The biggest lesson Ye has taught us

What’s poppin y’all,

Today was a relatively calm day in hip-hop, with the aftermath of what happened at No Jumper still lingering. Of course, there’s Kanye, but that’s a constant—his name stays in the news cycle.

One thing I don’t like, though, is this narrative that people aren’t paying attention to him or what he’s doing. I saw a tweet mocking the lack of interest in Bully, which just highlights how thankless the job of being the greatest hip-hop artist—or just an artist in general—really is. If people feel a certain way about you, they’ll shape narratives that are completely untrue.

The reason Ye is able to operate the way he does—without suffering complete destruction after the fifth or sixth time he’s done something this controversial—is a testament to what he’s built. He’s completely free, and that’s something worth focusing on. Not just Ye in particular, but the idea of how artists can achieve that kind of freedom—where they don’t have to conform or cater to those in power.

The real admiration should be for that level of autonomy. Even someone like Jay-Z, while he may not need to or want to say the wild things Ye says, is still bound by the reputation he’s built. He can’t just decide to stop and pivot to something else because of his obligations. Maybe that’s what he wants—maybe his game is about power and accumulating status at a level far beyond what Ye is doing.

Granted, Ye is still richer. But there are plenty of artists who didn’t make the right moves Ye did—at least on the business side. It’s still bizarre how Ye remains as wealthy as he is considering he hasn’t had any major deals or endorsements for a long time.

That’s the biggest takeaway from all of this. I always try to look beyond the surface.

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