One thing about artists
I have been thinking about this since Kanye's last ridiculous interview and blow-up with Jimmy kimmel. On the one hand Kanye made a lot of good points, especially since he was talking about the fashion industry. There are quite a few people who will look at him and downplay his ability or potential knowledge with no good reason to at leats hear him out and maybe give him a shot. It's a common issue for people who consider themselves artists. But it's a simple issue, you cannot really be a master of all trades.
Her eis the problem Ye faces, the people in the industry he is seeking to become a major figure in, have put in years doing the things that are considered prerequisite qualifications for what they do. Kanye has spent the last 15 years doing the same thing, in another field, music. Unfortunately for him, though he may have an innate talent to do multiple things, the physical existence of time kind of limits him from being able to do both on a consistent high level because he has to be able to prove himself. I know a lot of people may wonder why he has to prove himself to these people in fashion...you know why, because they run the industry and they get to make the rules. Just as he paid his dues musically, if Kanye wants to be a fashion icon he has to understand and respect the rules. Just because he feels he has done things to prove himself doesn't mean that community at large respects what he has 'done'.
The other issue Kanye is faced with I realized has been seen before in the music industry, notably with Mos Def. Recently, with actor Tristan "Mack" Wilds as well. There are times when a person as an artist wants to expand and show a new or different side but the public, the fans, aka the people who value your work enough to allow you to be an artist, don't necessarily want to see that. Mos Def for instance seems to refuse to just drop a straight up rap album, choosing instead to do hybrid mash ups of hip-hop, blues and rock and roll. Same goes for Andre 3000 who has left us salivating for a rap album for years now.
The issue is when you are good at something, borderline great, while you as an artist may feel you have room to grow and expand, it does not mean that your fans want to see or hear such an expansion or that they feel you have pulled it off as equally as your earlier endeavors. The difficulty exists as "the box". It gets boring and one of the things I chastise rappers for is remaining in that box without at least trying to push or expand the boundaries of it.For Kanye, he has pushed it successfully musically for years however the album "Yeezus" was too far gone for most people. The biggest issue, it didn't have enough of what we are used to and expect as far as 'formulaic' or straight forward hip-hop songs.
At the end of the day, Kanye as well as others coming up in the game have to recognize that if they truly want to be respected in multiple artistic areas, they have to 1, make sure they are involved with these in some capacity early on so it isn't a shock or sudden change of direction later on down the road; and 2 understand that all of the fans or people they wish to have shower praise upon them and their work will not do so just because they as artists feel they deserve it. Fans and critics have their own minds and expectations and wanting to have them all accept everything you do is a recipe for instant failure.
Her eis the problem Ye faces, the people in the industry he is seeking to become a major figure in, have put in years doing the things that are considered prerequisite qualifications for what they do. Kanye has spent the last 15 years doing the same thing, in another field, music. Unfortunately for him, though he may have an innate talent to do multiple things, the physical existence of time kind of limits him from being able to do both on a consistent high level because he has to be able to prove himself. I know a lot of people may wonder why he has to prove himself to these people in fashion...you know why, because they run the industry and they get to make the rules. Just as he paid his dues musically, if Kanye wants to be a fashion icon he has to understand and respect the rules. Just because he feels he has done things to prove himself doesn't mean that community at large respects what he has 'done'.
The other issue Kanye is faced with I realized has been seen before in the music industry, notably with Mos Def. Recently, with actor Tristan "Mack" Wilds as well. There are times when a person as an artist wants to expand and show a new or different side but the public, the fans, aka the people who value your work enough to allow you to be an artist, don't necessarily want to see that. Mos Def for instance seems to refuse to just drop a straight up rap album, choosing instead to do hybrid mash ups of hip-hop, blues and rock and roll. Same goes for Andre 3000 who has left us salivating for a rap album for years now.
The issue is when you are good at something, borderline great, while you as an artist may feel you have room to grow and expand, it does not mean that your fans want to see or hear such an expansion or that they feel you have pulled it off as equally as your earlier endeavors. The difficulty exists as "the box". It gets boring and one of the things I chastise rappers for is remaining in that box without at least trying to push or expand the boundaries of it.For Kanye, he has pushed it successfully musically for years however the album "Yeezus" was too far gone for most people. The biggest issue, it didn't have enough of what we are used to and expect as far as 'formulaic' or straight forward hip-hop songs.
At the end of the day, Kanye as well as others coming up in the game have to recognize that if they truly want to be respected in multiple artistic areas, they have to 1, make sure they are involved with these in some capacity early on so it isn't a shock or sudden change of direction later on down the road; and 2 understand that all of the fans or people they wish to have shower praise upon them and their work will not do so just because they as artists feel they deserve it. Fans and critics have their own minds and expectations and wanting to have them all accept everything you do is a recipe for instant failure.
Comments
Post a Comment