Ye, commonly known as Kanye West, is seen as a legend and a genius by many, and by others seen as a controversial figure with an arrogant personality, either way, he is a historic celebrity. He is a rapper, producer, and fashion designer who has contributed so much towards modern music, fashion, and art. Yet he has many public statements that have been proven damaging to society. But could he be a role model to people?

When I asked freshmen Karym Kanan if he thought Kanye was a good role model, he said, “He’s a genius and if you believe in him you believe in yourself, his ability to set trends is very influential in our day and age.” Contrasting this senior Alyssa Gutierrez said, “Now a days no but earlier in his career I felt like he was something different, but now he’s strange.” Many people are split in whether he is a good role model or not due to his previous actions. Although there’s something that a large demographic agrees about Kanye, his influence in modern hip-hop, R&B, rap etc.

Then I asked Freshman Karol (Kajo) Movila what he thought about Kanye’s Influence in the hip-hop community, “He is very influential in the music community because a lot of the popular R&B artists such as Bryson Tiller, Brent Faiyaz and all the rappers have been inspired by his 808’s and all the soul samples he has used.” Senior Kathryn Berglin said, “His music was really influential to hip-hop, but I feel that his character diminished that.” Even though Kanye had a large impact in all these genres people still associate him with his negative actions. This shows that even when you create a big positive impact your negative actions are highlighted such as his public statements.

Lastly, I asked senior Alyssa Gutierrez about his public statements, and she said, “Nowadays I don’t really like his antisemitism, and I just don’t like how crazy he’s acting.” Freshman Karol (Kajo) Movila said that “I feel like in his public statements he wasn’t in his right mind… many of his public statements contradict what he has said previously.” The argument many people have for Kanye’s public statements is that he wasn’t mentally okay. This still doesn’t excuse the fact that he displayed hateful speech. Kanye’s public statements make people perceive him as a visionary or controversial.

But how do people perceive Kanye overall do his creations balance instability and impulsive actions. According to freshmen Karym Kanan said, “He’s a trend setter.” Senior Kathryn Berglin said, “He said Hitler has good ideas, and he has ugly shoes.” The debate is art over artist or artist over art in the case of Kanye it depends on your perception of him. Many see Kanye as the worst human being because of all the hatred and peculiar way of expressing his art. Others see him as an innovative genius in his artforms that is years ahead in creativity. It depends how you want to use him as a role model. He is great as a creative role model but to follow his opinions isn’t the best option, nevertheless he is an icon in modern pop culture.