middle class black kid becomes platinum rapper

Kanye West is not so unusual. He is not the first middle class kid to become a famous rapper. Some of the most popular hip hop artists come from very solid middle and working class families. Think Ice Cube, whose family forced him to go to college before he could go and hang out with NWA, think Will Smith, whose father was a judge in Philly, think LL Cool J-who used to brag that he got "2 bikes" every Christmas. Nowadays in Hip Hop, everyone claims a previous life of poverty, but that ain't always the truth.
I like Kanye because he is not apologizing for who he is. In that way he is a lot like 'Pac. Pac was another man who was very honest about his struggles with what he knew what he should do, and what his desires and passions told him to do.
Kanye is so incredible because he is telling the truth of his life, what he feels. He said "George Bush doesn't care about Black people" but he isn't the only person thinking that. We have all been thinking that since the very beginning. I am not fooled by Condi or Colin or Alberto or anyone else in his cabinet. I have only heard them talk about economic justice for people of color and poor people since the Hurricane blew the covers off the bed.
But anyway back to Kanye
Kanyes' beats are so nasty. He has a great musical ear. I hear Stevie Wonder and Donnie Hathaway influences a lot in his music. He makes me go back to the old music and listen to it a lot. His beats slap and they have a groove unlike anything else being made right now. He honestly is not the best rapper, but he's okay and better than a lot of other so called MCs out there. His sincerity and honesty, plus the fact that many of us can identify with the way he feels. He talks really honestly about his feelings about women and the way the world is. What young man isn't thinking about the world and his future in it? Of course we want the Shiny Things, but at what cost? Of course we want to be faithful to our women, but damn these other women look good. Kanye is showing that it is okay to be a complex human being.
The Funny thing
is that Kanye was well on the way to taking his place among the black bourgeousie of America. He was in college, his mom is a professor, all he had to do was graduate and find a job. He could have done his music thing on the side, but he chose to leave school and become a producer/rapper. His personal aspiration was the same as the countless thousands of kids for who college is/was a far off hope. He shares a lot with the common, everyday black guy. He likes women, cars and being looked at and listened to.
Anyway, I'm listening to a Democracy Now! broadcast with Suheir Hammad. Damn. Some people are writers but they are not good performers (me), others can perform but can't seem to write for shit. Suheir is in a third category. She's not a performer, but she is an excellent reciter and poet/writer. She caresses each word, a pleasure to listen to.
done for now
Peace world.