Let me start off by saying that I sympathize with Kanye. I want there to be a counter-balance, of sorts, because I feel sorry for him. Supposedly a musical genius… and other people besides himself actually seem to think so.
His music’s not for me, but when it comes to me and music, I like the generic crap I grew up with, and happened to hear on the radio countless times. I’ve no understanding of music, and the nuance that goes into it.
Now, the dude says he’s Bipolar. That may explain some things. I don’t think he’s “stupid”, but definitely not a ‘great thinker’. He’s also narcissistic, of course. I just think his brain isn’t fast enough to to formulate an understanding of certain things, and since he’s constantly talking, he’s just spewing out a lot of nonsensical stuff.
I don’t know.
Also, I’m sure his upbringing had to do with it. I understand him and his mother were close and she probably… like, praised him too much or praised him too little.
Bipolar disorder, an inability to handle fame and trauma from His mother’s death. From what I remember he wasn’t nearly as unhinged before his mom died unexpectedly.
I don’t think he is particularly talented. When ‘this is America’ by childish Gambino came out a lot of people said Gambino was talented in ways Kanye wishes he were talented. I don’t understand the hype over Kanye. I’ve listened to a few albums and not been impressed.
I have relatives who are diagnosed as bipolar and I think Kanye sounds a lot like some of them. And of course he is talented.
My mom told me Alice Cooper wasn’t talented. I disagreed with her. 
Is there a DSM-5 diagnosis for someone stirring shit up for attention? BPD is less common in men, but maybe that.
I’m not saying Kanye has it, but histrionic personality disorder sounds more like what you’re describing.
Definitely something like bipolar or other personality disorder. Has referenced in his music about drugs making him feel less creative, etc.
He’s definitely talented. The dude has probably redefined rap music at least 3 or 4 times (for instance, you likely would never have heard of Drake if it wasn’t for 808s and Heartbreaks).
I don’t know if I would even take his word for being bipolar. He definitely has some kind of mental health disorder, but he’s also an unreliable narrator. Like the OP says, he’s not stupid, but he thinks himself WAY smarter than he actually is. He may have just diagnosed himself and decided he was right.
If you didn’t know, Kanye is out of politics now and feels he was being used.
I dunno how I feel about him as an artist. I’m a hip hop fan but only a handful of his songs have grabbed me. So maybe I’m not that much of a hip hop fan? Then again, almost everyone I like in hip hop cites him as a major influence so I can roll with that. I’m definitely understanding hip hop from an outsider’s POV.
It absolutely doesn’t surprise me that he and Trump have a mutual admiration for each other. Their visions of themselves and their own ideas are other-worldly to me. I could never be that way, but I know it when I see it.
I definitely think he has an inflated sense of self-worth. And that he has people around him that feed into it. And I think being a part of the Kardashian-Jenner family is beneficial to him. It’s full of a bunch of other, saner people who have an inflated sense of self-worth, and they’ll be damned if he’s going to take them down with him.
Bipolar can be the truth, but it’s also a convenient thing to claim to have, when the thing you really have is something socially unacceptable such as NPD or BPD.
Just because you are an asshole doesn’t mean something has to be “wrong” with you. Some people are just assholes.
I don’t even look at him as an asshole, and I think that there’s something off about him. Perhaps “wrong” was a poor choice of words. Almost everyone has some issue, but I think he’s a little more ‘out their’ than most.
He’s full of himself. He’s not a genius, I think basically he’s an idiot and I wish he would shut up and go bother Kim. YMMV.