It's been a rough year for Kanye West fans. On one hand, he produced five pretty good albums that came out five weeks in a row. On the other hand, he declared his support for president who frequently makes false claims and man with toilet paper stuck to his shoe, Donald Trump. In the past, Yeezy made bold, socially conscious music, and famously criticized George W. Bush for his administration's bungled response to Hurricane Katrina. How could he support President Trump, whose policies disproportionately benefit the wealthy, cruelly separate migrant families at the border, and savagely roll back regulations to protect LGBT workers and patients?
From Yeezy's rant on TMZ about how slavery "sounded like a choice" to his rant in The White House about iPlanes and time travel, it's gotten hard to separate art from the artist. Critics argue that Kanye's being used as a pawn by alt-right propagandists, who are acting in bad faith. And this week brought a new cringeworthy controversy. On Twitter, news broke that Kanye designed a line of merchandise for 29-year-old conservative pundit Candace Owens: Shirts supporting her so-called "Blexit” movement. ("Blexit" is short for "black exit," encouraging black people to leave the Democratic party; a contrived play on "Brexit," in which Britain voted to leave the European Union.)
However, today Kanye fired off a series of tweets that indicate he might finally be leaving The Sunken Place. He claims he did not design the "Blexit" shirts, as previously reported. "I introduced Candace to the person who made the logo and they didn’t want their name on it so she used mine," he explained on Twitter. "I never wanted any association with Blexit. I have nothing to do with it."
In a follow-up tweet, he said he planned to take a break from parroting dumb alt-right slogans and get back to making dope-ass music. "My eyes are now wide open and now realize I’ve been used to spread messages I don’t believe in," he tweeted. "I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative !!!"
That news should come as a relief to Kanye fans, who are tired of trying to defend his actions to skeptical friends. In the Oval Office, Yeezy bragged the MAGA hat made him feel like a superhero, but he's seemed more like a super villain. To quote a song from 2016's The Life Of Pablo, "I miss the old Kanye, straight from the 'Go Kanye / Chop up the soul Kanye, set on his goals Kanye / I hate the new Kanye, the bad mood Kanye / The always rude Kanye, spaz in the news Kanye."
But don't get too excited, liberal Yeezy fans. Those tweets don't mean Kanye is abandoning his beloved "brother," Donald "Dragon Energy" Trump. TMZ posted an update, stating "Kanye contacted us to make it clear he did not mention Donald Trump in his tweets, and he's getting out of politics altogether. As for being 'used' ... he says he was specifically referencing Blexit, and that's it." Baby steps!
