Can Kanye Not??

By Masaki Sugimoto

Everybody knows who Kanye West is. The name itself garners up images of what he looks like, his music, his fashion line and maybe even the Kardashians.

But for me, the name garners up questions. I don’t understand why Kanye seems to be under the impression that his ideas are somehow better than the ideas of other people, or why he thinks his clothing line is worth more than the ideas of others.

Kanye West, while a talented individual, needs to understand that there are other individuals on this planet with good ideas who are more financially lacking than he is.

The issue is that Kanye has a huge social media fan base, so his call to action regarding his monetary issues over Twitter could have some complicated and disappointing implications.

I stumbled across the series of Kanye’s tweets that published last week. As many others probably have seen, he dropped the bomb that he was supposedly $53 million in personal debt. He also asked Mark Zuckerberg to help get him out of debt, by asking for $1 billion. He reported that the reasoning behind his debt was because he is trying to bring his plethora of idea to surface, because he is self-reportedly “the greatest living artist and the greatest artist of all time” http://www.inquisitr.com/2798164/kanye-west-net-worth-rapper-asks-mark-zuckerberg-for-1-billion-on-twitter/.

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He also expressed his disapproval that wealthy people such as Zuckerberg are more interested in opening schools in Africa then they are in investing money into his ideas. He went on to call out individuals who play his album in their house but don’t help the actual artist.

It makes one wonder what exactly these personal debts of his are or where they came from, and why he is unable to pay off these debts himself. His net worth is reported to be $145 million dollars http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/richest-rappers/kanye-west-net-worth/. Taking a look back on Kanye’s very public spending, it seems ridiculous that he is spending so much money on extravagant things rather than his own ideas, if they are as great as he says. For example, his wedding to Kim Kardashian cost them a reported $2.8 million dollars http://www.people.com/article/kim-kardashian-wedding-florence-italy-paris-cost-millions. Additionally, a women’s yeezy “destroyed wool sweater” is now being sold online for $2501.00. http://www.luisaviaroma.com/index.aspx?gclid=CKveqI3nhMsCFQctaQodrDUC-Q#ItemSrv.ashx|SeasonId=62I&CollectionId=3KK&ItemId=8&SeasonMemoCode=actual&GenderMemoCode=women&VendorColorId=R1VOUE9X0&CategoryId=&SubLineId=clothing&mkwid=s_dc&pcrid=76057724916&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=CKveqI3nhMsCFQctaQodrDUC-Q&from=gshop. This is a pretty high price to pay for a sweater that says it is “destroyed”. Kanye also tweeted that he was indeed personally rich and could afford “furs and homes for his family” http://www.parentherald.com/articles/21725/20160219/kanye-west-debt-53-million.htm. A source close to Kanye has disclosed that West is not actually in $53 million dollar debt, that is just the amount he has spent over the course of the last 13 years. In fact, in 2014 West was named 20th in Forbes list of 100 highest paid celebrities.

So the continuous pleas for money on social media are shameless, especially because some of his fans are starting to believe he is seriously in need of money. In fact a go-fund me page has been set up for Kanye by one of his plans to help him overcome his debt. The singer has so far raised more than $7,000 dollars from fans wanting to help.https://www.gofundme.com/kanyesmedicis.

Celebrities who are so self-proclaimed as wealthy should refrain from asking for money on social media. Kanye clearly knows that he has a huge following on social media, and yet still asked for money, and complained about not being financially able to bring his ideas to light.

With the millions of brilliant college students in debt across this country, it is disappointing to see a wealthy celebrity asking for money for his ideas. Many students would love the chance to make their dreams realities without the worry of money. One of Kanye’s tweets called for a lowering of textbook prices, and while I do believe that the price of textbooks should be lowered as well, this seems almost hypocritical coming from someone who claims that his ideas are worth a billion dollars.

Young college students who follow Kanye and appreciate his music and passions should also recognize the problem of his pleas for money on social media. Kanye West is a very wealthy man and I hope that college students save their money to help propel their ideas rather than invest in Kanye’s. 

Courtney is a sophomore in LAS.?

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