Is Kanye’s latest trip an act of rebellion, or just an act of celebrity? – ThinkProgress
[ad_1] I’m torn about what to think – or say – about the spectacle that Kanye West has become — or that has become Kanye West. Without question, he’s as brilliantly talented a rapper/music producer/fashion designer/entrepreneur as ever there was, one of those pop stars who’s popular enough to be recognized by a single moniker – whether its “Kanye” or “Yeezus” or some other nickname du jour. But it’s also just as obvious to anyone who has tracked his nearly two-decade career that he’s a magnet for self-inflicted controversy, including but not limited to proclaiming himself a deity , declaring former President George W. Bush a racist, or embarrassing singer Taylor Swift for winning an industry award. But in the past week or so, Kanye has set fingers a-tapping on social media and lips a-flapping in mainstream media with comments that cross over from self-promotion into the arena of politics and American race relations. This most recent of Kanye news boomlets began last month ...