Want to breathe the same air as our king, Kanye? Have $60,000 lying around? Are you willing to take out a loan for the brief moment to bathe in the same air of a genius? You could be that one lucky bastard…or a fairly incompetent idiot. 

Let’s pass by any doubts again, as in prior pieces I’ve written: I love Kanye. I think he’s the best public presence we could ask for. Any time I check Twitter or any news outlet and see his name, I read it immediately. I’ll retweet it and talk about it that day, as well. Kanye’s my dude. 

In today’s world, everyone is fighting for relevance. Am I relevant? Probably not. I am debatably tied for fourth place of all “Mike Richards” in the world, behind Kramer, an NHL star, and the guy who produces The Price is Right.

Kanye is the most relevant person in the world, and the moment someone drops his name, they immediately get attention. Let’s talk David Crosby (Crosby, Stills & Nash). He called Kanye a “poser,” “idiot,” and that he “has no talent at all.”

Quite frankly, who cares? But we’re talking about it because you can put Kanye’s name in a headline and get attention. I’m guilty of it, but I bet you also read the article. 

Kanye hasn’t held up on the reins since before he dropped his album, “College Dropout.” And his honesty has not been stifled through each album in succession. His life obviously has changed, and his writing will thus change in relation to what’s happening in his life. For example, authors who have gone to war can write about war, but those who haven’t won’t necessarily have that real feeling of true experience behind it. 

Not that I’d send Kanye to war, though I’d love to see his negotiation tactics. 

We need Kanye because he’s going to speak his mind no matter what. Criticism arises from those who feel they need to latch on like a parasite and berate whomever because they themselves don’t have it in them to speak up. The Internet shades a community of self-conscious people not ready to stand forth and publicly announce their feelings. Not that everyone is like that, so don’t get too offended by it. I’m self-conscious about my writing, too. 

Tell me who of you will public say this: “Class is the new way to discriminate against people, to hold people down, to hold people in their place based on where their kids go to school, how much money they make, what they drive, where they live, what type of clothes they have and how much they have in their account for retirement.” 

He cares, whether you believe it or not. Without someone to make these remarks, there would be no discussion. We need discussion to continue social interaction and social change. 

We need Kanye. We need Kanye to take and keep the mic.

Intelligence can lie within studying books, because you should do that, but it can also lie in going public to let the world know what’s happening, whether calm or in extravagance.

He may not be your voice of the generation, but he is the voice we need.

Contact Mike Richards at [email protected].