It’s hard for me to say. Where do personality traits stop and mental illness starts? I was diagnosed bipolar two years ago. Mine is a relatively mild case, but looking back at some points in my life and how I acted, I could see that when I hit hypomanic, my filter would turn off and I would do and say things I normally would not do and am surprised I was capable of doing. Oddly, it seemed to actually help me in advancing, and I’m glad I wasn’t treated until I got to experience all that I experienced. It’s unlikely I would have had one-tenth the adventures I did. But I thought that WAS part of my personality. Apparently, it was hypomania. Oh well. I still get fleeting glimpses of it even under my dose of lithium, and I don’t dare not take my meds now as a family man, but sometimes it is tempting.
Re-listened to College Dropout again today, after listening to it yesterday during a break at work. I wouldn’t quite call it or Kanye genius, but the talent and hard work and perseverance is immense. I actually admire his early story and the story behind the album quite a bit. It’s inspirational, and I can empathize to a small degree to it, but he’s far harder working and more talented than I am. He was a “normal” kid, didn’t grow up around guns, didn’t grow up dealing dope, pimping whores or any of the typical subjects and biographies of popular rappers in the early 00s. He managed to get massive acclaim as a producer, helping found what became to be known as “chipmunk soul” by ?uestlove, but nobody thought he could make it as a rapper, not rapping about the streets, but mostly what he knew from his middle-class lifestyle. (This is not to say other rappers weren’t or haven’t been doing this before, but as mainstream rap at that time, it was not usual.) Record labels wouldn’t touch him because they didn’t believe in his subject matter or his flow. They wanted him to stick to producing beats. But, perhaps fueled by his mania or personality, whatever you call it, he believed in himself and his product all the way to a Grammy award for his debut album, and both popular and critical acclaim (every major “best albums since the rock era” list will list College Dropout, at least.)
He’s, at worst, very good at what he does. I find his lyrics at times poignant, spiritual, heartbreaking, bragadocious, disarmingly reflective, confessional, and goddamned funny. As a sometimes musician, I find his range of influences and styles engaging. The music on College Dropout is so much fun for me to listen to with its variety and arrangements.
Criticize him for what he’s become – but the his music I would consider transcendent.
