Let me preface this piece by admitting we do not need yet another Kanye West “think piece.”
But, as a marketing and advertising student and huge fan of Kanye, I can’t help but marvel at his current place in pop culture.
From a purely marketing standpoint, Kanye is a genius. There is no way around it. He is almost peerless when it comes to creating buzz about his brand. This can be anything he does: an album, a tour, a Twitter rant, a clothing pop-up — the list could go on and on.
Many people dismiss him as egotistical, crazy, narcissistic and more. Those accusations could all very well be true. But what those critics cannot possibly ignore is how incredibly successful that image has been for him. And secretly — or not-so-secretly depending on the person — we all cannot wait for the next “thing” from Kanye.
What we are looking at is one of the best executed, most successful marketing campaigns in recent years, rivaled only by Donald Trump’s current marketing campaign to become president.
West’s recent speech at the Video Music Awards is the most current example. Everything he says, does and looks at will be analyzed to death under our cultural microscopes.
His speech, which mainly focused on the concept of role models, was textbook Kanye, which means to say it was completely unscripted, out of left field and immediately up for analysis.
We cannot complain about the actions of West if we are eagerly waiting to lap up and comment on his every move.
People wondering how Trump got to where he is at this moment need only look at West’s resurgence to see exactly how. The funniest part is none of this is even a remotely new concept. We just love to hate — or in my case, love to love — Kanye and his antics. That alone drives the conversation.
One could even argue he has reached a new peak of popularity that he never had before. One might also attribute some of that to his newfound proximity to the Kardashian-Jenner family, but even that can be part of the campaign.
The image he has assembled is a living, breathing thing. It is something he is constantly adding to in the pursuit of world domination. Or, you know, just selling a bunch of music and merchandise.
As a fan of Kanye for as long as I can remember, I don’t find his actions any more selfish, egotistical or crazy than any other person who is trying to make a lot of money. Kanye just does it better.
We love to decry people who we think manipulate the public spotlight to fixate on them, yet we are the ones who contribute to that spotlight.
Moving away from the juggernaut that is a consumer culture discussion, Kanye is not only a great musician, he is a great businessman as well.
By constantly using our image and opinions of him to drive his performances, he is able to sell us his music and products using this marketing campaign that is his life.
And, because “The Life Of Pablo” was a great album and Kanye puts on such a great show, I am OK with that.
