Rap superstar Kanye West has been sending some interesting tweets lately, earning him new fans and garnering pushback from others in the music industry.
Kanye on Saturday tweeted support for Candance Owens, a black conservative woman. He said:
I love the way Candace Owens thinks
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 21, 2018
Owens responded, saying:
I’m freaking out. @kanyewest ….please take a meeting with me. I tell every single person that everything that I have been inspired to do, was written in your music.
I am my own biggest fan, because you made it okay. I need you to help wake up the black community. https://t.co/Uz1nB9K0Oz— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) April 21, 2018
West’s support for Owens led to some pushback from others. Shaun King, an activist associated with the Black Lives Matter movement, criticized his tweet, leading to a Twitter response from Owens where she implied that King may not actually be African-American.
I am told this is the clip that Kanye saw and loved.
It’s sad actually. For him and for her.
A market has always and will always exist for men and women like this who say what bigoted white folk love to hear.
They will always have a seat at somebody’s table. https://t.co/TggV6JtW0I
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) April 21, 2018
Out of curiousity… are you still pretending to be black? https://t.co/sZa04UHRUa
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) April 21, 2018
On Sunday, the rapper was back to tweeting about the need for “freedom of thought,” blasting “self victimization.”
we have freedom of speech but not freedom of thought
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 22, 2018
The thought police want to suppress freedom of thought
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 22, 2018
Constantly bringing up the past keeps you stuck there
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 22, 2018
We live in a time where people don’t respect people for being themselves
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 22, 2018
People respect people for following the general trend and consensus
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 22, 2018
there was a time when slavery was the trend and apparently that time is still upon us. But now it’s a mentality.
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 22, 2018
self victimization is a disease
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 22, 2018
This isn’t the first time Kanye West has upset the music industry by flirting with conservative politics. After Trump’s election in 2016, the two men met, and when asked what they discussed, Trump responded by saying “life.”