Kanye West has become one of Hip-Hop’s most polarizing figures, to say the least, and following the reception to his latest stadium performances in Chicago, the internet (specifically Black folks) is debating whether he is still worthy of the adulation.
An artist like West, who gave us several albums that could be deemed classics and produced some of the biggest musical hits in the world, should be celebrated on a normal day, but when it comes to a man who wants to be known as simply Ye, being a fan of his has become a choice due to his problematic behavior.
Instead of his music, the rapper has become more known later for dabbling in occasional antisemitism, praising Adolph Hitler, embracing Nazism, sexual deviancy, and being so much of a sellout that he would make Clayton Bigsby proud; his homecoming concerts sparked a lot of conversations on social media, specifically about forgiveness.
West, who seems to be on a redemption tour more than anything, while promoting his latest project Bully, decided to bring out some former friends whom he has beefed with over the past few years during his descent into far-right politics (which they try to blame on his well-documented mental issues), showing that he is a “changed man.”
It Was Night of Reunions During Kanye West’s Soldier Field Show
While performing a plethora of his hits, West brought out his former G.O.O.D Music artists like Big Sean, whom he had fallen out with, Common, and his Kids See Ghosts collaborator and good friend Kid Cudi.
Cudder joined West on his globe stage to close out the Saturday night show at Soldier Field, performing “Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1,” “Ghost Town,” and “Pursuit of Happiness.”
For those who have wished to see Cudi and West kiss and make up, this was a dream come true, especially after they fell out in 2022 after West was big mad that he was friends with Pete Davidson, who was dating his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, and removed any trace of Cudi from his album Donda 2.
Cudi responded to West’s antics in an interview with Esquire, telling the publication: “With all due respect, I’m not Drake, who’s about to take a picture with him next week and be friends again, and their beef is squashed. That’s not me. What I say, I mean. I will be done with you. It’s gonna take a motherf***ing miracle for me and that man to be friends again. I don’t see it happening.”
The reunion between Ye and Cudi was the first time they shared the stage since 2018, when they performed their joint album together at Coachella. West’s fallout with Cudi happened while his career nosedived after he went on several antisemitic rants, praised Hitler, and denied the Holocaust.
Ahead of the release of his latest album and his stadium tour, West conveniently apologized, taking out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal and blaming his antisemitic rants on his manic behavior.
Kid Cudi Puts On His Cape For Kanye West
Saturday morning, Cudi defended performing alongside West, saying that “everyone deserves some grace” and “he apologized and it was sincere.”
Former Hot 97 radio personality Peter Rosenberg wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that he was “disappointed in a lot of people” because of them being forgiving of a man who released a song called “Heil Hitler” last year.
Cudi responded to Rosenberg writing, “I understand ur frustration, Peter. I fucks w u, but I don’t really care if ur disappointed in me. That man is my brother. U dont have a relationship w him like I do. Damn near 2 decades of art and friendship. U not family. So I get it. Ive been around Ye, and I can honestly say talking to him now is how it use to be when I first signed to him, but even better. He was dealing w mental health struggles for years and now hes good. Everyone deserves some grace when they family. I was the hardest on him out of anybody. I held him accountable. He apologized and it was sincere. But like I said, u not family so I get it.”
Well, yes, West did apologize, but he didn’t apologize to Black people for saying “slavery was a choice,” criticizing Harriet Tubman, wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit, and saying abortion is a form of population control for the Black community.
Anyway, the moment has sparked a lot of commotion on social media, with users pointing out that West still hasn’t said sorry to the Black community.
Even Joe Budden commented on West’s penchant for being forgiving when it’s most convenient for him, calling it “the most corniest sh*t in the world.”
No lies detected.
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