the dude has completely lost it.
man me and my boys were talking about this last night while burning one. his mind snapped when his mom died. ever since then....he has just been acting really weird.
My mind snapped when My Pops died.
It took almost 2 years, and the tireless efforts from my friends&family around me to put me back together again. Even then, I spent another 2 years 'playing the role' of a functioning Human Being... until the "fake it 'til you make it" routine totally stabilized me.
I was a little better when Momz died, but being a 'newly-minted orphan' took its toll, as well. It took everything I had to not 'sleepwalk' my way through my executor's estate duties in the lawyer's office.
Death can kick the **** out of its survivors.
I'm alive today, because of the childhood friends I had that stuck by me through those devastating periods in my life.
I wonder how many True Friends Kanye West has- friends who were there during the 'lean years'- who could be there for him (with strong spirit and support) when Life got truly real for him? Friends of real substance... the kind of Lifemates who were there at the start- and who would still be with him when he's in a retirement home?
Because THOSE are the kind of friends he needs to survive... if my life is any indicator.
________________
We 'consumers' often see these guys like Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Lady GaGa, and Beyonce Knowles as commodities... without considering that they are just more examples of '98.6'- and are subject to the same weaknesses, failings, and shortcomings that *F* up our own mundane daily lives:
Bad business deals.
Illegitimate children.
Substance addiction/abuse.
Awful spousal choices.
Dubious albums, based upon Life Experiences (did I really have to mourn the passing of Sting's Pops, when he produced his 'Soul Cages' joint?)
It's magnified in the press because of their public status, but be truthful:
how many of America's celebrities are any any better at making important Life Decisions than the rest of us?According to you and your boys (who are much more up-to-date on Kanye than I could ever be), dude has been destroyed by a loss that was central to His Inner Core. I can see that, because I can remember how it messed me up- twice in my life.
The difference:
I got to work my s#!t out in private, instead of having international paparazzi recording every moment of my grief- in all it's myriad, bizarre forms.
On one hand, I've never cared about Kanye West for even a moment of my life beyond what The Media has thrust upon me.
On another hand.... if what you surmise with Your Boys is true... I can empathize with where he is right now- because losing a parent will snatch away a part of a person's core. Death takes a heavy toll- and it requires from us a supreme act of will and self-preservation to overcome its blow. Losing both parents is the acid test of a person's soul... and tests the validity of all they taught you- when you all were still alive together.
This guy looks a lot like what I see when I look at Johnny Manziel: 'talented chunk of 98.6' who is living out his life before our very eyes... for better or worse.
I take no joy in watching either (potential) train wreck.
I want our national celebrities to be what the rest of should aspire to be. Still, I have to always remind myself that they are Human Beings just like me... and are subject to the same failings, flaws and weaknesses that plague you & I.
I hope this young man pulls himself together. If I'm still alive 20 years from now, It would be great to find out that he overcame his challenges, and became someone worthy of emulation.
To date, I've never followed him, or even know much of anything about him. He's simply not on my radar. (That's one benefit of getting old... I don't know him, and I don't really care...)
BUT....
I care that he finds the answers that put him on a better, healthier track. 20 years from now (if I'm still alive), I'd much rather hear a success story than yet another tragic "fall from grace" narrative.
I already get way too many of those stories today.
I'm gonna hate them all the more, when I'm watching the news on that 120" flat screen in the common space of Shady Acres Retirement Home.
.02,
clemmy
I better sit in the front row or my old eyes won't be able to see it.