Is Kan(Y)e West’s Invitation To The Cookout Still Under Review?
(Illustration: Dan Lacey via Flickr)
Growing up in Alabama, southern cookouts & supercharged mosquitoes are commonplace. Holidays, birthdays, PTO days, it don’t matter. BBQ grills are on-site & in-service as bugs fly faster than Forrest Gump beelining down dirt roads.
NOTE: BBQ (slow roasting) & grilling (fast, open fire) are technically two different cooking methods. For entertainment purposes, the terms may be used interchangeably.
In the 1400s the cooking style coined “barbacoa” in the Caribbean eventually transitioned to America. During the 1800’s, it later became a staple technique in southern USA, later known as “barbecue”. According to Auchmutey, “barbecue and slavery took root in America at about the same time, and they spread across the South in tandem.” Slave labor shouldered the responsibility of digging the holes, building fire pits and cooking the food.
Despite the struggle, the African-American community rose from the coal’s ashes like a phoenix by shifting struggle and curating something special in southern BBQ. The culture’s sweat equity is heavily invested into this culinary art. The cookout playbook consists of a hodgepodge of poultry, decadent side dishes, and vibrant music that creates a medium for friends & family to unite. Hence, most would assume that there are free cookout invites to anyone with African/black descent, right?
Well…there is one unknown variable nearly every cookout needs to account for: The proverbial “Drunk Uncle” who states that he MUST man the grill.
Some of y’all familiar with the “Unruly Unc”. He’s usually a loud-mouth. Reeks of Wild Irish Rose and Marlboro lights. Slurs words with incoherent speech. Fights over unresolved gambling debts. Makes fun of your auntie’s peach fuzz then takes over the kid’s birthday parties to create his own karaoke platform. The antics leave onlooking friends & fam no choice — send him home and help preserve whatever dignity he has left.
But then something happens. Unc cleans up his ways and gives his life to Christ, exhibiting good samaritan behavior. Once back in good graces, he’s invited back to future cookouts…only to relapse. This time, he’s kicked out with the aura of Apollo’s Sandman.
Can you guess who’s been giving off unhinged uncle vibes at the proverbial cookout?
Now, we’ve arrived at a place Mr. West can’t run from the facts — he’s created an ecosystem of inconsistencies. Ye’s behavior has resembled a box of chocolates: You never know what you’re going to get.
I vividly remember the culture shift in my high school’s hallways: Collars went up on polo shirts like Count Dracula’s cape. Crewneck sweaters were thrown over the top. Pleather Louis V backpacks were in full rotation. Kanye’s effect was apparent as he transitioned from music producer to music artist to fashionista.
However, a lot has happened since Ye’s humble beginnings as an up & coming producer in Newark, New Jersey. Depicted in the Netflix documentary, Jeen-yuhs, the rise of Kanye was flat out inspiring. The man believed in his talent when no one else did and refused to take no for answer. However, the biggest blow to Kanye’s skyrocketing success was the untimely passing of his mother, Donda West. In the doc, you could tell he was never the same. In fact, he still appears emotionally incarcerated by the difficult loss.
After Kanye’s 2021 “Free Larry Hoover” concert featuring Drake, whom he reconciled his beef with, many ppl were probably thinking, “Ok…old Ye just might be back!” On that nostalgic night, Yeezy & Drizzy entertained fans with their diversified musical catalogs and camaraderie, creating a family cookout atmosphere. Well, it was all good just a year ago…
Fast forward to 2022, The New York Times piece illuminates the conundrum Kanye created with his inflammatory choice of attire in Paris. The fallout includes Gap pulling their partnership & Adidas is reviewing theirs despite generating $2B’s annually together (10% of Adidas’ total revenue). It was even recently announced that Kanye’s appearance on HBO’s “The Shop”, would not air after Ye’s out of pocket comments.
Now, the last one is major for different reasons outside of money. Given that LeBron is the show’s executive producer and his brand holds just as much weight as Ye’s, getting “canceled” by another brother at your level is bad mojo. The domino effect continues as reports have surfaced that JP Morgan Chase pulled financial funding for the Yeezy brand. One of the biggest banks in the world is backing out now?
Effectively, Ye has everyone’s hands tied like a cowboy lassoing an overzealous bull. The inflammatory rhetoric has been a hodgepodge of sloppy and spicy commentary. How did the man who once pounded sand on national TV stating that George Bush “doesn’t care about black people” end up here?
Lots of questions with so little answers, leaving the culture faced with a kerfuffle:
“Can you separate the art from the artist?”
Bill Cosby and R.Kelly couldn’t but Kanye’s imprint upon the culture is ultimately undeniable so it seems many have. If we keeping it 100, the black community has continuously welcomed Ye back with open arms to the family function. MAGA hats and all, it didn’t slow The Culture from supporting him and buying his products. While Yeezy’s timeless hits and fashionable kicks could make a cameo appearance at 90% of black-family cookouts tomorrow, why has he continued to butt heads harder than Beavis with his own cultural achievements? Does he feel invincible? Truthfully, no one’s has had more diplomatic immunity with their people since 45 was in the white house. Until now.
For many, Ye’s become a lost cause. To others, it’s just Ye being Ye. Three things are certain: He could use some love, wisdom and professional help. Witnessing a cultural visionary go sideways in public given his intricate involvement in many of our upbringings is a tough watch. The fact he foreshadowed some of this in the 2009 throwback classic hip-hop song, “ Forever “ adds fuel to the fire:
Chasin’ the stardom will turn you to a maniac
All the way in Hollywood and I can’t even act
They pull the cameras out and g***amn, he snap
I used to want this thing forever, y’all can have it back
Kanye West appears to be publicly wrestling with himself in the flashing lights. If nothing else, we’ve all learned is that the price of fame and fortune (even billions) doesn’t equal peace. Whether or not Ye is welcomed back to The Culture’s cookout is one thing. Whether or not he will survive this continuous spiral is another. In the words of the great philosopher Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch, Ye gotta go home and take care of his chickens and mentals before its too late.
Originally published at https://www.writingontheball.com on October 14, 2022.
