Chicagoist’s “Top 10 in 2010” - #7 Kanye West

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 27, 2010 6:20PM

Love him or hate him - and honestly, most folks vacillate between both emotions regularly when it come to this Chicago hip-hop impresario - it’s undeniable that Kanye West was the Chicago artist with the largest national impact in 2010. West mastered the art of remaining in the pop cultural dialogue through willful manipulation of his own image through various social media channels, a public discourse with a former President, a deluge of free music via his G.O.O. D. Friday releases, publicly sparring with the Today show, and the release of the critically lauded and top of the year-end-list dominating My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

I think it’s fair to say that while we the public wrestle with how exactly we should perceive West, that struggle is amplified within West by 100 times. Part of what makes the man so fascinating is his willingness to stumble and fall (and tweet outrageously unselfconsciously) and then admit that he can be an asshole and a douchebag. At the same time he can create what can only be described as pop art that is both of the moment and ambitiously trying to live beyond its inception. It’s West’s relentless journey inward that make his craft possible, but it’s his willingness to remove the filters most other "stars" employ to buff their image is what makes him relatable to you and me.

Yes, West is a musical genius with an amazing work ethic, but I wager most others secretly identify with is episodes of drunken missteps and self-loathing. In 2010 West did more to redefine what being a true star was about and his open approach as he charged headfirst down that path led to him dominating much of the media cycle as the year progressed. Only West would make tweeting about a fish tank seems a natural companion to a five-star and 10.0 album ratings from wildly divergent music publications. Can he keep this up? We’ve got all of 2011 ahead of us to find out.