Kanye the Instigator

By Maria Luisa Tucker, AlterNet. Posted January 28, 2006.

During an MTV show in August, rapper Kanye West publicly called for his fellow rappers and the hip hop community to stop gay bashing. With the Aug. 30 release of his latest album, "Late Registration," West started conversations about conflict diamonds with his song "Diamonds from Sierra Leone." In September, he asserted his belief that "George Bush doesn't care about black people" during a Red Cross telethon for Hurricane Katrina survivors. And now, with his portrayal of Jesus on the cover of Rolling Stone, he has instigated debates about religion and race.

In the magazine, which hit the stands Friday, West is pictured wearing a crown of thorns, a serious expression, and a few appropriate trickles of blood. The magazine titles its cover story "The Passion of Kanye West," clearly playing off the controversial film "The Passion of the Christ." However, it may unintentionally remind readers of the true passion of a musician who is clearly troubled with the state of the world.

Even if you don't agree with his opinions, the increasing resonance of West's political statements is undeniable. And his ability to get political discussions going -- from the race factor of Hurricane Katrina to human rights abuses in the diamond industry -- is unparalleled by any other hip hop artist. While he often comes off as an arrogant and unlikable celebrity, West's political commentary is refreshing because it seems to have no calculated political message and no preachy moral story. He simply talks about the issue that is on his mind. And this month, he wants to talk about Jesus.

Predictably, the Rolling Stone cover has incited angry responses from some Christian leaders, who have berated the magazine and, in one case, called West "mentally challenged." In a statement released two days before the magazine even hit the stands, Catholic League President Bill Donahue accused the magazine of being racist, saying, "If it is true that West is a morally confused black young man, it is also true that Rolling Stone is staffed by morally challenged white veterans: They are to West what white boxing agents in the 20th century were to black boxers -- rip-off artists. It is not for nothing that West poses as a Christlike figure on a magazine geared to whites."

Though this statement is somewhat mystifying, Donahue in later interviews essentially argued that West was being exploited by the magazine, a laughable idea since any celebrity pictured on the cover of Rolling Stone is clearly promoting his own career. Kanye West's defenders have largely chalked up the anger over the cover photo to the idea that a black Jesus goes against some religious leaders' white sensibilities.

Hip hop activist Rosa Clemente responded to the Catholic League's statement by asking, "Was it wrong for Jesus to be portrayed by Charlton Heston, a gun-toting member of the National Rifle Association?" Clemente argued that the outcry against West-as-Jesus was really about the fact that Jesus was depicted by a black man: "The problem for the Catholic League and many white Christians who will start coming out of the woodwork to also condemn Kanye and begin to attack hip hop is that Kanye West as a black man does not represent their revisionist history of whom Jesus was."

Aside from the content of the complaints, the fact that conservatives have launched a pre-emptive strike against the rapper belies the widening reach of West's voice.

It's been a long time coming.

West grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, the son of a professor. A gifted student, he won a scholarship to college and majored in English. Then, as his first album would relay, he dropped out to pursue his interest in music. West was a talented producer before he was a talented rapper. His 2004 hit "College Dropout" garnered 10 Grammy nominations and won three. His newest album, "Late Registration," is up for eight Grammy Awards, including album of the year.

Throughout his career, he has gained a reputation as being arrogant and outspoken. (He has the titles of some of his own songs tattooed on his arm.) Both Time and Newsweek profiled West in August, calling him an artist "full of contradictions" (Newsweek), and a "Buppie" who is "challenging the way rap thinks about race and class" (Time).

Catholic League's Donahue admitted in his statement that, "West is a young rapper who is hard to peg. On the one hand, he eschews gangsta rap and likes to sing lyrics like, 'They say you can rap about anything except Jesus/ That means guns, sex, lies, videotapes/ But if I talk about God, my record won't get played.' On the other hand, he is capable of saying plainly foolish things, e.g., the government is responsible for the spread of AIDS among blacks and gays." (At the Philadelphia Live 8 concert in July, West promoted the idea that AIDS was a "man-made disease placed in African communities.")

Maria Luisa Tucker is an AlterNet staff writer.

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