I never understand this, I read interviews with him and listen to what he says in full context and generally feel like he has very high aspirations and hold himself to very high standards and just wants to do great and creative things. In the course of doing so he may make a big claim or two, but also usually tosses in a some very clear statements of a humility in areas that he may not be as versed in. Then I talk with friends, colleagues, or random people who read the same thing and come away completely tainted by his arrogance, which I just don’t generally see. I will never understand it.
As far as music goes, he is a genius, I don’t know how much producing he may be ghosting these days, but I would imagine it is a lot as he is definitely a bit of a control freak about his stuff. He is also HIGHLY skilled on the MPC which he used to do most of his early production where he was doing the work. That skill is what got him a spot at the table, he grinded out several years killing beats on the MPC for lots of artists outside of himself. The 101 Best Kanye West-Produced Songs That Don't Feature Kanye - SPIN
Along the way he was also inspired to become a better rapper and he has credited Talib Kweli as one of the people that helped him do so. Then when he put out his first solo album he featured an incredible line-up of artists like Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Ludacris, and Common. Along with working with Chicago underground legend Rhymefest to write Jesus Walks. I came up on underground hip-hop from the early 90’s and by the early 2000’s hip-hop was feeling very stagnant, then College Dropout came along, this generally might have been a little too commercial of a release for me, but something about the timing, the mix of the more reputable artists, the fun aspects, and some of the more soul baring moments mixed in just had me from the beginning. He has experimented and grown since then and some the songs are genius, some of them not as much, but man, he’s pushing limits and trying things and I love him for it.
As far as the fashion goes, I’m sure there are designers helping him, he states it in the interview
, but again trying to execute a vision from a creative direction and he is trying to understand the process to be better at it as well, it’s in the interview. He also specifically says he is not a designer several times, to show respect to those who are doing the design work. The output is pretty good if you ask me. The new Adidas shoes, the lows are fantastic, and the highs are certainly more wearable than 90% of the other new designs I see coming out of any of the major shoe companies. The fashion, there are a few pieces that seem forward and solid, maybe not without reference, but he mentions that in the interview too. Sorry guys, I just don’t understand what is to hate about the guy.
/rant