Kanye is extremely arrogant and narcissistic, talks A LOT, rambles A LOT and makes A LOT of very vague comments with no clear answers, but a mist all the hoopla I still happen to understand the point he is trying to make in these videos which is...... simply stand for what you are passionate in and don’t let anyone or anything stop you. Also, at the end of the day Kanye is a creative genius so what do you expect from him.
Oftentimes, people will speak down on things that they are confused about. This is why I think most people are coming at Kanye so hard because of his focus on fashion. However, we all contribute to the fashion industry. Whether we are buying a shirt for $150, $45 or $7 or shopping at Walmart, a store in the mall or a high end department store like Bloomingdales, in the end it’s all the same thing because it’s all coming from the same big corporations and in many instances from the same designers and labels. The only difference is, the designers will just sell their goods at different price points to appeal to a wider target audience. What is true is that there are not a lot of, if any, black designers in the fashion industry that have reached a supreme, high- end level statues. So you must ask yourself why?
Modern day slavery at all levels is still prevalent and I think all people of color can vouch for that. Also money isn't everything, but we cannot ignore the fact that much of our wealth is controlled by a small percentage of our population; And those who make up that smaller percentage are the major corporations that control everything.
Stated on the Forbes website, of the 1,426 people who made it to the 2013 FORBES list of the World’s Billionaires, only 7 are black. The only American on the list of 7 was Oprah Winfrey who was noted to have $2.8 billion.
Instead of owning big businesses black people are instead used as tools to make the rich richer. At the end of the day, seeing black people succeed by having more elite managerial or ownership type titles is not a virtue. They want us to succeed, but not do better than them. This commonly happens not only in fashion, but in many other areas of business. As African Americans, we must fight the social stigmata in all areas that are still skewed, fashion being one of them. We must also realize that the only way to the very top for black people living in American slumps is not just by becoming a musician or an athlete. We do not have to settle. We too can work our way up the corporate ladder to the very, utmost top.
To me, all Kanye is trying to do is develop a brand that is more than just a stereotypical hip hop label. Most of those labels anyway are popular today and ancient history tomorrow. These brands include: Phat Farm, Rockawear, Apple Bottom, Baby Phat, Marc Ecko ... and the list goes on. Kanye, moreover wants to see his brand of clothing reach Ralph Lauren statues and there's nothing wrong with that. The way he goes about reaching the top is a whole other story, but to each his own.
By now you might have come to the conclusion that I am a Kanye West enthusiast, however you would be surprised to know that I am actually not much of a Kanye West fan at all. Like most, I haven’t been much of a fan of his since "College Dropout" and "Graduation". I just happen to understand where he is coming from and ultimately think that he does have a valid point to be made. He does, however need to figure out a better way to communicate and get his point across to more people without bombarding them. Maybe then he could see his ideas come to fruition. If Kanye's clothing line reached Ralph Lauren statues it would be amazing! It would be amazing not because he is Kanye, but because he would be the first black American male on the Forbes list of worlds billionaires.
See the Forbes list here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2013/03/05/the-black-billionaires-2013/
http://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/list/
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1 Comment
Nikali
2/2/2014 03:40:01 pm
I love this...
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