Many artists, including Diddy and Young Jeezy (and even Britney Spears) have claimed to be the embodiment of the American Dream. Indeed, the ashy-to-classy narrative that has been woven so thoroughly into hip hop’s fabric suggests that hip hop as an entire genre embodies this idea. Kanye West’s relentless pursuit of recognition and his resilience after his famed car accident would seem to lend itself to a similar American Dream status, but this is not quite the case. Kanye West in his current form is, culturally, the least American musician in the country, and this fact has done wonders for the establishment of his ever-growing importance. Through his duality, complexity and unwavering sense of self, Kanye West has reshaped what an artist in the public eye can hope to be, what is expected of him, and what we can learn from his choices.

Countless writers (including some here at the Interludes) have commented on globalization and the internet’s ability to individualize us to the point of alienation. There are now so many ways for us to define and express ourselves that the number of things we truly share with those around us is decreasing exponentially. Far less commentary exists, however, on the way that this individualization has made our sense of self worth so closely tied to the approval of others. Examples of this are everywhere: we strive for more and more facebook friends, twitter followers, and bbm contacts, collecting each like trophies of personal validation; ESPN reports on Tiger’s and Lebron’s fluctuating approval ratings as much as CNN does President Obama’s; GQ has a monthly section in which readers ask a fashion guru if their most subtle style choices are acceptable. This is really a dreadful combination: we are simultaneously alienated in our individuality and dependent on others for approval. Kanye, for better or for worse, rarely concerns himself with the opinions of anyone else, and this has not only allowed him to blaze trails in music and fashion, but also made for some strikingly honest moments of social commentary.

West has broken numerous glass ceilings in the world of hip hop fashion at the risk of alienating many of his fans and peers. Pastels and boat shoes have seeped so deeply into the wardrobes of raps biggest stars that it’s almost hard to remember a time when they weren’t acceptable, but around the release of the College Dropout the parameters for acceptable dress were much more stringent than they are today. An MC’s attire has always been an easy road to humiliation if carried off poorly, and as a new artist rapping frequently about his struggles, West’s choice to dress more like Carlton than Cannibus made some question his authenticity. Despite this, Kanye exploded into the national spotlight looking fresh from a Hyanissport dinner party, undeterred by those who felt “the pink Polo would hurt the Roc”. Those fears were not without evidentiary support- Kanye blew up during the climax of violent, aggressive rap in the 2000s, as pre-rehab Eminem and 50 Cent were setting the pace throughout the industry. Only a few years later, most of the game’s chart-toppers dress like they raided Kanye’s closet. Pharell was recently named one of Vanity Fair’s best dressed, and Jay-Z spits proudly about his beloved “Louis-V boat shoes”. Ye is once again pushing the fashion envelope, donning dark suits on the regular and hosting a black-tie-only event this past week (did you ever think we’d see either member of the Clipse in a tuxedo?). The thought of one day seeing Wiz Khalifa in Armani is certainly a weird one, but as Kanye continues to class up hip hop one pocket square at a time, does it really seem like an impossibility?

When asked why he refused to support Democrat Harvey Gantt’s senate bid in his hometown state of North Carolina, Michael Jordan famously replied “Republican’s buy sneakers too”. Republicans also listen to music (and buy Air Yeezy’s), but commercial appeal was the furthest thing from Kanye’s mind when he launched his notorious rip into then-president George Bush, claiming that the leader of the free world “doesn’t care about black people” during a live Hurricane Katrina telethon. West showed the same confident carelessness during last year’s VMAs, the site of his “Imma let you finish” humiliation of Taylor Swift in defense of his pal Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” video. Another artist with Kanye’s genre-defying popularity may have bit his tongue in this situation (and probably should have), especially for something as trivial as an award show, but ‘Ye clearly wasn’t concerned with his soft-rock approval ratings when he gave America’s sweetheart a virtual roundhouse kick to the face. West still seems unsure why the VMA backlash was so intense, recently saying he was treated like “the modern-day internet version of Emmett Till” in an interview with Angie Martinez. While those controversies are the ones most associated with Chi Town’s Finest, Kanye also took a brave stance against homophobia in hip hop at the risk of alienating his most high-profile peers and collaborators when pointed out in 2005 that rap is “about breaking down barriers, but everyone in hip-hop discriminates against gay people.” In the interview, Kanye also took responsibility for the homophobia he had previously perpetuated in a way that most stars would be too afraid to do. This is the duality that makes Ye so unique: Kanye West the artist seems to feel no connection to Kanye West the human being. The actual person has given himself free reign to be as outspoken as possible as long as the artist continues to make things that everyone loves. Adoration and cultural influence have decayed the lives of countless artists, but Kanye seems liberated from these pitfalls by the fact that his music is so good. Acting with a mindset that is equal parts narcissistic and enlightened, Yeezy has such confidence in the quality of his art that he does whatever the hell he wants as long as he produces greatness in the studio.

The most obvious and most significant example of Kanye’s self-confidence can be seen in his music itself. Over the course of his last three albums he has taken the two major risks that a rapper can presently take: working with unestablished (in hip hop) people at a time when everyone is too worried about public perception to side with an unknown, and making a drastic thematic shift despite the success of his old methods. After striking unprecendted producer-rapper gold on The College Dropout, Kanye decided to collaborate with film score composer Jon Brion on his sophomore album, Late Registration. This move shocked many who assumed that Kanye would, if he were ever to break from his one-man band style, only share creative control with a legend like RZA or Rick Rubin. Brion summed up this skepticism perfectly in a 2005 MTV interview saying “”On your sophomore record, that’s the ultimate time to not f— with the formula, right?” And he gets me — a guy who has never made a hip-hop record in his life — and gives me half the reins?” After songs and songs of telling the world how he pulled himself up from his Gucci bootstraps, West was risking serious damage to his personal narrative by seeking help from such an unknown. The album, however, went triple platinum, received eight Grammy nominations, and helped usher in the eclectic vibe that’s so prevalent in rap today.

Kanye’s biggest risk as an MC, however, was 808s And Heartbreak, an album that consisted almost entirely of depressing love songs, and wasn’t even really hip hop at all. Many praised West for his boundary-pushing creativity, but the album, despite going number one, was not as commercially or critically successful as his previous three. While much was made of the absence of actual rapping and the heavy use of the infamous aunto-tune on 808s, the most polarizing aspect of the album is actually the lyrics. The album’s central (but not explicitly stated) theme is the breaking off of Kanye’s engagement to his high school sweetheart, but Yeezy’s refusal to play anything but the victim, marked by the glaring lack of his trademark punchlines and self-deprecating humor, turns what could have been the anthem of failed love into simply a melancholy soliloquy. For most artists, 808s And Heartbreak would have been a conceptual failure, but it very likely that West accomplished exactly what he set out to do with his fourth album. Kanye never tries to come off as likeable, never tries to resonate with his fans on a personal level. We are supposed to listen to his music because we find his story and his talent remarkable. When Ye recently stormed the Facebook and Google headquarters to preview some new tracks many smirked at how presumptuous the impromptu session seemed, but it is likely that it never even occurred to West that there were people at either company who weren’t absolutely dying to hear his new work.  Inevitably, we find some levels of connection to the larger themes of his music, but we don’t listen to Kanye West to learn more about ourselves. We listen simply to learn more about Kanye West.

Caring about what other people think is not a crime. It is actually the most basic building block of human interaction, and a quality that West could probably employ a little more of. But as the scope of Kanye’s cultural impact continues to increase and we continue to mock his self-adoration, we should remind ourselves of the times when it’s not so bad to muster up our inner Louis Vouitton Don. Whether we’re publicly sticking up for a friend, staying true to our ideals even when everyone we know disagrees, or simply saying we did a Good Ass Job when we know we did, we always make the biggest statements when we do things by ourselves. At his best, Kanye West is like the hero in every cheesy high school movie. He ventured into pop and high fashion the way the brave jock liberates his inner performer by trying out for the school musical; he attacked hip hop’s bigotry like the oppressed kid who finally tells the bully the things that so many have been dying to say. At his worst, though, West can be a tornado of naracissm and materialism who fails to see where he went wrong even when its painfully obvious to the rest of us. To fully appreciate rap’s most polarizing figure, one needs to weigh both sides equally, something that the hip hop community has struggled to do in recent years. Hip hop is a music that prides itself on authenticity of not only the lyrics but the artist behind them as well, and as a result any ideological or atheistic shifts in the industry usually take quite a bit of work. In a relatively short career, however, Kanye West has used his overwhelming confidence and talent to help hip hop to arrive at previously unreached destinations. Truthfully, Kanye deserves some credit for expanding the scope of the music we love. Let’s be sure not to douse him with too much praise, though- there’s a certain country singer who can attest to how wild it can get when Yeezy is feeling unbeatable.

Download: “See Me Now” – Kanye West ft Beyonce and Charlie Wilson

Download: “Power (Remix)” – Kanye West ft Jay-Z and Swizz Beats

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