Why this diehard Kanye fan finally gave up on Ye - EP45

This episode we bring on a good friend, Matt, who has always been a very big Kanye West fan, but in recent years has found it hard to separate his art from his actions outside of music.

We go over all the most notable controversial moments, aka

"crash outs" in Kanye West's career, and discuss our thoughts on them.

We recorded this just days before he issued his latest public apology through Wall Street Journal. That said, if it had come out before we recorded, it would be hard to say our opinions would have changed much.

What are your thoughts on Kanye West, or Ye, as he likes to be called nowadays? Can you separate his art from his controversial statements, and still listen to his music, or has your feelings towards his music changed?

More details:

We brought on a friend who went from being a massive Kanye West fan to completely changing his mind after years of Kanye controversies. We break down the full Kanye timeline from the George Bush Katrina rant to the Taylor Swift VMA incident to the TMZ Kanye interview where he said slavery was a choice. We cover the MAGA hat Kanye era, Kanye politics, and even his Kanye presidential run.

We talk about Kanye albums ranked, starting with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Life of Pablo, Jesus is King, and Donda. We get into Kanye music legacy, his music production skills, and the artists that came through Good Music label like Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, and Pusha T.

A huge part of this conversation is the Kanye fan journey and what it's like going from Kanye fan to hater. We discuss changing mind on Kanye, fandom psychology, and the art vs artist debate. Separating art from artist is something a lot of people struggle with, and we wanted to have an honest conversation about celebrity cancel culture, celebrity authenticity, and celebrity downfall.

We also get into Kanye bipolar disorder and talk about bipolar disorder awareness, mental health in music, and celebrity mental health. Kanye public antics and Kanye scandals have been tied to these conversations for years. We discuss 2024 2025 Kanye controversies, Kanye apology debate, and whether a Kanye redemption arc is even possible.

The conversation covers Kim Kardashian, the Kim Kardashian Kanye divorce, and the Pete Davidson Kanye feud. We also talk about Kanye fashion, the Adidas Yeezy partnership, Balenciaga Kanye, Kanye billionaire loss, sneaker culture, and wave runners. Yeezy was a huge part of his brand and watching that fall apart was wild.

We also got into Drake vs Kendrick and who won. We break down the Kendrick Lamar Drake beef, Not Like Us, Family Matters, and why Kendrick won. We also touch on the Pusha T Drake beef and Kanye Drake beef. Rap beef history and hip hop beef culture has changed a lot and this was a perfect example of that.

We end up going off on a tangent about Drake Stake gambling, gambling addiction in sports, and sports betting influence on younger audiences. We even talked about NHL controversies and hockey culture and how athletes handle free speech vs hate speech, celebrity influence, and influencer responsibility.