Sprucing up an older concept.
Omari West (born June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, record producer, and political activist. He has been influential in the 21st-century development of mainstream hip hop and popular music in general. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West was first known as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the early 2000s, producing singles for several mainstream artists, quickly gaining fame as a solo musician with his Higher Education trilogy. West is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with more than 20 million albums and 140 million singles sold worldwide. He has been a frequent source of controversy for his conduct at award shows, on social media, and in other public settings, as well as for his comments on the music and fashion industries, U.S. politics, race, welfare and class theory.
Intent on pursuing a solo career as a rapper, West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004 to critical and commercial success, and founded the record label GOOD Music. After a car accident nearly took his life, he began campaigning for transportation reform, particularly the advancement of electric vehicles and public transit, as well a growing interest for healthcare reform, motivated by both major damage to his jaw sustained during the aforementioned accident and the deteriorating health of his mother, Dr. Donda West. In her memory, West founded the DONDA International company, proclaiming that the company would "
galvanize amazing thinkers in a creative space to bounce their dreams and ideas" with the "goal to make products that people can actually afford." Later, when Congressional Republicans began targeting the National Endowment for the Arts for potential axing, West campaigned for its validity, taking advantage of his 29.4 million followers to spread the word.
This is by no means considered his most notorious political activity. During a presentation spot with actor Mike Myers during 2005's Concert for Hurricane Relief, West looked down the camera and simply remarked "
George Bush doesn't care about black people." In response the subsequent conservative backlash, West doubled down, adding "
You see a black family, it says, 'They're looting.' You see a white family, it says, 'They're looking for food.' For them it's been five days waiting for federal help because most of the people are black. And even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite because I've tried to turn away from the TV because it's too hard to watch. Sometimes I imagine if I was down there, and those are my people down there." Additionally, despite being a wealthy businessman himself (having donated $2,700 to Bernie Sander's 2016 campaign, as well as $15,000 to several down-ballot and primary candidates through Brand New Congress) West was overtly critical of celebrities using their image to sell products, summarising it with a rather blunt argument; "
Lady Gaga is the creative director of Polaroid. I like some of her songs, but what the fuck does she know about cameras?!"
(fun fact - Kanye actually tweeted this irl)