I just found out via the interweb that Kanye West has emerged victorious from his much talked about and more or less pathetic publicity stunt contest with 50 Cent. I’d be lying if I said I really cared about that. But still, I’ve been listening to the album for a few days and somehow feel the urge to mark the occasion.

I have some friends who have tired of Kanye. They look at his temper tantrums, elephantitis of the ego, and cultural vampiracy and conclude that his music isn’t worth all the excess bullshit.

But I still have a lot of love for Kanye, and although the new album isn’t as good as his first two, I love that he’s out there doing his thing, and I’m glad that there’s an audience out there big enough to support his self-destructive spending habits.

So all that said, I want to take a little space to praise Kanye and provide a few talking points for anyone interested in defending him from the swelling mass of haters.

1. He keeps his eyes on the prize

For all his extra baggage, Kanye remains one of the most deeply committed musicians out there. Particularly at this point in hip hop’s evolution when so much effort goes toward feigning indifference, Kanye takes us back to the old days of hard working, careerist entertainers. People who believed in quality, in doing multiple takes, in spectacle, in making the most of every opportunity you get. As a money-paying fan, I appreciate the effort, even if that sometimes means having to listen to him rap acapella for like 4 minutes straight.

UPDATE: What did I tell you??? Watch this:

Now, if you still question this dude’s commitment to craft or the obsessive compulsive traits alluded to in point 3 after watching that clip I don’t know what to tell you.

2. He’s not afraid to fail

In a business in which complexity, inconsistency, and ambiguity are not considered virtues, Kanye is basically undertaking a grand experiment, testing the limits of what a rapper can be. And, as in any experiment, he gets it wrong occasionally. The problem with being an out of control exhibitionist is that all your missteps are public, but that doesn’t seem to dissuade this man from throwing on a lavender vampire pimp suit with some white leather Alfa Romeo driving gloves and Kool Moe Dee wrap around sunglasses and saying, “Fuck it, let’s go to the Grammy’s”.

3. He is a nerd living the dream.

As someone who has always loved music, but never really committed himself to making it, there is a vicarious joy that I feel seeing Kanye chase his dreams. At this point, I wonder if he’s actually sailed through his dreams and is floating in a fantasy world beyond what he dared to imagine as a nameless obsessive compulsive making beats at his mom’s house. There are of course those people who take success in stride, who become stars, make only minor adjustments to their lives and keep it moving. People like Moby. Kanye West is not one of those, and, frankly, I wouldn’t be either.

So anyway, Graduation is out now. Go get it, it’s good. My main problem with it is a song called Homecoming, which is a kind of remake of a song called Home that was left off Late Registration. Home is one of my favorite Kanye songs and this new version isn’t cutting it for me. So, here’s the original, soundtrack to this post:

Kanye West w/ John Legend - “Home”

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