for the past 2 months, Kanye West A constant stream of reprehensible behavior dominates the headlines. What started as a controversy over the rapper’s ‘White Lives Matter’ T-shirt anti-semitic remarks before he appeared Alex Jones show in early December Praise the Nazis and Hitler. “I see good things about Hitler,” West said in a bizarre three-hour interview that falsely claimed that Hitler invented the highway and the microphone.
West’s statement echoes previous claims made by former business and music industry sources. CNN When NBC This fall, he praised Hitler, has made anti-Semitic comments several times over the past five years, and paid at least two settlements to former employees who allege he made such remarks at work. paid the
But as nearly half a dozen sources who worked with West say rolling stone, His obsession with Hitler and Nazis goes back even further than previously reported. They claim that West has been debating his admiration for Hitler and what he sees as positive achievements of Nazi Germany for nearly two decades, although it’s well known among the rapper’s entourage. He describes it as a well-kept secret.
Beyond mere glamour, West is said to have drawn inspiration from Nazi propaganda and power-gain tactics to achieve his own fame and success, according to two sources. It is not difficult to compare the ‘necessary’ methods and tactics of Adolf Hitler with those of Adolf Hitler,” says the former long-time collaborator. “To know that you are Hitler/[Joseph] Goebbels The playbook is a central inspiration for Kanye’s own media playbook, which helps clarify the exact types of moves he’s made throughout his career. . rolling stoneYou will be asked for your comments. )
“Now it’s not hard to compare Kanye’s ‘necessary’ methods and tactics to those of Adolf Hitler.”
long time collaborator
The years leading up to the release of West’s Grammy-winning debut album in 2004 college dropout, West’s success as a rapper was unknown. Although he was a wonder producer, music label executives thought West’s somewhat preppy looks and suburban upbringing didn’t fit his rapper image in the early 2000s. West’s tenacity triumphed in 2002 when he signed with Roc-A-Fella and immediately began work on his first album. According to music industry sources in 2003 who claimed to have witnessed the conversation firsthand, it was during these early years that the then-26-year-old frequently discussed Hitler and the Nazis and questioned others about their thoughts. was a studio session. “It seemed routine,” says the source.
The topic wasn’t brought up in general conversation, music sources say. Instead, West allegedly approached collaborators and industry executives and ambushed them with questions. “What do you think of the Holocaust?” Music Source explains.
Until West received a satisfactory answer, which purportedly involved some form of acknowledgment of the “good intentions” done by the Nazi leaders, West continued to question the people until he felt his views were justified. kept pressuring, music industry sources say. “Some people got hot,” said the official.
According to a second former long-time collaborator, West was particularly interested in Nazi marketing and propaganda techniques. He estimates that in his four-plus years of working with West, the rapper spoke positively about Hitler at least six times.
“[West’s] A pattern to talk about this in the studio [or] The workplace has been pretty consistent,” claims a longtime former collaborator. “If he feels he can trust you…it’s very likely he’ll try to get involved with you and evangelize his beliefs about Hitler and the Nazis to you.”
A third longtime musical collaborator recalled having a brief tense conversation with West about Hitler around 2014, in which West allegedly tried to explain the “good” things Hitler had done. “I think my exact words were ‘What if Hitler did something good?’ So what?'”
“It’s almost unfathomable that someone would call [Hitler] Anything other than a murderer. ”
former business associate
Others felt less comfortable challenging the West. I felt that my rational ability was absolutely zero.” Push back without risking getting fired. “When these things happened, if you still wanted a place in this group, you suppressed your concerns, kept a smile on your face, and moved on as if nothing was wrong.
Admiring Hitler, West surprised a former business associate at a high-level conference in the fall of 2015 who claimed West called Hitler a “marketing genius” within the first 15 minutes of the call. In over a year of working there, I’ve never heard anyone say that name out loud in a business meeting,” says the associate.
To save the meeting, the business person recalls correcting West and trying to change the conversation, but West said: [Hitler] He really understood how to mobilize people in a way that no one had ever done before. “Listen to it, it’s almost unfathomable who will call [Hitler] Nothing but murder,” the former business associate explained, adding, “It was without a doubt the most disgusting thing I’ve ever heard.”
The following year, West released “Famous,” a track that rekindled his longtime feud with Taylor Swift. An early version of the song that was leaked online contained anti-Semitic lyrics, and the West was frustrated by its inability to talk about Hitler. wrap recently reported“The world is slowly turning black” waist wrap“You can call a nigas a ‘nigas’, but it’s better not to mention Hitler.” Tell me who runs the label and where did the guns come from? ”
West’s Hitler comments nearly leaked to public forums during his train wreck interview with TMZ in May 2018. America’s painful history of black enslavement “sounds like a choice.”
In this rant, West is said to have talked about loving Hitler and the Nazis. Former TMZ staffer Van Lathan Jr. claimed on a podcast “Higher Education” in October. However, Lathan said TMZ removed the offending remarks from the video. (Two people familiar with the incident said. rolling stone They also heard about West’s remarks at the TMZ office.)
Behind closed doors, two sources say West was continuing to talk with his entourage about Hitler and the Nazis at the time — when the rapper told his team he wanted to name his eighth studio album. escalated. Hitler(CNN first reported that West wants to name the album after the Nazi leader.)
“Bad things happen when you give a madman like Hitler a big audience.
former business associate
But two industry sources argue that West’s admiration for Hitler and the Nazis goes beyond shocking value or point. Rather, they argue, West sought to imitate Nazi techniques for his own personal and career gain.
“Honestly, I feel like he got where he is using that technique,” explained a music industry source in 2003. [Hitler] — someone who has full control over people and how he did it. I think maybe it was to understand who Hitler was and how he created his army… [West] Almost began to correlate how he manipulates things and tries to make people his “army” instead of being on the same level. ”
A former long-time collaborator, he recalls West frequently talking about “building an army,” calling them “assassins” to spice up the team and “doing the work we were doing.” equated with war.
Those who have seen West lavishly praise Hitler on podcasts and in interviews are concerned that he might end up influencing even the fewest fans. It’s not the ugly entertainer who makes the headlines, but the amplification of harmful and dangerous beliefs.
“No one should just write off his actions as ‘Kanye is Kanye,'” adds the former collaborator. “This is the intentional deployment of subtle manipulation and propaganda inspired by Nazi and fascist scripts as a means of activating oneself for the purpose of accumulating power and influence, and taking it in full seriousness, Someone who tried to turn it into a run for president of the United States.”
“Between his fame, social media and traditional media, he has a very big mic,” adds the former business associate. “It’s reckless and dangerous [for Hitler’s actions] … Bad things happen when you give a madman like Hitler a large audience. There are people who agree with what Kanye said and what he says because it’s bullshit. ”