Once upon a time in a universe far, far away, HipHopDX used to host blogs. Through Meka, Brillyance, Aliya Ewing and others, readers got unfiltered opinions on the most current topics in and beyond Hip Hop. After a few years, a couple redesigns and the collective vision of three different Editors-In-Chief, blogs are back. Well, sort of. Since our blog section went the way of two-way pagers and physical mixtapes, Twitter, Instagram and Ustream have further accelerated the pace of current events in Hip Hop. Rappers beef with each other 140 characters at a time, entire mixtapes (and their associated artwork) can be released via Instagram, and sometimes these events require a rapid reaction.
As such, we’re reserving this space for a weekly reaction to Hip Hop’s current events. Or whatever else we deem worthy. And the “we” in question is I, Andre Grant, and the one-and-only Ural Garrett. Collectively, we serve as HipHopDX’s Features Staff. Aside from tackling stray topics, we may invite artists and other personalities in Hip Hop to join the conversation. Without further delay, here’s this week’s “Stray Shots.”
Has Kanye West Successfully Integrated Both Passions For Music & Fashion?
https://youtu.be/qKFNbq1Iiik
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Andre: This was inevitable. Yeezy bridging the gap between music and fashion was the point of Yeezus. It was the point of all the tirades and all the times he said fuck you and all the snarls and petty moments. This was the point. And it was, well, ceremonious and a spectacle and there’s nothing wrong with that. Kanye is a populist. If he were running for president he’d be a combination of Milk and an emotional JFK. He’s by the people, for the people until money gets involved and then we’re all a little bit different so I can’t blame him for that. He played cuts from The Life of Pablo, which is a funny album name and he said really raw emotional stuff. I knew he’d been eyeing Taylor Swift, even back then, and haven’t we all? That line about Blacc Chyna and Rob is so vintage Ye, it feels fake. Maybe it’s the bitterness, then. He sounds angry. He sounds like a guy who has it all, who truly in the most Republican sense possible boot strapped his celebrity and he sounds tired of it. But the beauty of Kanye West is there is like ten of them at any given time. So there were lines like that, so what?
There was the exceptional pageantry of the whole thing. And above all else, it wasn’t boring. It’s getting harder and harder, if we’re to be honest with ourselves, for things to shock us. We deal with all kinds of terrible, horrible news constantly and the information is probably destroying our souls little by little. So when Kanye ushers you into the world’s most famous arena for an art-rap-fashion show and Hov is there and the models are real black women, it’s enchanting.
He cried, spewing his emotions out into the crowd like dust rolling through a dry field in Oklahoma and we forgot our worries for a day, some of us, for the allure of music and design. And I get it, neither of those things may have been spectacular. An album review just off the audio from the show would be unforgivable, unjustifiable nonsense but that would be us still thinking the old way. In a new way, the grandiosity of the whole thing was larger than any single aspect of the music or the production or the clothes, for that matter. And, right now. Only Kanye can do that.
Ural: For the past year, the lead-up to Kanye West’s seventh full-length album was sort of underwhelming. The poignant ode to his mother and firstborn North West was equally heartwarming and thoroughly forgettable to the masses despite having a Paul Mccarthy assist. Even the more radio friendly “All Day” just sort of dropped and fizzled out. With each pending release date, the roll-out felt lackluster by Ye standards. No Good Fridays that accompanied My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy or even the guerrilla campaign for Yeezus single “New Slaves.” Add frequently missed release dates and name changes, many wondered if the self-proclaimed “world’s biggest rock star” was heading to his first real flop.
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Meanwhile, his ongoing interest in breaking into the fashion world took precedent over his musical output and for good reason. His line with Adidas has divided many within the fashion industry. Yet, that hasn’t stopped the masses for spending hundreds on Yeezy Boosts and thousands for what social media has dubbed high-end homeless gear. Regardless of how people feel about his line, he finds it a success regardless of the effects on his music. Then, some used his relationship with The Kardashians as another point to his artistic downfall.
As 2016 rolled around, something clearly changed. Setting the tone with “Facts,” couldn’t have been a loose agitation against Nike following his big break in fashion. How underwhelming it actually sounded didn’t matter. Ye just had to get the message out. The biggest change in Kanye was his overwhelming use of social media; more notably Twitter. Those legendary tweets against Wiz Khalifa was a sharp contrast to the years of sparse interaction. Since starting his account over five years ago, Mr. West has only tweeted 384 times as of now. This is when things become clear, the story of the album formerly known as So Help Me God and SWISH will probably be known for the moment he got his wish in fashion and mastered social media. The spectacle of the Yeezy Season 3 event at Madison Square Garden served as more than proof. For a streamed event showcasing The Life of Pablo and his newest collection of highly priced apparel, he did a fine job of displaying his mastery of both music and fashion. Or, at least getting people excited about both.
Now that Ye has gotten that obstacle out of the way, his new foray into video game design is going to be interesting to watch. As someone who spent a few years covering the gaming industry, watching him deal with those politics is going to be fascinating and entertaining, to say the least.
Andre Grant is an NYC native turned L.A. transplant that has contributed to a few different properties on the web and is now the Features Editor for HipHopDX. He’s also trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot. Follow him on Twitter @drejones.
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Ural Garrett is a Los Angeles-based journalist and HipHopDX’s Senior Features Writer. When not covering music, video games, films and the community at large, he’s in the kitchen baking like Anita. Follow him on Twitter @Uralg.
