The American rapper and songwriter’ resume includes over twenty one million sold albums, more than one hundred million digital downloads and twenty one Grammy awards. Rivaling Beyonce in fame, Kanye West’s style is a mixture of R&B, trip hop, house and classical music. So what are the reasons for disliking Kanye West?
With that many awards, sales and recognition, it’s no wonder his live shows gather thousands and deliver top notch entertainment. Or is it? It might come as a surprise, but Kanye West is not universally liked. In March 2015 more than thirtheen hundred thousands people signed a petition aimed at preventing Kanye from performing at the UK Glastonbury Festival.
The petition’s description dismissed West as an insult for music fans, claiming Glastonbury attendants pay good money for entertainment and shouldn’t be forced to listen to the American rappers’ pseudo music.
The second petition to stop Kanye West from performing came from the Ottawa Bluefest. This petition’s founder considers West is not a true rock stars and feels the people’s money should have been spent on real artists.
The latest petition against West gathered fifty thousand votes that shouted with one voice that the artist shouldn’t be allowed to sing at the Toronto Pan American Games since he is not from Toronto. Despite of the people’s dissatisfaction, West not only still performed at Pan Am, but he killed it.
In fact, none of the above mentioned petitions made the events’ organizers pick up the phone and ask Kanye to step down. What is more, all the performances went very well for the American rapper. He kept the crowds entertained by putting on an awesome show.
But the raised eyebrows Kanye West keeps receiving aren’t only for his shows, his clothing choices or his rapping skills. He started gathering “thumbs down” back in 2009 when Taylor Swift was receiving her Video Music Award for Best Female Video, surpassing Beyonce. West jumped on the stage near America’s sweetheart, snatched the mic from her hand and said she didn’t deserve the award and that Beyonce should have won.
West’s relation and then his marriage to Kim Kardashian didn’t help his case either. His connection with the famous TV personality prompted even more dislikes and raised eyebrows from the American public. This seems to feel uncomfortable, adopting a racist attitude towards the rapper while he’s posing as Jesus and Muhammad Ali for the “Rolling Stone” magazine.
Everything points at perpetuating the white power in the rock industry, with the Glastonbury Festival petitioners claiming they wanted to keep the event’s musical identity intact (although it has a wide palette of rappers performing on its stage) and Pan Am protesters invoking nationalism (though accepting Pitbull on their stage).
Noel Gallagher, probably Kanye West’s harshest critic, doesn’t shy away from calling him a “boy” and goes as far as advising him to pick up a dictionary and learn how to properly speak, at the same time dismissing Beyonce who is not a real artist, but more of a dancer who makes money off her looks.
West’s life as a performer is filled with controversies, most of them brought on by his arrogant attitude and big ego. He is known to speak up his mind freely. For example, during a benefit concert he blurted out that George Bush doesn’t care for black people.
On another occasion he said that his only regret in life is that he’ll never have the possibility to see himself perform live on the stage. Despite all these, he remains one of the most awarded singers of all times with over one hundred million digital downloads and many happy fans.
