Currently sitting at around 78 million monthly listeners, Kanye West has certainly amassed a large following. Although technically Kanye changed his name to Ye, his name change had about the same effect as Twitter rebranding as X. It was silly, shortsighted, and everyone still calls the artist Kanye, so I will call him Kanye if for the sole reason of not playing into his weird games.
Anyway, this wayward artist is in the wrong for a plethora of reasons. Two of the main ones are his blatant anti-Semitism and his opinions against the Black Live Matter movement.
The graph on the left shows the amount of playlists Kanye has been in since 2020. So clearly listeners either do not know of such controversies or would rather listen to his music in spite of them. I admit that I like Kanye’s music a lot—if one of his songs starts playing in a playlist or on the radio, I can appreciate the music. However, I will make an effort to skip the song or switch the station.
The first thing wrong with Kanye is anti-Semitism. Kanye West’s account on X, formerly Twitter, was restricted in October of 2022 and then later completely removed from the platform in December. This is due to a series of slurs and anti-Semitic remarks, including this deleted tweet he posted responding to his removal from restrictions on Instagram, which were instated for the same reasons.
“I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda”
By “death con 3,” Kanye is referring to DEFCON, a military term that means the US armed forces should be prepared to attack/defend against an attack within a short timeframe, with 1 being the worst and the most urgent and 5 being the least urgent. Wishing violence on the Jewish community, Kanye was certainly confused, misguided, and perhaps needed some mental attention.
Along the same lines, Kayne endeavored to spread more myths about Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides sexual health, education, and service to teens and adults across the country.
“Planned Parenthood was made by Margaret Sanger, a known eugenist, with the KKK to control the Jew population. When I say Jew, I mean the 12 lost tribes of Judah, the blood of Christ, who the people known as the race Black really are. This is who our people are.”
Other than just being straight wrong, Kanye is harming the Jewish community and the reputation of a pure organization. In posting this, the rapper could be preventing people in need of services from Planned Parenthood from going out and getting tested/treated for STIs.
Kanye has appraised Adolf Hitler numerous times across podcasts, interviews, and online posts:
“The Jewish media has made us feel like the Nazis and Hitler have never offered anything of value to the world. I see good things about Hitler, also.”
“I’m done with the classification, every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler.”
“We gotta stop dissing the Nazis all the time… I love Nazis.”
These are only a couple of the many other posts and remarks Kanye has posted/said.
Eight months after his removal from X, Kanye’s account was reinstated and he was allowed to begin posting once more.
Besides West’s apparent appraisal of Nazism and Hitler, he also opposes the Black Lives Matter movement. After hosting his Yzy Szn 9 fashion show, the artist donned a “White Lives Matter” shirt. The phrase appeared soon after the BLM movement gained popularity. The Anti-Defamation League termed the phrase a “hate slogan” adopted by Klu Klux Klan members and the Aryan Renaissance Society (a white supremacist/neo-nazi group). In October of 2022, West wrote and then deleted:
“EVERYONE KNOWS THAT
BLACK LIVES MATTER WAS A SCAM
NOW ITS OVER
YOU’RE WELCOME”
Along the same lines, Kanye West appeared on a Drink Champs interview and claimed that George Floyd, the man killed via suffocation by a police officer, instead died of a Fentanyl overdose and that the officer’s knee “wasn’t even on his neck like that.” This further proves his opposition to the BLM movement, as it was fueled by the death of George Floyd.
The list of controversies surrounding Kanye is much larger than what is scrapped together above. In all, Ye has said and written a lot of horrible things, and this list only scratches the surface of everything wrong with Kanye West.