Can we still feel anger toward Kanye? Feeling nothing may be the answer

Whoever is in charge of the PR team for Ye (formerly Kanye West) deserves a hug this week. I’m not sure if there’s a more challenging job than trying to run damage control or be a spin doctor for someone that seems to go out of his way to get the worst publicity ever. Just a week ago, we thought the latest controversy of his ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt would end his outrageous marketing campaign. We were wrong.

As the days went on, Ye (a proud non-book reader) went on Tucker Carlson’s show to do an interview, beefed with Diddy and made anti-Semitic comments to whoever would listen, enough so that his interview with LeBron James’ barbershop convo show ‘The Shop’ pulled the episode entirely. Oh, and in the middle of that, he made comments about shooting up a school and publicly announced the location of one his daughter attends.

Years ago, when Kanye made insulting comments about Harriet Tubman (which the biggest of racists wouldn’t disrespect), claimed “slavery was a choice,” and that Donald Trump was his “dad,” I felt anger towards him. A wave of anger for someone that I felt was the voice of the young Black kid like me that loved hip-hop but was closer to being a sci-fi nerd than a street guy. But when he visited Charleston to announce his presidential candidacy, ending with a panic-attack-like cry, I stopped being angry and became worried.

I pose the question: Can we still be mad at him for this past week’s crash-and-burn media tour?

Having an intimate conversation with a close friend and hip-hop enthusiast, Robert “Gorgeous Bobby” Ford, gave me a rebuttal to Ye’s week.

“What if the problem is that he’s just not a good person?” The simple question posed a more profound thought for me. We can say that his personality could be one of an unwell person, but what if this is indeed who he is?

Ford then tells me that he has “zero sympathies” for Ye because he knows when not to cross a line. Having a ‘WLM’ shirt in a fashion show in Paris ain’t the same as premiering it in his native city of Chicago.

I began to wonder if we’d seen this before. We can think about Michael Jackson and his odd behavior due to megastardom, but Jackson seemed to internalize his emotions. Every bit of plastic surgery felt like a inward outcry, while Ye yelled whatever he wanted at any time.

What does that mean for us? Well, ironically, writing about him doesn’t feel like helping. He seems to justify any press or attention despite how bad it is because a new shoe will drop (and even Adidas is questioning their relationship with him).

Is this the result of celebrity culture where we care more about someone being a billionaire before being a good person (and Ye makes it a point to tell you his net worth as often as possible)? He has done something that may seem utterly impossible: He made me, a hip-hop guy, look at Kim Kardashian as a sympathetic figure.

This isn’t going to be one of those social-political deep dives on him (there isn’t a word count long enough to go in as I’d like). Still, in simple human terms, Ye has become the embodiment of the “Citizen Kane’” quote, “Well, it’s no trick to make a lot of money . . . if all you want to do is make a lot of money.” Congrats, because that seems like all he has.

I’m heartbroken because the love I once had for him is gone. So is the anger, and I remember that the opposite of love isn’t hate; it’s indifference. I’m finally there. This day forth, I don’t wanna hear about a new song, new shoe drop, or interview. I would only entertain him seeking help, but maybe he hasn’t figured out how to monetize that.

Preach Jacobs is a two-time South Carolina Press Association award winner for column writing, hip-hop artist and DJ.