Kanye West was ranked as the second most-hated celebrity of all time by the Internet Movie Database. The only person the award-winning rapper trailed was the much-maligned pop star Justin Bieber. It is fairly easy to see why Kanye West is so disliked, as it is a rare occurrence when he is not in the spotlight. Whether it be calling out Taylor Swift at the 2009 Video Music Awards, his marriage to the controversial Kim Kardashian, or simply his inflated ego, West struggles to stay isolated from the national spotlight. What is often overlooked, though, are all the positive things he has done. The general public tends to only see his outbursts and discounts all of his positive actions. Never has a parent allowed their child to look up to the all-time great MC.
It is time to change this notion.
Kanye West has countless traits that make him not only a role model to youth, but also a positive force for change in America. We, the public, need to recognize that despite his faults, West is someone to admire, not abhor.
The easiest thing to see with Kanye West is his consistency in producing excellence. He has had six number-one albums in the United States as rated by the Billboard 200, dating back to 2004. Whether it be "The College Dropout," "Watch the Throne," or "Yeezus," West has shown his commitment to excellence by never producing something he believed was not his best work. He never settles for less than perfection and pushes himself to produce those results.
Another quality to admire in West is that he does not want to be mainstream: he wants to stand out from the crowd. In his songs, he says exactly how he feels regardless of how the public views it. His lyrics are provocative and incite emotions unlike any other rap artist. He addresses uncomfortable topics such as racism, as he did in his song “New Slaves” by saying, “I throw these Maybach keys/I wear my heart on my sleeve/I know that we the new slaves/I see the blood on the leaves.” Kanye West pushes boundaries like few others and is not afraid to express his beliefs publicly, a trait we should all try to imitate.
Although it may not seem this way to the general public, Kanye West knows he is not the best at everything and knows when to ask for help. This is seen in his emergence in the fashion industry. Despite being a major player in the industry now, he started with limited knowledge and knew he needed help to succeed. What many people do not know is that he owes his recent successes to the fashion company Fendi, who he interned with for four months in Rome in 2009. We can learn from this that we need to humble ourselves and ask those who are better than us for help if we want to succeed.
Lastly, one thing that makes Kanye West a great role model for kids is his intense love for his family. Despite his marriage often being criticized by the public, the extent to which West loves his wife, Kim Kardashian, and daughter, North West, is admirable. One way we saw this is with his lavish proposal to Kardashian, where he rented out an entire baseball stadium, hired an orchestra, and fired off fireworks. While we do not have the opportunity to see their entire life like this, Kanye offers glimpses into his life through his Twitter. On May 25 of this year, he tweeted, “Kim, I’m so happy to be married to the girl of my dreams… I love you and Nori so much! I would find you in any lifetime.” Obviously this is not the whole story, but from what is made public it is easy to see how much West loves his family. If the children in today’s society had Kanye West’s level of love for their families, we would live in a much more caring and loving world.
While Kanye West may never shed his negative reputation, we need to recognize that he is anything but a bad person. He has traits that any parent should love to have their children exhibit. His music may not be for everyone, but Kayne West should not be dismissed as an egotistical rap artist who does not offer anything positive to the public. Actually, it’s quite the opposite.
