Welcome to the Deep Dive. We're engineered to
take these huge, complex topics and, well, break
them down into something you can really grasp.
And today, the topic is definitely complex. It
really is. We're diving into Kanye Omari West,
now legally known just as Ye. Yeah. A figure
who's simultaneously seen as one of the greatest
rappers ever, a revolutionary producer. And also
one of the most, let's say, polarizing figures
in modern culture. It's a lot. It is. And the
scale is just immense. We're talking 24 Grammys,
160 million records sold, a career that's been
shifting constantly since, what, 1996? Music,
fashion, politics. It's everywhere. Right. So
our job today, our mission, is to navigate this
huge... often contradictory history, and importantly,
do it impartially. We need to trace it all, from
his early life, the music highs, through to the
really extreme controversies lately. Exactly.
How did that college dropout challenging the
system turn into this experimental titan? And
crucially, how did that same drive lead to, well,
everything that's happened recently, the lost
deals, the public outcry? It's like charting
creative genius against almost cultural self
-destruction. So for you listening, this deep
dive is set up so you can quickly get the key
shifts, his creative work, his persona, the moments
that changed everything, the highs and the very
intense lows. We'll cover the artistic breakthroughs,
the personal events that maybe triggered changes,
and definitely the impact of his recent statements.
Okay, let's get started. Where do we begin? The
foundation. Right. Chicago. Yeah, to really get
yes ambition, that confidence, you have to look
at his upbringing. Born in Atlanta in 1977, but
mostly raised in Chicago after his parents divorced
when he was about three. And it wasn't just any
upbringing. It was solidly middle class, very
academic. Very. His father, Ray West, was a former
Black Panther, then became one of the first Black
photojournalists at the Atlanta Journal -Constitution.
Impressive stuff. And his mother, Dr. Donna West,
a huge influence. Professor of English, eventually
chaired the department at Chicago State University.
Exactly. So that environment, it instills a certain
kind of confidence, right? Valuing intellect,
critical thinking. You can see where some of
that comes from. And it showed up early. He wasn't
just playing around with music. Not at all. Writing
poetry at five years old. By seventh grade, he's
making musical compositions and selling them
to local artists. Already entrepreneurial. There's
also that year in China, right? People forget
that. Yeah, when he was 10. moved to Nanjing
with his mother because she was a Fulbright scholar
there. He had to pick up the language quickly,
navigate a totally different culture. He's mentioned
forgetting most of the Mandarin since, but still,
that kind of experience at that age, it broadens
your horizons massively. For sure. But then comes
that really defining moment, the one that literally
gave his first album its name. The dropout decision.
Right. He gets a scholarship, goes to the American
Academy of Art, then transfers to Chicago State.
where his mother is a professor. And then at
20, he just drops out, pursues music full time.
Against the backdrop of that academic family,
especially with his mom right there at the university.
That's a statement, a real act of defiance. It
really was. It wasn't just leaving school. It
was rejecting that whole expected path. And it
came central to his identity, didn't it? That
core message of the college dropout. Absolutely.
The whole philosophy was make your own decisions.
Don't let society tell you what you have to do.
That's the first big instance of him positioning
nonconformity as like. The ultimate virtue. But
before the rapping persona really took off, he
was grinding as a producer, mid -90s Chicago.
Yeah, making beats, developing his sound. Got
his first official production credits when he
was 19 on Grav's album Down to Earth in 96. And
his rise as a producer was, well, fast. Meteoric
is the word. By 2000, he's an in -house producer
at Rockefeller Records. And the story there isn't
just that he worked for them. No, the narrative
is he saved Jay -Z's career, basically, with
the blueprint. Pretty much. His soulful production
on that 2001 album, it was a game changer. Suddenly
the producer everyone wants. Working with Alicia
Keys, Ludacris, Janet Jackson, the go -to guy.
But here's the irony, right? The guy everyone
wants for beats. Couldn't get his own rap deal.
Exactly. Why was that? Because he didn't fit
the mold. Capitol Records, others, they all turned
him down. Mainstream hip -hop, then, was all
about the gangsta image. The street narrative.
And he's talking about, what, student loans and
backpacks. Basically, yeah. Class struggles,
self -consciousness, consumerism. Things that
weren't really dominant themes then. The labels
just couldn't see him as a rapper, only a producer.
So Rockefeller, Damon Dash specifically, signs
him as an artist, but almost reluctantly. Pretty
much just to keep him producing for them, yeah.
To stop him going elsewhere. He really had to
fight to be seen as a performer. And that fight
had a very real physical climax, the car accident.
October 2002, a near fatal crash shatters his
jaw. It's almost too poetic, right? Guy struggling
to get his voice heard, literally has his mouth
wired shut. But it didn't silence him, quite
the opposite. No, it became the catalyst. Just
two weeks later, jaw still wired, he goes into
record plant studios and records through the
wire. Incredible. That track, burned from trauma,
it forced everyone to pay attention. To see the
artist, the sheer willpower, not just the producer.
The story became the sound. Hashtag, hashtag,
hashtag, too. The progressive trilogy. and the
introduction of public controversy, 2003 -2009.
Okay, so the college dropout finally arrives
in February 2004, and its release tells you a
lot about how he operates. Oh, yeah. The album
actually leaked months early, which could have
been a disaster. But for him. He used the time.
He went back in, remixed, remastered, added strings,
gospel choirs. He basically treated the leak
as a chance for more refinement, turning a negative
into a creative positive. And the result? Massive
success. Straight to number two on Billboard.
Slow jams. Hits number one. Wins the Grammy for
best rap album. Right out of the gate. And he
was already challenging expectations. Remember
Jesus Walks? Oh yeah. People said a religious
song wouldn't work on pop radio. Executives definitely
thought that. But it hit the top 20. It proved
his point. Audiences wanted something different.
Something with substance. Even faith. And he
wasn't just focused on his own art. That same
year, 2004, he starts Good music. Right. The
label and management company signed John Legend
Common, building his own platform from the very
beginning. Then comes the follow up late registration
in 2005 and the scale of ambition just jumps.
It really does. He personally invested two million
dollars into making it. That kind of budget for
a hip hop album back then was pretty much unheard
of. Why so much? What was he going for? Maximalism.
Pure sonic ambition. He spent over a year on
it. Inspired by Portishead's live album, Roseland
NYC Live. But one with the orchestra. Exactly.
So he hires John Breon, the film composer, to
help arrange a full string orchestra. It wasn't
just sampling anymore. It was intricate composition,
blending that chamber pop sound with hip hop.
A huge expensive risk. And it paid off critically
and commercially. But this is also where we start
seeing the public persona get louder. Yeah, the
artistic success seems to fuel the public confrontations.
2006 MTV Europe Music Awards. He loses best video
for Touch the Sky. And he goes on stage anyway.
Yep. Argues he should have won. He did apologize
later, even spooked it on SNL, but it was an
early sign, you know. That feeling of being overlooked,
that his genius wasn't getting its due from the
establishment. But the really big moment, the
one everyone remembers from that time. Hurricane
Katrina benefit concert, 2005. Live TV. Mike
Myers is standing next to him. And he goes off
script. George Bush doesn't care about black
people. Boom. Yeah. Just drops it in there. That
cemented him as this figure who would use his
platform for these huge controversial political
statements. Even if he later walked it back,
apologized in 2010, said it came from a victimized
mentality. That trilogy of albums wraps up with
Graduation in 2007. Commercially, just massive.
Unbelievable numbers. Debuts at number one, sells
almost a million copies, $957 ,000 in the first
week. And the sound changed again, stronger,
sampling Daft Punk. That track felt different.
It absolutely was. It wasn't just a hit single.
Stronger is really credited with pushing hip
-hop towards incorporating house, electronica,
more European sounds. It helped kickstart that
whole electropop wave in the late 2000s. Huge
influence on pop radio. But right at this peak
of success, tragedy strikes. Yeah, November 2007,
his mother, Donda, dies suddenly. Complications
after cosmetic surgery. Utterly devastating for
him. And that wasn't all, was it? No, shortly
after, his engagement to Alexis Pfeiffer ends
too. So it's this double blow of profound personal
loss. And that grief, that trauma, directly leads
to another huge artistic shift. Immediately.
He channels all that pain into the next project,
2008's 808's and Heartbreak, recorded incredibly
quickly, mostly just three weeks in Hawaii. And
the sound, a complete 180 from graduation. Took
everyone completely by surprise. He basically
abandoned rapping. It was all synth -driven,
electropop, heavy autotune, but not in a T -pain
celebratory way. No, it was using autotune for
melancholy, for emotional distance. Exactly.
Like filtering raw emotion through this digital
coldness, using his voice almost like another
synthesized instrument full of sadness and isolation.
For the mainstream hip hop audience at the time,
that must have been jarring. It was hugely divisive
initially. Critics, fans, they didn't know what
to make of it. But looking back, its influence
is undeniable. You hear it everywhere now. Absolutely.
808s opened the door for rappers to sing, to
be vulnerable, to use more atmospheric electronic
production. Drake, Kid Cudi, Travis Scott. So
many artists owe a debt to that album. He gave
a whole generation permission to experiment with
melody and emotion. So he cemented himself as
this boundary -pushing innovator. Yeah. And then
comes the 2009 VMAs. Ah, the Taylor Swift incident.
Yeah. Interrupting her acceptance speech saying
Beyonce deserved the award. The fallout was immediate.
And huge. Probably the biggest celebrity PR disaster
of the decade up to that point. Everyone condemned
it. President Obama famously called him a jackass.
He apologized, but then seemed to walk that back,
too, saying it was selfless or something. Yeah,
he framed it later as being about artistic integrity,
about justice for Beyonce's video. But the damage
was done. The controversy, the spectacle, it
became welded to his public image. Unavoidably
so. Hashtag tag tag three three. The art of the
comeback and creative extremism. 2010, 2015.
Okay, so the VMA fallout is massive. How does
he respond? Well, first he kind of disappears
for a bit, a self -imposed exile, dabbled in
fashion, but everyone was waiting for the musical
comeback. And he heads back to Hawaii? Yep, sets
up shop again, but this time it's even more intense,
months of recording. It became legendary, this
sort of rap camp. What was the atmosphere like?
Communal, but also like a creative pressure cooker.
He flew in his favorite producers, engineers,
artists, Jay -Z, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, and basically
had them living and working there 247 in shifts.
Suits required at dinner, apparently. Strict
rules. All focused on channeling that energy,
overcoming the public shame into the music. Exactly.
And the result was my beautiful dark twisted
fantasy in 2010. Which was just the opposite
of 808s in many ways. Totally. If 808s was minimalist
and cold, MBDTF was maximalist, sprawling, opulent,
complex, dealing head on with fame, excess, self
-doubt, public perception. And the reception.
Overwhelmingly positive. almost universally acclaimed
as a masterpiece, his best work. It absolutely
cemented his comeback. It's often called one
of the greatest albums, period, of the 21st century.
He also had that clever release strategy, The
Good Fridays. Right. Releasing free, high -quality
tracks every Friday leading up to the album built
incredible hype, kept him in the conversation
constantly. Genius marketing, really. And he
wasn't just thinking about audio, the Runaway
film. Yeah, the 35 -minute short film he wrote.
Directed and starred in. Yeah. Using the music
from MBDTF. He saw this as a bigger artistic
statement, not just an album. A whole visual
world. After that huge success, he leaned into
collaboration. Watched The Throne with Jay -Z
in 2011. A massive event album. And they were
smart about the release, too, trying to beat
the pirates. How'd they do that? Dropped it digitally
first, weeks before the physical CDs. It helped
control leaks and make sure the initial sales
counted properly. Pretty savvy move for the time.
But Kanye being Kanye. After reaching this peak
of accepted brilliance, he pivots hard again,
uses 2013, and this time the goal was almost
anti -commercial. Explicitly so. He said he wanted
to undermine the commercial to basically tear
down the sound he'd just perfected. So what did
Jesus sound like? Harsh, abrasive, minimalist,
but aggressive. It pulled from industrial music,
acid house, Jamaican dance hall, Chicago drill.
Very raw, distorted sounds. And the story of
making that album is wild too, right? With Rick
Rubin? Absolutely legendary. He calls in Rick
Rubin like 15 days before the deadline. Just
two weeks out. Yeah. And tells Rubin to basically
strip everything down, make it even more minimal,
more sparse. Rubin famously said he was taking
layers out, not adding them. That decision, bringing
Rubin in at the 11th hour to deconstruct everything,
that says so much about his process. It's about
impact, shock, not just polish. Totally. It was
confrontational. He wanted it to feel jagged,
unfinished almost. Yeah. A direct reaction against
the lushness of MBDTF. And the tour for Yeezus
reflected that. Oh, completely. Masks, Margiela,
stark staging, performance art elements. It was
controversial, polarizing, but critics actually
lauded the risk -taking. Right. I remember reviews
calling it bonkers, but brilliant, praising him
for doing something genuinely challenging. He'd
successfully flipped the script again. Success
wasn't just sales. It was about provoking a reaction,
dictating the cultural conversation on his own
terms. And during this period, he's also reaching
across generations, collaborating with Paul McCartney.
Yeah, the song Only One, which is incredibly
stripped down and personal, supposedly from his
mother's perspective. And then. Four or five
seconds with McCartney and Rihanna. Huge hit.
Very different sound again. It all seemed to
culminate in this big moment of institutional
acceptance in 2015. The honorary doctorate from
the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Recognizing
him not just as a musician, but as this broader
cultural force in art and fashion. A really significant
nod. Although, we have to add the footnote. Right.
That same doctorate was rescinded in 2022. Which
tells you a lot about the next chapter, hashtag
tag tag RV. Shifting identity, mental health,
and the faith era, 2016 -2022. Yeah, that next
phase, starting around 2016 with the life of
Pablo, feels less stable, more chaotic. Definitely.
Pablo itself embodied that. Remember all the
title changes? So help me God. Swish. Waves.
Yeah. He couldn't land on it. And even after
it came out. Exclusively on Tidal at first, he
kept changing it. Tweaking mixes, altering lyrics,
even adding whole songs after release. He called
it a living, breathing, changing creative expression.
Which is a fascinating artistic concept, the
album never being truly finished. But also incredibly
frustrating for listeners. It defied the whole
idea of a finished product. He was asserting
total control even post -release. But the art
was getting tangled with controversy again. The
famous video. Oh boy. Yeah, the lifelike nude
wax figures of Taylor Swift, Trump, George Bush,
Bill Cosby just lay down in a bed. Pure provocation.
Designed to shock, to blur lines between art
and, well, celebrity effigy. It definitely got
the reaction he likely wanted. But then things
took a much darker turn later that year. The
St. Pablo tour. Right. He started having these
long onstage rants, ending shows early or just
not showing up. And then abruptly canceled the
last 21 dates. News breaks that he's been hospitalized.
Psychiatric observation. What was the official
reason given? Initial reports cited temporary
psychosis due to extreme sleep deprivation and
dehydration. This led to the public learning
about his bipolar disorder diagnosis, which he
later confirmed. He even referenced it directly
on the cover of the Ye album in 2018. I hate
being bipolar. It's awesome. Right. But here's
where it gets complicated again. Since then,
he's repeatedly questioned that diagnosis. Suggested
it was a misdiagnosis, attributed symptoms to
other things. Exactly. Sometimes sleep deprivation,
other times suggesting he might be autistic.
He even claimed in early 2025 to have received
a professional autism diagnosis, though the details
around that remain somewhat murky. And alongside
the mental health struggles, there were other
very personal disclosures. Yeah, he talked openly
about opioid addiction after liposuction surgery,
addictions to alcohol, sex, pornography, even
experiencing suicidal thoughts. It was a period
of intense personal turmoil spilling into public
view. And all this becomes fuel for the next
creative burst, the Wyoming Sessions in 2018.
Kind of a retreat, yeah. He bought property there,
announced he was writing a philosophy book called
Break the Simulation, started posting these sort
of life coaching aphorisms on Twitter. A shift
towards being seen as more than just a musician,
a thinker, a spiritual guide almost. Seems like
it. And the music from that period reflected
it. The very personal Yee album. The Kids See
Ghosts collaboration with Kid Cudi, which explored
mental health themes. But the biggest shift was
yet to come. The full pivot to Christianity.
Sunday service. Starting in early 2019, these
exclusive invite -only gatherings, often outdoors,
with huge choirs, gospel arrangements of his
songs, other hymns. It became a phenomenon. And
that led directly to the album Jesus is King
in 2019. His first explicitly Christian gospel
album. And commercially. historic success it
topped five different billboard charts simultaneously
the main billboard 200 r b hip -hop rap christian
and gospel charts no one had ever done that before
it showed he could completely change lanes and
still dominate and during this time the name
change happens october 2021 officially becomes
just yay he said it was for personal reasons
referencing the biblical meaning of yeah as you
representing a collective identity maybe shedding
the ego of kanye west The final big musical project
of this era was Donda in 2021, which also had
a very strange rollout. Extremely strange. Multiple
huge listening parties in stadiums. Right. He
was literally living in the Mercedes -Benz Stadium
in Atlanta to finish it. Yeah. Set up a studio
in a locker room, built enormous hype. But then
when it finally dropped, he claimed Universal
released it. Without his final approval. Again,
asserting that control over the final product
even after release. A recurring theme. Hashtag
tag tag JV, personal life, business ventures,
and extreme public views. 2012 present. Okay,
so moving into the more recent period, focusing
on his personal life and business. The scale
just keeps expanding. The relationship with Kim
Kardashian, obviously. Started dating 2012, married
2014. It wasn't just a celebrity couple. It was
a cultural force. The New York Times called it
that historic blizzard of celebrity. And they
have four children together. North, Saint, and
then Chicago and Psalm, born via surrogate. But
the marriage ended. finalized in 2022. With a
significant financial settlement. Yes. $200 ,000
a month in child support, plus splitting costs
for education, medical security, highlights the
immense wealth involved. His relationships have
often been public and sometimes messy. Amber
rose before Kim. Right. Dated 2008, 2010. She
later accused him of bullying her, slut shaming
after they broke up. And more recently, that
very short, very public fling with Julia Fox
in early 2022. Which Fox herself later described
almost transactionally, saying she did it partly
to distract him from his public arguments with
Kim during the divorce. Then came the informal
marriage to Bianca Sensori, the Australian architect,
in January 2023. Informal being the key word,
no legal standing. Their relationship has been
under intense media scrutiny, lots of provocative
outfits. There were reports in spring 2025 that
she had left him over controversial tweets. But
they were seen together again shortly after.
Exactly. The status seems volatil. Very public.
And amidst all this, a really shocking personal
claim he made in April 2025. Deeply disturbing,
yeah. Claiming he had an incestuous relationship
with a male cousin when they were children, stemming
from trying to mimic pornography they'd seen.
Just a bombshell disclosure. Shifting to business.
Donda, the company, founded 2012. What was the
idea there? Hugely ambitious. The goal was to
pick up where Steve Giles left off, to aesthetically
improve everything. It became the umbrella for
his various creative projects, known for that
very distinct minimalist style. And fashion was
always central, from early sneaker collab. And
Bepestas, then the Nike Air Yeezys, huge deal.
First non -athlete signature shoe with Nike.
That really set the stage. And then the big one.
The Yeezy clothing and sneaker line with Adidas
starting in 2015, that became enormous. A fashion
empire, hugely influential, massively profitable.
But this is where his public statements started
having direct, unavoidable business consequences.
The anti -Semitic comments in late 2022. A prolonged
series of them across interviews, social media.
It became impossible for partners to ignore.
Adidas finally terminated the Yeezy partnership
in October 2022. And the financial hit was immediate.
Catastrophic. His net worth, estimated around
$1 .8 billion in 2021, reportedly dropped to
about $400 million after losing Adidas and the
Gap deal around the same time. Just a massive,
self -inflicted financial blow. He also dipped
his toes into politics, the 2020 presidential
run. Yeah, ran as an independent, the birthday
party. conceded pretty quickly. But later reports
suggested GOP operatives were secretly involved,
maybe to siphon votes, though the campaign denied
explicit coordination. And he admitted he didn't
really know much about policy. Openly admitted
ignorance on taxes, foreign policy. It felt more
like performance art than a serious campaign
to many. But the rhetoric took a truly extreme
turn after that, late 2022 onwards. That's when
the explicit anti -Semitism really ramped up.
culminating in that December 2022 InfoWars appearance.
Where he praised Hitler, denied the Holocaust,
called himself a Nazi. Just absolutely shocking
statements. Followed by using swastika imagery
online, getting kicked off Twitter again. The
condemnation was universal. And the fallout wasn't
just sponsors dropping him. There were real world
consequences. Yes. The Anti -Defamation League
put out a report linking his rhetoric directly
to incidents of anti -Semitic vandalism, harassment,
even violence across the U .S. A terrifying impact.
Even his recent music has been caught up in this.
The Vultures albums with Ty Dolla Sign had controversial
lyrics and his planned solo album. Bully, then
retitled In a Perfect World, he declared he wouldn't
put it on streaming platforms, specifically blaming
French and Jewish record labels. Just doubling
down on the rhetoric. And now mounting legal
issues, too. Seems so. The lawsuit against his
dentist in May 2025, alleging he enabled a nitrous
oxide dependency. Plus multiple lawsuits piling
up from 2024 to 2025. Alleging what? Serious
things. Racial discrimination, sexual harassment,
wrongful termination, even sexual assault and
strangulation brought by former employees, associates,
a former model, a whole wave of legal battles.
Hashtag, hashtag, hashtag. Musical legacy, style,
and cultural influence. It's overwhelming, the
scale of the recent controversies, the legal
troubles. But if we try, just for a moment, to
look purely at the musical legacy, it's undeniable,
isn't it? Objectively, yeah. His impact on music
is revolutionary. His entire career is defined
by constant stylistic shifts, radical experimentation,
but somehow often keeping it accessible, pop
savvy. Let's talk about that sound. Early on,
the chipmunk soul. Right. That signature sound
he pioneered, taking old soul samples, speeding
them up, pitching them high. He gave his early
beats this really warm, nostalgic, yet energetic
feel. How did that compare to what else was happening
in hip hop then? It was a huge contrast to the
dominant, gritty, minimalist boom bap sound.
His production was lush, melodic, often quite
emotional. And lyrically, he just broke the mold.
Moving away from the gangsta narratives. Completely.
Talking about college, work, insecurity, consumerism,
racism. More introspective, middle -class concerns.
Things that weren't typically front and center
in mainstream rap. And that opened doors, didn't
it? Massively. He proved you could be commercially
huge without adhering to that hardcore image.
Paved the way for a whole generation of artists
exploring different themes and sounds. Drake,
J. Cole, Childish Gambino. And the way he just
kept changing styles. It's almost unparalleled
in the mainstream. The progression is wild when
you list it out. Late registration brings in
chamber pop. Graduation leans into arena rock,
euro pop. Then the 808s shock. Synth pop, auto
-tuned vocals. Followed by Yeezus, industrial
acid house drill. Deliberately abrasive. And
then the complete turn to gospel and Christian
rap with Jesus is King and Donda. It's staggering.
Name another artist at that level of fame who
has successfully reinvented their core sound
so dramatically, so many times, and kept hitting
number one. So the critical acclaim makes sense.
He's consistently called one of the most important
artists of our time. Yeah, critics recognize
that constant innovation. That influence. He
shares the record with Bob Dylan for most albums,
topping the Paz and Jop critics poll for each.
That speaks volumes. And you see his influence
cited by artists across genres, not just rappers.
Drake, Nicki Minaj, sure, but also Lorde, James
Blake, Rosalia. His impact on production, melody,
and just artistic risk -taking is incredibly
widespread. The stats back it up, too. The chart
records. Tied with Eminem, nine consecutive studio
albums debuting at number one on Billboard 200.
That level of sustained dominance is rare. Plus
major awards like the Billboard Artist Achievement
Award, the MTV Video Vanguard Award. The industry
recognized its impact for years. Hashtag tag
tag outro. So wrapping this up, what we've really
traced here are these two parallel tracks, right?
On one hand, this undeniable sonic genius, constantly
evolving, breaking molds from the college dropout
challenging norms to this boundary obliterating
figure. And on the other hand. This trajectory
where that same impulse to challenge, to provoke,
what applied outside of music to public statements,
politics, social issues, has led to this intense
backlash, the loss of partnerships, the legal
quagmire, the, well, the extreme controversy.
It's the central paradox, isn't it? That original
ethos from the college dropout. make your own
decisions, reject the status quo. It fueled incredible
artistic success. But when that rejection turned
towards, you know, basic social contracts, towards
deeply offensive rhetoric, it resulted in this
catastrophic loss of institutional standing.
The rescinded degree, the terminated deals worth
billions. Yeah, as you said, the music often
still charts. People still listen. There's an
enduring cultural pull despite everything. Which
brings us right back to that core idea. If your
whole career is built on pushing boundaries,
artistic... commercial, eventually maybe moral,
is there a point where destroying those boundaries
becomes almost inevitable? part of the artistic
identity itself, even if it leads to self -destruction.
It leaves us with a difficult question, maybe
the difficult question for you, the listener,
to consider. We've seen the immense cost of his
recent expressions financially, reputationally,
socially. So when an artist's work is so deeply
woven into the fabric of the culture, like his
undeniably is, can you separate the art from
the artist? Is it possible to value the musical
innovation while condemning the creator's harmful
actions? And maybe even more fundamentally, should
we even try to make that separation? Or does
the creator's conduct inevitably change how we
experience or should experience the art itself?