Infamous rap artist, influencer and fashion designer, Kanye ‘Ye’ West has never come across as an introverted or private person. At the age of 20, he pulled out of Chicago State University to fully devote himself to his dream of creating music. He first rose to prominence as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records. Kanye’s name became well-known after his debut album “The College Dropout,” which was released in 2004. A life full of international acclaim, billions of dollars and numerous powerful connections may be the dream to an aspiring artist; however, Kanye’s reality has become extremely different with people labeling him mentally deranged, egotistical, narcissistic and materialistic.
People who had previously commended West for his influence began to turn against him and express hatred of his statements and behaviors. Although he was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2015, with all of the backlash he has faced for his scandals, he had become one of the most openly despised artists by 2018.
Sam Labadie ’27, a fan of Kanye’s music, shares that although he enjoys the artist’s work, he is not a fan of his personality or internet outbursts.
“Celebrities as big as Kanye have such a large fan base that takes a lot of what he says seriously and takes it to heart,” Labadie said. “He should be more careful with his words.”
Labadie believes that for Kanye to take meaningful accountability for his history, he would need to take actions beyondjust saying he’s sorry. Between Kanye’s anti-semitic comments and racial remarks, he has been left blackballed by the media. The way in which Kanye’s actions and words have affected his career can be the beginning of holding influential people accountable.
“He holds a lot of fame and power,” Labadie said. “Holding him accountable sets a precedent for other celebrities at his level of fame and wealth to be more cautious of what they say and do.”
Cooper Hamilton ’26 has been a Kanye fan for many years. Although Hamilton doesn’t agree with Kanye’s ideology and morals, he believes the music can be separated from Kanye’s persona.
“His art should be separated from him as a person,” Hamilton said. “I really appreciate his production ability, and most of the time his lyrics are really good with great relaying messages behind his songs.”
In numerous interviews, Kanye shared his opinions and expressed his dissatisfaction with the victim mentality ingrained in Black Americans, arguing that this victimhood mindset is what keeps black people docile and easily manipulated by groups like Black Lives Matter. Kanye even goes so far as to claim in an interview that racism is an outdated concept and not a real thing. Hamilton weighs in on Kanye West’s widely considered racist remarks and shares what steps he believes Kanye should take to be forgiven for these comments.
“He needs to take full responsibility for the things he said by apologizing and simply doing better,” Hamilton said. “His persona has shifted from a party persona in the 2000s to a narcissistic one now.”
Hamilton believes that Kanye’s outbursts are not primarily because he is genuinely a bad person, but because of the head trauma and medication that he has been put on, leaving Kanye with a distorted perception of reality.
“Following his divorce with Kim Kardashian, he had a lot of arguments with Kris Jenner about how he would rather die than be on medication,” Hamilton said. “I believe that his car accident, which caused head trauma, mixed with his mental illness, is something people should take into account because Kanye has a lot of issues and needs serious help.”
Oscar Guzman ’26, a lifelong fan of Kanye who listens to his music every day, offers his thoughts on Kanye’s antisemitic comments and posts, such as when West said on Twitter in 2022 that he was going “death con 3 on Jewish people.” Following this post, a reporter asked West if he regrets any anti-semitic remarks, to which he said black people can’t be anti-semitic because they are Jews. West also faced backlash for tweeting an image of a swastika combined with the Star of David.
“Kanye has come out and said some absurd things, and the messages that he’s sent are all very bipolar,” Guzman said. “His outbursts can probably be attributed to his history with drugs, but he needs to be held accountable for his hate speech.”
Kanye published a letter in 2026 in the Wall Street Journal titled “To Those I’ve hurt.” He states in the article that he had lost touch with reality and said and did things that he deeply regrets, and he attributes his outbursts to brain damage from a car crash in 2002. He stated that he’s not seeking compassion or an exemption from punishment, but rather wants to earn the world’s forgiveness. Although Guzman has not read Kanye’s letter, he predicts the public’s reaction and shares his opinion on whether or not to forgive.
“I’m sure his fans will forgive him first, but for him to be forgiven by everyone, he has to take certain steps and stay out of controversy,” Guzman said. “ I don’t think everyone will forgive him, but if he stays out of controversy, he may receive some mercy for his actions.”