KANYE WEST: AMERICA’S NEXT BLACK PRESIDENT?

By MPHATSO J. BANDA

As we enter the last half of the third quarter of the year, the world’s most powerful nation is about to choose it’s next president.

The United States Of America (USA), will be holding its general elections on 3rd November where voters shall select presidential electors who shall inturn elect a president on December 14th, this year.

One of the issues surrounding the elections that has raised controversy and drawn much attention is the presidential candidacy of one of the greatest artists of recent history, Kanye West.

Born Kanye Omari West on 8th June 1977 in Atlanta-Georgia, United States of America, Mr West is  an american rapper, producer, and fashion designer. He attended his higher education at American Academy Of Art  then later transferred to Chicago State University only to withdrew later to pursue a musical carrier.

The 43 year old billionaire, announced his bid for the presidency in the upcoming US Elections through his twitter account on 4th July, the country’s independence day, this year. Contesting under the ticket of his self-styled Birthday Party, Kanye is expected to go to polls with Michelle Tidball, an american Christian preacher, as his running mate.

But, what is the world’s renowned rapper really up to? That’s the biggest question that many of us have been asking. To figure out the score, there are few things that need to be looked into.

Kanye West is an advocate of change and equality for the black community. Through his music, he has been condemning racism, unfair distribution of opportunities between white and black Americans and gun violence among black communities. Like, in the single “Murder To Excellence”  from his 2010 Watch The Throne album, which He collaborated with Jay Z, the rapper complained about the deteriorating state and alarming rate of gun violence among the black community.

And I quote “Is it genocide? Cause I can still hear his mama cry and all the family traumatized, shots left holes in his face bought parahna sized, The old pastor closed the cold casket and said the church ain’t got enough room for all the tombs” goes the rapper in the post-hook.

Not only that, Kanye has recently also said it in public at his campaign launch rally in Charleston, South Carolina that the 19th century abolitionist, Harriet Tubman, did not really free the slaves, but she just got them working for other whites.

So, perhaps, Kanye West would like to push his quest for change and equality to a whole new level: from preaching through his music to policy and decision making in the government.

But, what if this whole candidacy thing has nothing to do with the elections? What if this is just a promotional stunt? A promotional stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public’s attention to the event’s organizer or his/her cause. Bearing that in mind, this is not the first time for Kanye to take the world by surprise.

Last year the “No Church in The Wilderness” star announced to have converted to gospel music and went on drop his gospel album “Jesus Is The King”. While it is still controversial as to whether the rapper will still continue with gospel music or not, his album has become one of the most successful gospel albums of the recent times with the single “Follow God” occupying the number one spot on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs.

One of the reasons that contributed to the success of the album is his controversial religious identity.

And this time around, he might be up to making headlines again before releasing new music. Just recently, Kanye West has been reported to have tweeted then later deleted a playlist which is speculated to consist of songs for an upcoming album, DONDA. This further raises the suspicion that the rapper’s candidacy is just about going controversial and promoting his brand.

Despite that being said, what if Kanye really have political ambititions?. But, perhaps, his ambition is not  become the most powerful man on the planet.

What if Kanye is just trying to act as a spoiler aid for Donald Trump?. In 2016, Trump had almost lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton but managed to redeem himself in some key battleground states to win the White House.

And, political analysts believe that one of the main reasons that Hillary Clinton lost in those states and hence the election, was due to the votes she lost to the then third party candidate, Jill Stein.

So, by splitting the votes again between Mr Joe Biden, the democratic  presidential candidate and the now third party candidate Mr Kanye West in those states, it could help Mr Trump to rertun to the White House just like he did in 2016.

The Democrat party has a considerable support from the black community. So, Kanye West by the virtue of being black, is likely to split votes with the democratic candidate thereby paving a way for the Republican candidate, Donald Trump. Besides, Kanye West has been a great deal supporter of Donald Trump, who knows what else he can do for the incumbent president.

Well, while Kanye West  has qualified to appear on ballot in some states, he has also missed deadlines to qualify to appear in several others.

Besides the motives, as to whether he really is going to run for the presidency or not, that also still remains a mystery. Let’s just watch as the events unfold, perhaps America might have its second black president on the way!.

Mphatso J. Banda is a writer/column writer. He writes on academic and scholarly music. He also writes about Art and Entertainment.

You can contact Mphatso by Emailing: Mphatsojbanda26@yahoo.com.

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