While heroes are recognized for their greatness, excessive pride is not a quality associated with heroism. For example, Irene Sendler, a woman who saved countless children during the Hollocaust while risking her own life, denies her label as a hero because she believes what she did was ordinary and that she could have saved more lives. In her humility, Irene Sendler is all the more heroic as she exhibits the selflessness that defines true heroism. In contrast, villains are people who crave and demand and the worship of others. Caught up in the egotism that characterizes villainy they are boastful and always hungry for attention. Kanye West is an example of a villain whose huge musical talent is unfortunately eclipsed by his even bigger ego.
Kanye West had a difficult childhood similar to the start of many potential hero narratives. The child of a broken home, Kanye was raised by a single working mother. Kanye was able to overcome childhood adversity and pursue his interests in the arts. By 2002 before the launch of his own solo career, Kanye established himself as a well renowned hip-hop producer, creating beats for artists such as Nas, DMX, T.I and others. In 2002 Kanye was also involved in a near fatal car accident. Kanye used this personal struggle to inspire his music and produced his first hit single "Through the Wire" detailing his near fatal ordeal.
By 2004 Kanye released his first album as a solo artists, The College Dropout, which went triple platinum. By 2008 he had released four albums, which had earned a total of 12 Grammy Awards including best rap album and best rap solo performance. Kany West has also been the recipient of numerous people choice awards both in the US and abroad. Kanye has also had to face further hardship as an adult as his mother, with whom he was extremely close, passed away unexpectedly during complications from cosmetic surgery.
While overcoming adversity and achieving tremendous musical success the question remains why is Kanye West perceived as a villain and not a hero?
Unfortunately, while Kanye has had a career colored with accomplishments it has also been filled with controversies. In 2005 Kanye sparked his first media upset by inappropriately deviating from a script during a Hurricane Katrina benefit to say, "Bush doesn't care about black people" to the live audience of millions of Americans. Kanye has become famous for voicing personal opinions at inappropriate times. In 2006 he went on stage during an acceptance speech by the artists Justice to argue that he was more entitled for the award for Best Video at the MTV European Music Awards. In 2009 at the MTV Video Music awards Kanye went on stage during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech and grabbed the microphone from her to exclaim that Beyonce should have won the award. Kanye has also been on record stating he will "really have a problem" if he is not the recipient of certain awards and will not return to certain award ceremonies if his work is not properly recognized. Altogether, Kanye's excessive egotism and selfish behavior cloud his artistic success. Kanye's example serves as a important reminder that ones merits as a hero may quickly be overshadowed by ones qualities as a villain.
The following is a clip of Kanye West's interruption of Taylor Swift at the MTV Music Awards: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LtSX_6on7g
Kanye West is pretty awful. But his music is good and when “Through the Wire” came out I would bump that tune all the time. Until his talents run out, it is hard for me to call him a total arrogant loserface because he still has something to offer my ears. Once he starts putting out “Greatest Hits” and “Christmas” rap albums then I will feel more comfortable calling him a villain.