# 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:** 6
**Page:** 9
### Author:  [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/161 "2016-02-18T19:49:12Z")
Kanye is 50% more influential than Stanley Kubrick, Picasso, Apostle Paul, fucking Picasso and Escobar. Dead or alive for the next 1000 years.
> **[Listen to Kanye West's Insane Saturday Night Live Meltdown](https://movieweb.com/kanye-west-snl-saturday-night-live-rant-video/)**
>
> Kayne West went on an uncensored rant before his SNL performance this past Saturday, and it has now gone viral.
This guy is a fucking troll.
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### Author:  [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2016, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/162 "2016-02-19T00:15:13Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#):
>
> I feel that I’ve made quite a few arguments and backed them up with the words of music critics. If that doesn’t sway you, then I don’t think anything will. Do you feel that anyone in the field of hip hop qualifies as a musical genius? Or is it only for guitar folks in the modern era ;).
I am a musician. I don’t give a shit about music critics as I know enough about music to judge for myself. It is true I don’t know enough rap artists to tell if there are any musical geniuses out there in that particular genre though I am sure there are some. My guess would be that they are probably not all that popular\*.
I went and checked out the links from Elendil’s Heir. They are, in essence, all the same.
They all have a simple melody or a pedal tone that repeats consistently through the song, except the pre-chorus/chorus. Once the main riff is established, he adds a few flourishes but nothing complex. He then puts a melody on top. He then adds a chorus that is a bit different.
The structure for all the songs is all the same. There is nothing special going on with the melodies, though some of them are nice. The musicianship isn’t impressive especially as it seems that he is just looping riffs in ProTools.
There is literally nothing ground breaking in any way in any of those songs.
Having said that, they are ok songs. Not my style but that is a separate issue as there are a ton of musicians I respect who play music I am not very fond of, like Lady Gaga. There are also musicians I love who aren’t all that great of musicians, like the Ramones.
YMMV. However, no matter how much you like the guy, he ain’t a genius.
Slee
\*In most popular art, you have to dig deep to find the really good artists. Those who sell a ton are, in many cases, good but not great while the truly cool folks labor away in obscurity. There are exceptions of course.
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### Author:  [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2016, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/163 "2016-02-19T00:21:01Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#):
>
> 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.
Can only tell you that my brother is owed thousands of dollars for photography work he did for him over two years ago. When he talked to some other businesses in the area, he found that they too had been stiffed. Small payments are made to begin the work, but further invoices are ignored.
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### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/164 "2016-02-19T03:15:42Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#):
>
> Kanye is 50% more influential than Stanley Kubrick, Picasso, Apostle Paul, fucking Picasso and Escobar. Dead or alive for the next 1000 years.
>
> [http://movieweb.com/kanye-west-snl-saturday-night-live-rant-video/](http://movieweb.com/kanye-west-snl-saturday-night-live-rant-video/)
> This guy is a fucking troll.
Wow. That’s some crazy shit.
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### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/165 "2016-02-19T03:19:08Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#):
>
> Kanye is 50% more influential than Stanley Kubrick, Picasso, Apostle Paul, fucking Picasso and Escobar. Dead or alive for the next 1000 years.
>
> [http://movieweb.com/kanye-west-snl-saturday-night-live-rant-video/](http://movieweb.com/kanye-west-snl-saturday-night-live-rant-video/)
> This guy is a fucking troll.
Wow. That’s some crazy shit. Combine that with $53 million in debt and that’s a disaster in the making. I predict an epic public meltdown.
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2016, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-kanye-west/746228/166 "2016-02-19T15:27:37Z")
> [@Reluctant\_A](#):
>
> I’ll be honest and say that I’m not super-convinced by **ISiddiqui’s** “Kanye as genius” arguments, but I _would_ like to hear from more people who like rap music, but don’t like Kanye’s music, since I don’t have much use for the opinions of people who have general disdain for rap, or don’t consider rap to be music, etc., in these sorts of discussions. I generally tend to feel like Kanye is very innovative, relative to his peers, but only moderately innovative in a larger musical sense. His strengths are definitely more as a producer than a rapper, though: Black Thought, he ain’t.
>
> FWIW, I consider myself a martial arts movie fan, and the first time I’d heard of _Raid_ was twenty-five minutes ago.
I love martial arts movies also, and also never heard of Raid movies.
Look at that last link. He’s a child. I try very hard not to hear about the political motives or the personalities of the stars I like. I understand they have them, but oftentimes if you hear about them, you can’t help but be influenced - like Orson Scott Card and his vocal homophobia. But when a person is going to be this much of a child and throw this many tantrums, you definitely lose respect for them.
First impressions mean a lot and my first impression was the whole award kerfluffle. He’s totally crazy. I like some rap ok, but I probably will never willingly listen to him because I roll my eyes every time I hear about him - or the Kardashians.
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