So Trump And Kanye Are Hanging Out Now
Let’s talk this through. We’ve just got to because, well, it’s a whammy. This morning, Kanye West—fresh off a hospital stay in the wake of some erratic behavior and canceled shows—showed up at Trump Tower.
http://twitter.com/SteveKopack/status/808678082320207873
Why was he here? Well, part of that erratic behavior that preceded his hospital stay included an on stage, mid-concert proclimation that while he didn’t vote in last month’s election, had he chosen to vote, he would have “voted on Trump.” That statement led to a shortened show, which led to more canceled/cut short shows, and eventually a canceled back end of his Saint Pablo tour, promoting his latest album, The Life Of Pablo.
After going up the skyscraper’s elevator, Kanye and the president-elect had a meeting about whoever knows what. Maybe they were talking about the state of hip-hop in 2016? Young Thug‘s star continued to rise. Anderson .Paak really made a name for himself. Gucci Mane got out of jail and had a Tiny Desk Concert. And what does Donald think about Kanye’s former model Lil Yachty? After all, Trump is vocally a huge hip-hop fan:
I really like Jay Z but there is trouble in paradise. When his wife's sister starts whacking him, not good! No help from B leads to a mess.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2014
It was just announced that @MacMiller’s song “DonaldTrump” went platinum—tell Mac Miller to kiss my ass!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 6, 2013
Seriously, though, I’d speculate that Kanye may actually be the person finally wrangled in to agree to perform at Trump’s inauguration. They’ve been having issues getting anyone to align and play on January 20th, and the rumor mill has been pretty entertaining to follow. Initial claims that Elton John would perform were quickly debunked, and country star Garth Brooks was the latest rumored to be reluctantly in talks to play. Is West filling this void? Will Brooks and West perform together? Aside from the fact that a performance of that nature would be truly awful, there’s really no clue; neither Trump nor West would talk about the substance of their meeting when they posed for photos in the Trump Tower lobby afterwards.
"We've been friends for a long time": Kanye West and President-elect Trump appear together at Trump Tower https://t.co/QoofBJzY1x pic.twitter.com/DK6z1P9LhG
— CNN (@CNN) December 13, 2016
Mental health issues aside (and really, this is not something to joke about, trivialize, or belittle—we’re looking at you, J. Cole), this isn’t an abnormal time of year for Kanye to be in the news, particularly in a year in which he’s released an album, as his work is commonplace for year-end ‘best of’ lists. For as much as he loves to claim it of himself, the man is indeed a creative genius, and The Life of Pablo was yet another volume to add to the eventual set of his career. Let’s just hope he knows what he’s doing on Fifth Avenue.
Kanye West reportedly met with Donald Trump to discuss potential 'Ambassador' role: https://t.co/phbeLMOtTY pic.twitter.com/3WaVS08Xgo
— Complex (@Complex) December 13, 2016
UPDATE: Kanye has tweeted about his meeting with The Donald:
http://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/808767333065981956
http://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/808767333065981956
http://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/808768768906235908
http://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/808769046208532484
http://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/808769227847036941
OK then.