# Do you like Kanye West?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 15, 2016, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228 "2016-02-15T22:08:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 7
### Author:  [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/121 "2016-02-16T20:56:17Z")
As for his music, I may have stumbled across it unknowingly. I am not in his target market. Those who are call him a genius, I certainly have no argument against them.
As for his antics that bubble up in the media, I can’t help but wonder sometimes if he is either on the aspergers spectrum, or has some other un-diagnosed behavioral issue that would benefit from treatment. Mad genius and all that.
Since all I have to go on is his media presence, I would say: No, I do not like a Kanye West.
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### Author:  [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/122 "2016-02-16T21:00:03Z")
No, I don’t like him, too petulant. I’m okay with arrogant pricks, but he’s a total man-child. Fans claim he’s got incredible musical talent, but I haven’t heard it in what little I’ve listened to. I’d likely give it another shot if I could get over his personality.
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### Author:  [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/123 "2016-02-16T21:39:05Z")
> [@AHunter3](#):
>
> Is Kanye doing both of the voices, or is his the one singing the high-pitched “give me money”, or the one doing the more raplike low stuff interspersed on top of it?
> [@JohnT](#):
>
> The “give me money” bit is sung by Jamie Fox
Not exactly - the majority of the “she give me money” bits are sampled from Ray Charles [“I Got a Woman”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrd14PxaUco). That song came out in 1958, so surely people here claiming ignorance of Kanye have heard _that_. Jamie Foxx only sings a small part in the intro of the song, where he’s also pretending to be Ray Charles (as you’ll also recall that he portrayed him in the '04 movie _Ray_).
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### Author:  [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/124 "2016-02-17T00:45:01Z")
> [@Magiver](#):
>
> No clue about his music but he’s a self-absorbed dumb ass. That he married into that reality show circus just adds to it.
>
> His tweets are getting stranger by the minute. He’s 53 million in debt (a fool and his money) and he wants Mark Zuckerberg to invest 1 billion dollars in his ideas.
Think about what his owing 53 million really means. (He stiffed hundreds of hard working individuals who performed some sort of service for him or sold some kind of goods to him.) And now he says to them F you, I’m not paying you and if you don’t like it, spend more money filing a lawsuit against me and if you are lucky, you’ll get a few pennies for the dollars I owe you.
Asshole squared!
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### Author:  [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/125 "2016-02-17T00:58:22Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#):
>
> Think about what his owing 53 million really means. (He stiffed hundreds of hard working individuals who performed some sort of service for him or sold some kind of goods to him.) And now he says to them F you, I’m not paying you and if you don’t like it, spend more money filing a lawsuit against me and if you are lucky, you’ll get a few pennies for the dollars I owe you.
>
> Asshole squared!
Really?
That’s not remotely what having debt means. That’s not what it means even if you assume he doesn’t pay any of it back.
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### Author:  [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/126 "2016-02-17T01:41:00Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#):
>
> Think about what his owing 53 million really means. (He stiffed hundreds of hard working individuals who performed some sort of service for him or sold some kind of goods to him.) And now he says to them F you, I’m not paying you and if you don’t like it, spend more money filing a lawsuit against me and if you are lucky, you’ll get a few pennies for the dollars I owe you.
>
> Asshole squared!
I’m curious where you got that opinion. Did you see it reported somewhere that he owes that money because he agreed to pay people who did work for him and then told them to forget it?
I’d really like to know the source of that opinion.
I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you. I’d just like to know the source. I don’t know how he accumulated that debt either. I’d like to know just who would have lent him that money and why. Or whether it is the result of something else. He could have taken out a bank loan. Although I’d be surprised if any bank would loan him that much money. But it’s a mystery to me just how he ever got into that much debt.
I suppose he could have bought his wife some shoes. But millions of shoes? He would have had to pay to buy a new house with an awful lot of closet space to keep that many shoes.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/127 "2016-02-17T02:17:00Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#):
>
> He’s an asshole personally, but its a weirdly open asshole - arrogant, but mostly because he’s trying to make up for being highly insecure and he’s quite open about that.
>
> However, the dude IS a musical genius. Has an amazing run of ridiculously good albums - even the one that was considered his clunker is now incredibly influential (can you imagine Drake existing without “808s and Heartbreak”?). Just an absolutely incredible talent.
So was John Lennon. And he was also a giant douchebag. The two are not mutually exclusive, nor is talent an excuse to be a douchebag.
(That said, he can be amusing, in sort of a PALATR kind of way)
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### Author:  [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/128 "2016-02-17T02:20:24Z")
As a person he seems a total cunt, and a mentally ill one at that. His music style isn’t really my bag but my Ipod does contain _Love Locked Down_ and, uh, I think it’s called _Heartless_. Those are good songs.
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### Author:  [@Goofus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goofus)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/129 "2016-02-17T02:37:28Z")
Voted yes. Not because of his music, but because of “Imma let you finish” and especially because of “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
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### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/130 "2016-02-17T03:39:15Z")
> [@enipla](#):
>
> Meh. Google Raid movies 668,000 results. My own somewhat unusual real name 441,000 results. Our man Kanye West gets 170,000,000.
yes but the 170,00,000 are all Kanye tweeting about himself.
Honestly, he should give up music and just start his own brand of feminine douche. For starters he can invent one that makes women into Grammy award winners.
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### Author:  [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/131 "2016-02-17T07:10:53Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#):
>
> He’s an asshole personally, but its a weirdly open asshole - arrogant, but mostly because he’s trying to make up for being highly insecure and he’s quite open about that.
>
> However, the dude IS a musical genius. Has an amazing run of ridiculously good albums - even the one that was considered his clunker is now incredibly influential (can you imagine Drake existing without “808s and Heartbreak”?). Just an absolutely incredible talent.
Frank Zappa was a musical genius. Miles Davis was a musical genius. Paco Dr Lucia is a musical geniue. Bela Fleck… I started counting and ran out of fingers and toes.
Kanye writes mildly interesting stuff with a tiny bit of musical complexity. As soon as he flames out, which appears to be happening now, he will be replaced by another musician with a gigantic ego that lacks the chops to back that ego up.
Slee
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### Author:  [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/132 "2016-02-17T07:43:43Z")
I like neither the person or his music.
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### Author:  [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/133 "2016-02-17T11:07:53Z")
> [@sleestak](#):
>
> Frank Zappa was a musical genius. Miles Davis was a musical genius. Paco Dr Lucia is a musical geniue. Bela Fleck… I started counting and ran out of fingers and toes.
>
> Kanye writes mildly interesting stuff with a tiny bit of musical complexity. As soon as he flames out, which appears to be happening now, he will be replaced by another musician with a gigantic ego that lacks the chops to back that ego up.
That pretty much sums up my take. He doesn’t totally lack talent, but IMHO his talent is largely overstated, especially by the man himself.
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/134 "2016-02-17T11:45:19Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#):
>
> Yeah, right, I totally believe you’ve never heard Gold Digger on the radio (or TV, or anywhere else).
Let’s see - I listen to PRX and the comedy channels on satellite radio, I stream NPR occasionally at home, and while I may have heard Gold Digger, it certainly isn’t something I’m aware of, much less who performed it. If it’s rap (is Kanye a rapper?) I’d ignore it anyway - not my musical taste at all.
Believe what you will…
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### Author:  [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/135 "2016-02-17T12:41:15Z")
And besides, the best part of _Goldigger_ is Jamie Fox chanelling Ray Charles with the line _She gives me money, when I’m need_.
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/136 "2016-02-17T12:50:12Z")
Can’t vote as I don’t know what we’re voting on - the man or his music.
As a person he appears to be a total fucking tool. But that could in fact just be a publicity-generating avatar.
I quite like some of his music, and I thought _My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy_ was really very good indeed.
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/137 "2016-02-17T13:02:51Z")
> [@Zeldar](#):
>
> I missed the 100th, so:
>
> View Poll Results: Do you like Kanye West?
> This poll will close on 03-06-2016 at 04:09 PM
>
> ```auto
>
> Yes 6 5.94%
> No 67 66.34%
> I am 100% indifferent 20 19.80%
> Who? 8 7.92%
>
> ```
>
> Voters: 101
=============================
Here’s how things are changing:
View Poll Results: Do you like Kanye West?
This poll will close on 03-06-2016 at 04:09 PM
```auto
Yes 22 8.80%
No 164 65.60%
I am 100% indifferent 49 19.60%
Who? 15 6.00%
```
Voters: 250
===========================
I see this as meaning that **Yes** is gaining at the expense of **Who?** and other options are remaining steady (or nearly so).
Great turnout! Thanks!
---
### Author:  [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/138 "2016-02-17T14:51:46Z")
> [@sleestak](#):
>
> Frank Zappa was a musical genius. Miles Davis was a musical genius. Paco Dr Lucia is a musical geniue. Bela Fleck… I started counting and ran out of fingers and toes.
>
> Kanye writes mildly interesting stuff with a tiny bit of musical complexity. As soon as he flames out, which appears to be happening now, he will be replaced by another musician with a gigantic ego that lacks the chops to back that ego up.
>
> Slee
I’ll take Kanye West over Zappa any day in terms of musical genius (simply for his impact and radical re-definition of an entire genre of music). I’m not entirely sure that releasing a 7th consecutive highly critically acclaimed album is “flam[ing] out”, but YMMV.
---
### Author:  [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/139 "2016-02-17T15:30:57Z")
NM. Sorry.
---
### Author:  [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/140 "2016-02-17T16:38:59Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#):
>
> It has been widely reported that Kanye West has changed the trajectory of hip-hop music at least 3-4 times (one article mentioning this: [Power: The Three Kanye West Albums That Changed Music | HipHopDX](http://hiphopdx.com/editorials/id.2877/title.power-the-three-kanye-west-albums-that-changed-music) ).
That article is pretty long on gush, and short on critique. It primarily talks about his feud with 50 Cent, and how popular he is.
> [@ISiddiqui](#):
>
> A number of his albums have been incredibly innovative and, at times, launched almost entirely new genres of hip-hop - the soul samples of College Dropout, the orchestral backgrounds of Late Registration, the dance electronica of Graduation, the moody introspective electronic sound of 808s and Heartbreaks, the grandiose layering and more layering of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (widely considered to be one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time), the sparse minimalist electronic of Yeezus. It can be said that The Life of Pablo is the first Kanye album that doesn’t attempt to chart a new course for hip hop music.
None of this addresses any innovation. Soul samples had been done in rap (and other styles) before, orchestral backgrounds became a cliché about the time he was born, electronica has been in rap before (hell, it’s basis is in disco). Dark introspective sound? Umm, Tricky had the corner on that market long before, as well as being far more minimalist.
No, that’s not convincing. It sounds more like his fans aren’t aware of music before 2001.
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