Kanye West is the Marvin Gaye of Our Times
Story by Angel Luna

A couple of nights ago I was checking out myspace.com and reading my bulletins when I came across one that said, “good job Kanye West.” I thought that he probably won another lousy award or that it was something about his new album, so I checked it out. I opened the bulletin and to my surprise it was a video with a little description. I skipped reading the description and went straight to the video and that's when I heard him say, "George Bush doesn't care about black people." It was loud and clear and actually very bold. It was from an NBC special to raise funds for survivors of Hurricane Katrina, and rapper Kanye West was saying his own opinion instead of reading his prepared teleprompt message.

From being the preppy, big-headed rapper/producer to being a true leader, Kanye West flips the script without hesitation in music, fashion and in real life tragedies.

I have never been a big fan of Kanye West, but after what he said I felt closer to him because even though he is the super star that he is, these words came from his heart. He forgot about being a politically correct artist, a cold hearted celebrity and put aside the fake smile. Man, he was just telling us straight up what was on his mind. It was beautiful to see the reactions of actor Mike Myers, who was reading the teleprompter at his side, and then comedian Chris Tucker whom the show cut to after Kanye's comments. They didn't expect those words from Jay-Z's main man.

I think there is going to be more artists, not only rappers, that will follow Kanye West's example and start breaking the shackles of the big corporate sponsorship or caring about losing an invitation to some TV show. Average Americans always listen to what an artist has to say, so folks are going to realize what is really going on in our country as artists start to speak from the heart like Kanye did. I agree with him, I think that America is letting us down and New Orleans is a good example of how cold our government can be with us, they don't care for anyone but their own interests. 

Back in the day, in another moment of American crisis, singer Marvin Gaye spoke out against the Vietnam War with his song, “ What's Going On?” To me, Kanye West is a modern Marvin Gaye, not only because of his good music, but because of all his politically incorrect actions, from putting Jesus back on the mainstream radio with his hit song, “Jesus Walks” to putting George Bush in his place.

A lot of artists like to talk for the people as if they had the right to do it. To be honest, I hate that, but now I feel that if an artist is going to talk for me, I would rather have Kanye West speak for me instead of some puppet artist! Kanye is a real brave heart that cares for his brothers in the struggle.

Check out more articles, poems, and audio clips about Hurricane Katrina