This question has boggled my mind. I'm a fan of Kanye myself—I cared enough to edit and fund a book about him—and yet, on paper, if it were any other artist or business, I probably would have moved on by now. From the conflicts in album delays, controversies, etc., I'm guessing some of you might feel the same way—and yet, here we are, still writing and reading!

Before I continue, I need to say, I've been following this community since the KTT days and I followed the migration. This is my first thread at KTT2! Anyway—without further ado...

I've covered Kanye's Gap deal for Marker before, so from a business perspective—obviously corporations do deals with Kanye because his products sell. So the question under that is, why—in spite of all the controversies—do his products still sell so well?

A few weeks ago, I read Modern Gospels by Mario Gabriele, and I realized that some people (first and foremost, myself) relate to Kanye not as an artist, or even a brand, but more like a religion. Similar to Elon Musk, WeWork, Oprah, etc—this is why it's so difficult to short Tesla, because a good portion of buying/holding Tesla stock is driven by belief.

So, I decided to take a stab at starting to deconstruct this religion... And it all starts with Kanye's genuine belief that everyone can be a genius. It's one of his truths that he lives, and it starts with himself. He declares it proudly.

For example, he says things like, "If you’re a Kanye West fan, you’re not a fan of me. You’re a fan of yourself. You will believe in yourself. I’m just the espresso."Kanye believes that people are only limited by their perceptions of themselves.

The mind is powerful. His music, films, and interviews cover this theme (e.g., "Most of all, we're at war with ourselves" on Jesus Walks)—as do his products.

Kanye believes this because he grew up attending Christ Universal Temple and Hillside church, both of which are known for preaching prosperity and positivity. Trump also attended a similar type of church every Sunday—Marble Collegiate Church that preached prosperity. That belief might be the one that tie them together with Joel Osteen. They who all grew up attending similar churches. I'm reading "Blessed" by Kate Bowler right now to learn more about the history of the prosperity gospel, and it's well worth the read.

Hope is an increasingly scarce resource these days, and Kanye's music, like the prosperity gospel, provides concentrated dosages of it. Sometimes, in self-fulfilling prophecy fashion, they even work. This forges a loyalty that is difficult to break.

Anyway, if you found this thread interesting, it's just the beginning of an article I wrote diving into this belief and how it ties into his work.

Thank you for reading all of this, I'd love to hear what you think!

i got paid $200 to show my d*** to some dude yesterday

Get that bag sis

that was a good read and I think you're fully right it's almost like a religion with how much I believe in Kanye

simple, because what would the world look like if Ye never existed?

Yo how can I do that

"the money is already in your Paypal..."

bc he's built different

welcome to ktt2 op this was a good read n imma read the article later today

welcome to ktt2

He’s the greatest artist alive that’s why

arguarbly the most influential and important figure in hip-hop history.

his discography is something else it's really competeting against dylan, beatles, and miles davis.

he's realised his legendary status in his own lifetime.

married to one of the hottest women to grace the earth.

he could sell a blank piece of paper and sell out within minutes.

he's just that damn good.

I think speaking from personal experience a lot of people do not buy into KanyeWest anymore. And you’re right, the people that do it’s more of a religious habitual thing than anything particularly tangible.

Dr dre is the most pivotal hip-hop figure

otherwise

ye's discography has fallen off a cliff for the past 9 years if we're being honest

i love yeezus and pablo but he needs more than that in a soon to be decade long stretch to have the solo body of work to be compared to these artists. not to say he's not a super influential rap/pop culture legend. just speaking about his solo discography here

ye/ksg/jik are not even worth discussing here sorry fam. fingers crossed for donda tho i mean

i think if ye never got distracted with everything outside of the music he'd be in that legendary echelon with the solo work by now

but his attention waned and his solo stretch the last 5 years (half a f***in decade btw, pablo 5 years old in feb) has been dogshit

i think/hope he realizes how important donda is to his legacy here which is why he's taking his time like he is right now

again before the deranged stans lose their s*** pablo and yeezus are prob in my top 3 things he's done. i'm just saying we need more in 2021

dre only got three solo albums there are way more important figures in the game imo

and he helped snoop em 50 game kendrick blow up, some of the most famous names oat in rap

he:
-created the sound of an entire region
-produced/exec. produced some of the bestselling albums in the genre
-put on some of the biggest artists across all genres, literal household names
-created an external billion dollar empire

who'd be above him

come to think of it you're right dre is definitley in that conversation.

but as far as rapping is concerned rakim took rap to the next level and he is respect as such.

damn me and ye went to the same church as kids

If he was a regular artist I would have moved on but CD-PABLO run alone is legendary and nun can take away from the fact the man is a genius at creating good art. So why wouldnt I want to keep eye on that

U don't think he's already in that legendary echelon off his solo work ?