Today In Boo Hoo News: Kanye West Says Being A Black Trump Supporter Is Hard
In #theseuncertaintimes, in between bouts of obsessing over worst case scenarios, I sometimes find myself looking for silver linings, as a treat. Like sometimes I’ll imagine that the complete and utter collapse of society as we know it, will result in a reset of such proportions, that the Kardashian-West’s will one day find themselves penniless/follower-less (same diff), living huddled up together in one of Kanye’s space tents, breathing each others farts, because their mausoleum has been commandeered by President Jenifer Lewis (my fantasy, my president) and converted into a hospital. Should that come to pass, never again would we have to hear Kanye West’s ass talk about how much he loves Donald Trump despite the terrible discrimination he faces for doing so. Sadly, we’re not quite there yet.
Since this truly is the most cursed timeline, Kanye covers this month’s issue of WSJ Magazine; I guess reckless egomaniacs are big in 2020. In the accompanying interview, Kanye claims that the reaction to his continued support of Donald Trump reminds him of the racism he experienced when he used to be Black. According to Entertainment Weekly:
West is currently quarantining with his wife, Kim Kardashian, and their four kids at their home in Calabasas, California, amid the coronavirus pandemic. Later, West discusses the backlash he’s received for his support of President Donald Trump, and the magazine notes that he has a direct line to Jared Kushner at the White House. West says he has a problem with the labels and expectations put on him as a rapper and a college dropout more than anything.
“I’m a black guy with a red [MAGA] hat, can you imagine? …It reminded me of how I felt as a black guy before I was famous, when I would walk in a restaurant and people would look at you like you were going to steal something,” he says. “‘This is your place, Ye, don’t talk about apparel. This is your place, Ye, you’re black, so you’re a Democrat.'”
Look, Kanye logic is an oxymoron. Complex adds:
As writer Christina Binkley points out in the piece, West is indeed not registered to vote and “doesn’t follow politics,” though seemingly none of that has translated to any sort of backing away from the artist’s growing history of Trump co-signs.
But just because Kanye doesn’t follow politics, doesn’t mean he doesn’t have important out of the box things to say about classism, which presumably doesn’t count as politics in Kanye logic.
“Everything is about putting people in their place. Classism, protectionism — not just racism,” he adds. “Classism is like living on a bookshelf. The more money you have, the higher you go. And you get to the top and look over and what do you see? Fear.”
I’d really like to hear Kanye flesh this thought out, maybe offer some insight on his place on this metaphorical bookshelf as a man who doesn’t own one and probably hasn’t even read his own wife’s coffee table book of selfies. But he’s too busy addressing the voice in his head that told him not to talk about apparel.
West talks about his ideas for the future, including selling a $60 hoodie in neutral colors that he wants to sell at Costco.
“I like Costco as an idea,” he says. “I like Walmart, too.”
“This collection is couture for the service industry,” he also says of his Yeezy Collection reboot, though he doesn’t want to talk about the items’ costs.
“We’re not focusing on prices right now,” he shares. “We’re only focusing on creativity.”
Now wait a minute! Is this? Politics? No wonder Kanye says he “had an actual mental breakdown from attempting to put together all of the pieces,” comparing his experience to “kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold lacquer at the seams.” But also to Deadpool.
“I’ve been through Deadpool. You know that movie?” West asks.
Aha! I always suspected Kanye was hiding a tiny baby hand! Maybe that’s why he doesn’t vote— he can’t reach the lever.
Pic: Twitter