State of Kanye West …

When Jay-Z dropped ‘4:44’, it touched on the idea of a kind of personal or intimate hip-hop project. It was not an impressive album, but it wasn’t really supposed be; it was more of a journal entry than a collection of club hits. In a way, we kinda got it. Whether we agreed with the sentiment is something that will continue to be debatable.

When Kanye dropped ‘Ye’, it carried on the same vein of intimacy and opening up about personal issues instead of aiming for the charts. It was also musically unimpressive and we understood that it was deliberate. When he spoke about his struggles with mental illness, we had to bend a bit to accommodate his bizarre rants and problematic views because, well…maybe that’s the bipolar talking.

Now, on the eve of another album, Kanye is back to his mindboggling speeches and ‘provocative’ snaps…to get the people going!

Now, the being formally known as Kanye West is Ye.

Ok. Shaap. We’ve been here before. Puff/Diddy, Mos/Yasiin.

What is becoming clearer is that it’s no longer about him opening his inner world to us, but more about forcing us to live in it, otherwise we are the problem – this is some transcendent narcissistic BS.

Ye sees himself as an artist and not a musician and I believe he deserves that title, but it seems as though he is evolving into the art itself, like he sees his thought process is a work of art. The music is becoming mediocre and the persona more erratic.

I used to look forward to Ye’s album drops and now I don’t know if I’m a fan or a part of the problem.

I don’t want to live in Ye’s world. Only his wellbeing matters there.

Writer: Vus Ngxande