When Keeping It Real Goes Terribly Wrong

I intended to stay away from writing about issues other than "The Maturation of J Reed" series for many reasons. But what Kanye did last night has the blog sites lit up and I felt the need to give my 2 cents on the matter. If you have read any of my old stuff, you'd know that I always have a unique angle that I choose to weigh in on and this time is no different.

For those of you that did not see what happened last night, let me give you a brief summary. Kanye West is seen on the red carpet with a cup of Hennessy. Taylor Swift wins an award that Kanye, along with the rest of America (well obviously not the rest of America) thinks that Beyonce should have won. Then Kanye goes on stage to express his opinion.
Now, before I get to my real issue I have to say that the method that Kanye used to express his opinion was a bit out of control. It was really unfair for him to take away from Taylor Swift's accomplishments in that manner and I think he needs to apologize to her among other things (maybe he can throw her on the hook of a new song, or produce something for free). But whatever he does, he has to rectify this. If not for Taylor, then for his own career sake. Now that I'm done chastizing Kanye, let me get to the rest of the world.

I saw plenty of Facebook status, and Twitter updates that verbally bashed Kanye for that little stunt that he pulled last night. Now, while a lot of these updates were expressing frustration with Kanye for what he did, many of them took this as an opportunity take shots at him as a person.
I understand that Kanye is disliked by many people. Let's examine why. Well other than his usual outbursts that was so eloquently displayed last night, he is thought of to be very arrogant. He says whatever he feels at the time without any regard for peoples feelings or what they think.

I find it ironic that as we tell people to be themselves all the time, we scrutinize Kanye heavily for being who he is. We hate him because he says the things that we think, but don't have the platform or courage to say ourselves. How many of you thought George Bush hated black people? Would you say that in front of a camera? No? Neither would I, but I can appreciate someone that can display the courage that I don't. I think we as human beings make it impossible to be who we really are. It's okay if we are being who we are as long as it fits inside the little box that America thinks you should be. And we all call ourselves real? In my opinion, we are all holding back from being something that somebody else considers wrong or unacceptable. This makes us a politically correct carbon copy of the person that we wish we were. So in essence, when are you ever really being yourself. This could be the reason why so many men are living their lives on the "down low." Or it may be why we keep seeing priest and married men on "To Catch A Predator." They attempt to live their lives in the parameters set by the people who judge and scrutinize, but some how can't keep up that facade. Now, I am in no way saying that these people should go out and approach little kids for sex or be openly gay, but if they were able to talk about it without considered being sick or crazy, then maybe they could get help or guidance.

To sum up my point, The World (and I say The World because it's not just Americans) will only allow you to be what they think you should be, and the moment you step out of that you're an outcast. Kanye might be an arrogant asshole, but it's who he is. It's who he was made to be. So the next time you criticize anybody for being who they are, go to the mirror and ask yourself,"Am I being myself, or what The World thinks I should be?" You'll know your answer if you can continue to stare yoursellf in the eyes...