OP-ED: Why It Makes Sense That Kanye West Supports Trump

Kanye West has always been willing to say what no one else will. In the past, we’ve seen headlines about him interrupting award shows, calling out celebrities for their views, tweeting questionable comments, and singing about tough topics. In the song New Slaves, Kanye uses a particularly vulgar word choice to explain how there are leaders and there are followers, and he would rather be known for being the former -- even if it means being rude rather than to swallow his opinions.

Last April, Kanye stirred the pot once again when he tweeted a picture of himself in a Make America Great Again hat. The retweets and questions flew, and complete surprise spread across the nation. Fans turned against him, and his Twitter followers  dropped profusely. Kanye frantically responded, declaring that Trump is his ‘brother’ and that no one can make him not love him.

Many Americans threw this into the “Oh Crazy Kanye!” spiel and either forgot about it or vowed not to support him. Being a devoted fan, I did neither. Despite my disdain for our president, I understand why West supports Trump.

Kanye West is one of the most prominent rappers of this generation, with thirteen albums and four mixtapes, each with anthems of its own. With every album release came record-breaking numbers of albums sold, and, basically, money. Ye is extremely wealthy, if the designer clothes and luxurious trips did not already tell you. Rumor has it he is approaching billionaire status, and between himself and wife Kim Kardashian West, it’s not at all shocking.

One of the biggest differences  between Democrats and Republicans is how government money is managed and spent, specifically considering taxes. Republicans generally support decreasing taxes on the wealthy in order to make the best of their salaries and benefit the economy, while Democrats typically support the increase in taxes to provide more for those with lower incomes and fuel government-funded programs.

If you ask a conservative why they think Kanye West supports our president, my guess is that they would tell you it’s because he is rich. This makes perfect sense. West has absolutely labored his way all through his career, and every dollar he makes is the result of that -- a dollar he’d prefer to keep.

This is definitely not the reason Kanye claims he supports Trump, though. Based on how he’s responded to several interviews and lyrics, Kanye’s defense has solidly been that it’s because it’s what no one else is doing, as superficial as it sounds.

Kanye West worked his way to the top of this industry and fought to have a voice to say things no one else would. If West was an underwhelming artist, fans would’ve dropped him after every controversial thing he’s said through the years. The thing is, though, he is just that good, and fans have found justification after every psychotic thing he has done through the years.  This doesn’t mean he can say everything he wants and get by with a Get Out of Jail Free card, but Kanye’s whole brand is being a phenomenal musician with disputable opinions.

When Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans, a young Kanye interrupted a live telethon to iconically and simply say, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Now, twelve years later, many fans are claiming he is blatantly betraying his previous support of the black community, thus fitting into the notion that he just says the opposite of what’s expected.

However, as he says in his thought provoking song “Ye vs. The People,” isn’t going against the grain everything he fought for?

Kanye fought for his right to become a Republican and vote for whoever he wants to vote for. It comes across as quite hypocritical for people to encourage freedom and then slam the freedom to have opposite views.

The wave of shock that spread across our nation when Ye tweeted the picture of him in a MAGA hat is what’s so interesting about this entire debacle. Potentially most of this shock    comes from Kanye’s has had very pro-diversity and typically liberal views of the past. But if we are really being as honest as possible, though, it’s for a much simpler reason: because Kanye West is black.

In “Ye vs. The People”, there is one line that hits the nail right on the head about this situation. West raps, “See that’s the problem with this damn nation/ All blacks gotta be Democrats/ Man we ain’t even made it off the plantation.”

There’s an undeniable stereotype among Democrats that all black people, or all other people of color, have to be liberal voters, and it’s just false. It certainly has some truth to it historically, but it’s not completely accurate. Race does not immediately determine political view. Every single person who voted for Donald Trump is not a racist, in spite of what the current political climate has brainwashed us to think.

A big reason people claim West’s views are relevant and important to them is because he is supposed to be a voice for the black community. He may not be voicing the common black community view with his endorsement of Trump, but he’s voicing a different, much more unnoticed side of the black community.

In 2016, 1.31 million black people voted for Donald Trump. Although that may be a relatively small number, it is still valid.

Kanye West is not only speaking for himself but all the black Republicans everywhere who don’t get the representation in the media that they deserve. In “Ye vs. the People”, West ends one of his best verses with, “A lot of people agree with me but they too scared to speak up”. If that doesn’t say it all, I really don’t know what does.

We can complain about Trump all we want and question how on earth someone could vote for him, but that’s not going to fix anything. When someone comes out as a supporter of Trump, it does no good to throw up our arms and ask why. It may be the easiest and most natural reaction, but it’s part of what’s fueling the tension between Democrats and Republicans.

Kanye West supports Donald Trump for a number of reasons, some we might not even know of. Maybe he’s doing it for attention, or maybe he genuinely has conservative beliefs, probably a mix of both. Either way, boycotting his music or bashing him only digs us farther into a tunnel of tension.

In a 2015 interview, West simply said, “I'm a human being. I've got opinions, I'm not always right, I'm not always on time, I don't always say things in the proper way, but my intentions are always extremely pure.”

Kanye’s intentions are the same as any other person who voted for Trump. Let’s give his views the same respect we give everyone else’s.

By Annie Levy