As I was scrolling through the Chicago Tribune website I decided to click on this article because it seemed so absurd to me. Someone wants Kanye West as mayor of Chicago? An artist from Hyde Park said that "Sure, he's crazy and unpredictable, but he would also look out for the concerns of poor people in the city better than the current administration." Although I do not believe that this is necessarily true I do not think it was interesting that this article was published.
I believe that thirty years ago, before rap music was popular this article would have never been published. Rap music and rap artists have become so respected and popular in America that I believe that someone could look at this article and not think it was completely ludicrous. Rap music has become so popular that people of different races, classes, religion etc listen to it. It is a type of music that binds people together. What do you think? Are you surprised someone wants Kanye West mayor of Chicago?
Being an avid listener of Kanye West, I was also very surprised to hear that such a campaign was started. While I don't completely agree with you that this article might have never been published thirty years ago, I do agree that the campaign would not have been taken as seriously (which might be what you are saying, as well). Rappers such as Kanye hold big positions in the public eye, something that might not have been foreseeable thirty years ago. The fact that some people are taking this campaign seriously is surprising, especially because Kanye has never expressed any interest in politics outside of his music.
ReplyDeleteHowever, upon seeing the campaign website to me, something seemed fishy. It was created by a Chicago artist named Ben Shepard, and on the side of the site is a navigation bar. At the very bottom is a link saying "Art Show", leading to a blank page with the message "More details coming very soon". This made me question the true motivations of Shepard- because sure, maybe he has extreme faith in Kanye to help improve Chicago... or maybe this independent artist just wants people to pay attention to his own career. Whether or not this is just some publicity stunt, we might just have to wait and see.