among others left social media divided. Some believed that Kanye needs help and has for some time, while others believed that this was yet another one of his performative antics used to sell records. This same accusation was levelled at him in 2018 during the lead up to his eighth studio album ‘Ye’ in which during an interview with TMZ he said that slavery was a choice.
His latest album ‘DONDA’ (previously titled ‘God’s Country’) was set to be released on July 24th, but there is a third possibility: that both sets of views are in fact true. Kanye could be saying these things in a bid to sell records but could also be in need of professional help. It is not necessarily a case of either or. Kanye West is a complex human being, a genius. He is the wealthiest entertainer of all time with a multifaceted career spanning across music and fashion. He is an icon with a legacy and a brand that speaks for itself, so he doesn’t need to partake in these antics to sell records, even if he himself may feel as if he does.