Kanye: Underrated?

Most people judge Kanye West, whether for his love life, extravagant personal endeavors, or the latest act of drama he has gotten into. Yet, in the wake of all the gossip circulating Kanye, his music is often harshly overlooked.
Kanye has been built up by the media to be a self loving egotistical rapper, who considers himself a “God” and superior to the rest of the world. These accusations don’t go unfulfilled, and one can see evidence of this truth in lines like “I’m my favorite rapper” or “My greatest pain in life is that I will never be able to see myself perform live.” Lines like these have caused Kanye’s outstanding music career to be swept under the rug as many don’t want to support a musician that they deem a “bad person.”
The release of Kanye West’s 2004 record College Dropout, under Rock-A-Fella records, turned the hardworking music producer who got little credit for his actions, into the hip-hop superstar we know now. The album had songs that demonstrated Kanye’s rapping and producing capabilities while revolutionizing the rap industry and changing the direction of future hip hop. For a genre which had relied heavily on homophobia and sexism, Kanye showed that rap didn’t need to be that way by featuring songs that showed very politically charged ideas like race relations and how the lower class is often depicted.
With lines like, “And I basically know now We get racially profiled ‘Cuffed up and hosed down, pimped up and ho’d down” from “Two Words” (the 18th track of College Dropout), Kanye was able to show his frustration with serious issues, without having to use offensive language.
As Kanye’s career progressed, he continued to release hard hitting albums and songs which showed originality atop commercial success which put his albums on the top of the charts. As time went by, many began to stop seeing him for his music but rather his personality. The whole world seemingly turned against him as shows like SNL wrote skits mocking him and the media started portraying him as an egotistical primadonna. Kanye turned from rap pioneer to that one dumb celebrity who thinks the world of himself.
Kanye took the change of character in stride, and wrote songs and albums to fit what he had become. For example, in “Power,” Kanye raps about coming into the eye of the public and being seen as a fool and an idiot by the public.
Though Kanye West is still very commercially successful and is still able to release songs which are viewed by an international audience, begin mocked for listening to Yeezus can be frustrating.
So next time Kanye West comes on the radio, try to listen to more than just what you have heard about him.