Kanye West 2020 : Politics as Serio-Comedy

chido@usafricaonline.com@Chido247

Chido Nwangwu, Publisher of USAfricaonline.com suggests that the bid for American presidency by billionaire rapper and businessman, Kanye West should not be taken seriously

In this moment of seriousness and challenging demands on Americans and the whole world, during this deadly visitation of Coronavirus, this is hardly any time to be engaged in distractions. It is not a time for privileged and unrestrained mockery of leadership! It is not a time for serio-comedic expressions.

Kanye West, a new billionaire rapper, fashion and real estate business man (famously married to reality tv superstar Kim Kardashian), only a few days ago declared his intention to run for President of the United States.

Kanye, son of a late university professor is African American and a mastermind producer of Jay Z’s highest selling album. Remarkably Kanye who has been friendly towards President Donald Trump declared that he is “taking off the red hat “ – the popular in conservative and Republican circles ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) caps.

Second, he revealed that he wore the MAGA cap “as a protest to the segregation of votes in the Black community.” Kanye told Forbes magazine that he is not happy in what he calls the assumption by the Democratic Party that the Black community will always vote for the Democratic Party. Consequently he says he is running under a new party called the Birthday party.

On his issues he claims that the vaccine against coronavirus will engineer “the mark of the beast…. They want to put chips inside us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can’t cross the gates of heaven.” How could someone who wants to be President of United State believe such nonsense? We can see that there is a uniting thread between some christian evangelists and the thinking of the likes of Kanye West.

I wrote about this last week in my THISDAY column and on USAfricaonline.com of July 10, 2020 titled “Nigerian Pastor Oyakhilome, a 5G Tower of Babel on Racism?” Pastor Oyakhilome claimed the current worldwide protests against the killing of George Floyd by police officers in the U.S. “It’s not about the guy that died; it’s not about ‘Black Lives Matter’, It’s part of the game. They want to come in with the alternative method for security – total control with microchips. That’s what it’s about…. Look at the people rampaging on the streets – they are not black people… It is not about racism…. Wearing face masks is dangerous for your health. How can we know this and prescribe it? I have told you of the dangers of social distancing. It’s inhuman… There is no science behind it.” Both men are wrong. Kanye said a few years ago that he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Regardless we cannot underestimate persuasive influence of a social and pop culture icon like Mr. West in persuading the minds of young and impressionable youths. Remember that demographic made the difference for victory in the election of the first African American President of United States , Barack Obama. Kanye is relentless and rarely ever gives up. Some are wondering whether he is a Trojan horse working for Trump’s re-election by technically impacting the number of votes that ordinarily would have gone to Joe Biden, Trump’s only major opponent. Kanye says Biden is “not special.”

Mr. West, to date, is reported to have sold 25 million albums and 125 million digital downloads worldwide. As at July 2020, he would have sold 15 million albums in the United States, but all those are for entertainment. Kanye has not yet articulated any coherent body of thoughts on how to lead America, Kanye has not provided an answer as to how to make the tax code fair and valuable for the citizens of the United States. Kanye does not understand what Hans Morgentau articulated as fundamental to the politics of international relations but I must give it to him , he is an astute businessman, why? He has a great comeback story from economic and financial difficulties to rebounding into certifiable billionaire status at a very young age. Kanye for all we know could be on another business and publicity stunt to launch one of his new gospel songs while galloping into the public arena as “ a Bona Fide “candidate for President of the United States. Good bye Kanye, your time is up.