After much speculation and waiting, Kanye West released his ninth album, JESUS IS KING, on October 25th to a myriad of mixed reviews, with many raving about it and others, such as rapper/podcast host N.O.R.E calling it "trash". Snippets of the album were leaked beforehand, to the excitement of many listeners, yet everyone was surprised at the finished product which is basically just a gospel album with Kanye lyrics.

Despite all this, I'm not impressed.

Did everyone just forget Kanye's incendiary comments over the past few years? I'm not even talking about him expressing his support for Donald Trump - let's not forget that this man also claimed that 400 years of slavery was a "choice". To make matters worse, Kanye acted like he was the victim in this situation, bemoaning that the public once again "attacked him for presenting new ideas". On top of this, Kanye has shown on several occasions that he is a misogynist (slandering Amber Rose, working with Ian Conner, who has been accused of rape by 21 different women, and the list goes on...) and enabler of poor behavior.

Being a figure that surrounds their persona with shock value is a very tricky thing to navigate - you have to keep exciting and thrilling your audience while taking care not to cross boundaries that turn your "artistic statements" into something more sinister and odious. Somehow, Kanye has never grasped this, and we keep rewarding him with views and listens as if it doesn't matter.

The culture was quick to cancel other celebrities for less (Shane Dawson making a joke about having relations with his cat and people taking it seriously is one), yet we let Kanye thrive and keep his narcissism alive. We allow ourselves to be desensitized to his words and actions because he's a "musical genius".

I listened to and loved Kanye in high school. Life of Pablo reminds me of my senior year and graduation, and holds many tender memories for me whenever I hear "Fade" or "Father Stretch My Hands". On many instances, once can separate the art from the artist to enjoy their work without approving the artist's shitty behavior. But this time, I'm choosing not to support his new work with a listen. I know it won't matter to most people, since listens for JESUS IS KING is already upwards of 20 million, but this is my personal decision and something I choose to stand by.