Kanye West: Chances are you’ve heard his name at least once in the last year. Why is that? Somehow, West has the ability to stir up controversy, and consequent publicity, with a single tweet. And he knows it.
To prove my point, we look at Mr. West in the year approaching his latest album release, "The Life of Pablo," which dropped on Valentine’s Day 2016, when his media coverage was at its peak.
Back in March 2015, West tweeted the new title of album would be “So Help Me God” and followed it with his single, “All Day,” which did pretty well.
In April, West announced his partnership with the music streaming service Tidal, joining other prominent members of hip hop like Jay-Z, Rihanna and Lil Wayne. He also was on the cover of TIME magazine.
On May 3, West took to twitter again, changing the upcoming album title to “SWISH.” He also hints at changing it again, just to keep us interested.
West then gave an 11-minute speech and closed by announcing his decision to run for president in 2020. This got him way more media attention than he deserved, and I’m sure West was pleasantly surprised that the likes of CNN, The Huffington Post and Politico covered it.
West rode out that media coverage and kept fans eagerly waiting until December 2015. Most were expecting the album that year, and many grew impatient.
Then West tweeted he was in the final stages of the record and dropped another single, “Facts,” on New Year’s Eve.
This is where West really kicks his promotion strategy into fifth gear. With the new year came two more singles, “Real Friends” with Ty Dolla $ign and “No More Parties in LA” featuring Kendrick Lamar. Including those artists, especially Lamar, brought some serious hype to Kanye’s release.
He began tweeting more and even announced a drop date for the record, which was still called “SWISH” at the time.
Then West changed the album title again to “Waves,” which sparked a twitter feud with fellow rapper Wiz Khalifa, who felt the title was copying another artist. It then escalated and involved West’s wife Kim Kardashian and Khalifa’s spouse Amber Rose. The argument was so petty that it had to be inspired by either complete ignorance or a desire for more free publicity. I say it was a total publicity stunt.
West was using Twitter as his own public relations and advertising departments, although some of his tactics would be ill-advised by any PR standards. He tweeted about his art, how he was $53 million in debt and how the billionaires of the world should invest in his ideas.
On Feb. 9, Kanye teased Twitter followers with a new, “secret” album title, which would later be revealed as "The Life of Pablo." West hosted an album and fashion line preview in Madison Square Garden the night before the release.
He debuted a song with lyrics about Taylor Swift, which she found "misogynistic." Just like that, more beef and more publicity.
Kanye West released his album via download and stream on Tidal, then changed his mind and removed the download option. He sparked even more controversy with this tweet.
By making the album a Tidal exclusive, West did the company a huge solid. Tidal shot to the number one downloaded music app the day of the release. The exclusive also served as a big middle finger to competitors like Spotify and Apple Music.
So is Kanye West as unpredictable as he seems? Or are his outbursts, rants and disputes calculated, designed to get the public thinking about West and his music just in time to sell his newest product?
Maybe it’s a little bit of both.
