Kanye West, born Kanye Omari West, is a musician unfortunately known best not for his music, but for his controversies. Whether it be the 2009 VMAs incident, or the more recent incident involving a certain political figure, West will never live down the consequences of his past. Although there was no excuse for these actions, could there be a reason behind all of this? 

Looking back 46 years, West was born on the eighth of June, 1977, to Donda and Ray West. Both were part of the Black Panther group, a political organization assembled to fight against police brutality in the 60’s. 

West loved making music and started his production career in 1996 for Roc-A-Fella’s Jay-Z. He started rapping in 2002 and released his full-length album, “The College Dropout”, in 2004. He continued this school-based album trilogy until 2007 when he released “808s and Heartbreak” in replacement of an album he planned to release but was ultimately scrapped due to the untimely death of his mother. This would cause West to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which would lead to what happened at the 2009 VMAs. After this, West wouldn’t be seen again until he dropped “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”, his most critically acclaimed album. 

Fast-forwarding to 2022, West’s wife, Kim Kardashian, would publically divorce him and expose his very concerning text messages. Pete Davidson would also humiliate him, and since Kid Cudi is Davidson’s friend, this would cause West to lose some of his friends. This eventually would lead West down a dark spiral, where he would make antisemitic comments, which would make his collaborators such as Adidas, Gap, and Balenciaga, cut all ties with him completely. Statistics show that Since then, West has been more secluded than usual, with a suspended Twitter/X account and a new wife. 

Local students Abby Dominguez and Oliver Pirolla spoke in opposition to each other about their opinions on West.

“Kanye reinvented his music one album after another,” Dominguez said.

 “From a musical standpoint, he is very good, but I cannot support him as a person.” Pirolla also called back to the time when West exclaimed that “slavery was a choice.” 

Another student, Taylor Marks, spoke negatively about West, noting that even though some of the more controversial things he said most likely stemmed from mental illness, it’s still inexcusable.

Needless to say, West has been involved in heaps of controversies, most of which have been hurtful to communities of people. Some people say that they can see the reasoning behind the things he says, some say the exact opposite. However, despite what both sides think, West revolutionized the music industry and inspired the creation of many well-known artists today. West may not be getting the help he needs, due to reports of more controversies happening as this article is being written. West is a staple to music, but the controversies he is being involved in, or has been involved in, are resulting in worry for West.