OP-ED: Kanye West Gets Publicity for His Albums Through His Controversial Comments

Kanye West is an American producer, rapper, and fashion designer, perhaps best known for the song “Gold Digger.” Most people would agree that Kanye West plays a big role in music culture, but I think he also gets his publicity from his controversial comments. West, who is known for his controversial comments, connects his music to his comments.

In May 2018, during a radio interview with WGCI Chicago, West said, “slavery was a choice.” He then was on every news cycle for millions to see. I think that he said this to get publicity on his new upcoming albums. After that, on the first day of June, his second album, Ye, came out, and seven days later another album, KIDS SEE GHOSTS, came out. While West was still receiving backlash and headlining in the news, Ye sold 208,000 copies and streamed over 180 million times within the first week. KIDS SEE GHOSTS, featuring Kid Cudi, sold over 200,000 copies and over 175 million streams within the first week.

Both albums are less popular than some of his other albums and, many speculated that why this album did not do as well as it was expected is because of his comments. However, I believe West says some of these comments to gain news coverage. It does not matter if it is good or bad news coverage because people still know who West is and continue to listen to his music. People still listen to West because his music is good. For them, it does not matter what he says; it matters about the music, which has gained West over 40 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Kanye West’s newest album titled Yahndi was supposed to come out on September 29, 2018, but was delayed until Black Friday so he could record in Africa. Two days later, on October 1, 2018, West posted a photo on Instagram of him wearing a Make America Great Again hat and the caption, “This represents good and America becoming whole again. We will no longer outsource to other countries. We build factories here in America and create jobs. We will provide jobs for all who are free from prisons as we abolish the 13th amendment. Message sent with love.” This post had 559,545 likes and many comments before most of his Instagram and Twitter was deleted. While his album is supposed to be released on Black Friday, no predictions about streams or copies sold have come out.

In my opinion, West says all these things about Donald Trump as a publicity stunt. It is widely known that no publicity is bad publicity, and Kanye’s post perfectly shows this. I think Kanye West says these things right before his albums drop to sell more copies and get more streams.

By Sarah-Anne Seligman