Is Kanye’s Career Really Over?

photo+courtesy+of+Variety

photo courtesy of Variety

Jack Birdsall

Kanye West is a rapper from Chicago, known as one of the greatest, most influential rappers of all time, but has also caused lots of controversy since around 2005, when Ye said, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people”. The latest conflict with Kanye is now the most controversial, possibly costing him his career. This is about his anti-sematic and race-involved statements that he has spoken this year, but the real question is; Is it really over? Kanye has somehow bounced back from all the past moments in his career. Fans have forgiven Ye for him always seeming to make it up to the people, but also being considered a musical genius. He has had “countless hits and 10 number-one albums”, according to Billboard.

Starting off with Mr. West’s music career, what made a huge impact on the music industry as a whole. Kanye currently holds the record for the rapper with the most Grammy awards ever won, with 24. He is tied with Jay-Z. According to The Things, He has a Billboard Artist Achievement award that has only been given to ten artists so far, which most likely comes from him being one of the highest selling rappers of all time. West has sold over 20 million albums worldwide, as well as 110 million singles, according to The Things. On top of all these music achievements, Ye even has created a successful record label, called GOOD music.

Outside of music, Kanye West has been successful in his brand, “Yeezy”. For five years, West had a partnership with Nike, but because Nike didn’t give him the money he was looking for, he went to Adidas. Adidas gave Kanye “100% ownership and creative control”, according to The Things. Adidas cut ties with Kanye and terminated his deal after the most recent controversy. According to CBS news, West lost $1 billion dollars from the cut-off of his partnership with Adidas.

Mr. West’s most recent problems are due to his most controversial statements yet. This includes him wearing “White Lives Matter” on his shirt at Paris Fashion Week, along with Ye tweeting he is going “Death con 3 on Jewish people,” according to The Quill. His anti-semitic messages caused people to believe this is the end of Kanye’s entire career as a whole, but as much as he has caused lots of other controversial statements throughout his career, he has also bounced back. This leads back to the big question; Is Kanye West’s career really over or will he bounce back yet again?