Southern Plug Magazine: Leaders of the New School 2017 Volume 2 Issue 1 A | Page 27

As Kanye West would doubtless tell you himself, he
is a 21st-century phenomenon — a producer turned
rap superstar who has reinvented hip hop several
times over in the course of a stellar career; but
whose creative genius is sometimes eclipsed by his
talent for putting his entire foot in his own mouth.
He has made headlines for his bizarre tweets and his
grand pronouncements, his award-show stage
invasions, his outré fashion sense and his flashbulb-
popping marriage to Kim Kardashian. But when West
channels his hubristic impulses into his music, the
results have rarely been less than thrilling: hence six
out of seven solo albums debuting at No. 1 and a
total of 34 million albums sold; 21 Grammy awards
— no rapper has won more; two inclusions in Time
magazine's 100 most influential people list; and
plaudits from Lou Reed, Prince, Elon Musk — and,
most frequently of all, from West himself. "I am a
god," he rapped in 2013, following up with a line
that perhaps only he could deliver with a straight
face: "Hurry up with my damn croissants."