O MISFORTUNA

Like Captain Ahab, I find myself venturing back out into digital waters to pursue my 'Moby Dick', Kanye West, who, according to recent reports, is descending into a Nitrous-induced hell, encouraged allegedly by a dentist called Thomas Connelly who appears to be operating straight from the same playbook as those Mormon aides who 'managed' Howard Hughes in his later years in Las Vegas.

Listening to Kanye's recent music on 'Vultures 1 and 2', it's hard not to get the sense that the artist (who I unreservedly believe a genius) is now only merely picking over the bones of his own artistry to serve to his devoted fans but at the same time neglecting his own mental and physical health as a consequence. There is a tangible sense of Kanye being held hostage in his own self-made purgatory, a 'sunken place' where he has almost become his own cautionary tale. Indeed, if I am to stretch my literary analogies further still, he may have become Hip Hop's Ancient Mariner who is compelled to retell his tale of woe (including his empty braggadocios boasts) to anyone who'll listen (still a lot it seems). Yet he has become increasingly isolated amongst his fellow sailors, hence the opportunity for such people like 'Dr Nitrous' to emerge and exploit the artist and his wealth.

And so what, then, is the sacred Albatross that Mr West has 'killed' that has seemingly imprisoned him like the Mariner between the natural and the supernatural world?

First a proviso. None of what I've pointed out so far is to say that Kanye can't still hit incredible numbers with his music and fashion (most fans know he can do that, even in his Nitrous-induced sleep) but there is a creeping sense that something has gone wrong somewhere along the way and I'm curious to pin point where exactly this was.

"My crisis is on heavy" - Kanye West (Donda 2)

Identifying one single moment which defines where the Kanye West universe splits like an atom between what might be perceived as both his personal and professional heaven and hell I am convinced it was the moment he set a full size replica of his Chicago childhood home on 'fire' at the LoanDepot park in Miami, Florida for his 'Donda 2' listening event. As the house separated into two parts, his 'Sunday Service Choir' sang 'O Fortuna' from Orff's 'Carmina Burana' re-worded as 'Jesus is King'. It was typical of the kind of epic, batshit and visionary type of symbolic concept making the artist had routinely pulled off up until this moment, but this event especially seemed to be breaking the glass ceiling of album roll out/stage craft art in a moment of sheer audacious sorcery. Donda was, of course, the name of Kanye's late mother who tragically died on the 10th November, 2007 and the symbolism of the home that the artist lived in with his single parent mother seemed to represent an opportunity for Kanye to perform an architectural seance of sorts with her dead spirit.

The replica childhood home itself had also featured in the first 'Donda' album roll out a year before on August 26, 2021 at Chicago's Soldier Field Stadium, culminating in Kanye seeming to self-immolate inside the old place before re-appearing, re-born to greet wife, Kim Kardashian, who wore a Balenciaga wedding gown. Though the performative symbolic ritual there seemed one of renewal in contrast with the one in 'Donda 2' where the fracturing of the humble-looking house seemed to suggest a spiritual breaking apart of the artist's equilibrium, the reality was far from what was presented to the audience as Kardashian had already filed for divorce from the Atlanta born artist earlier that year.

Certainly, in terms of concert imagery, the 'Donda 2' theatrics was more ballsy and thrilling than almost anything I've ever seen from a modern commercial artist. Now, looking back a few years since, it seems somehow prophetic symbolising where the light was expelled from Kanye's past life and career only to be replaced with near darkness, not just for the rest of the event, but for his private and professional life ever since. And perhaps it was just a coincidence that after a technically faultless first half of the Miami listening event it was only after this 'house splitting' moment when microphones stopped working and multiple performance issues began to increasingly frustrate the artist which is impossible not to see as symbolic in its own way also.

Wading through a stage covered in water that Kanye appeared to be walking on, seemed less the Sea of Galilee and more the River Styx leading to the underworld. The artist, now without wife and family, cut a lonely figure and appeared to embrace the enveloping darkness of the stadium set.

Strangely he has never seemed quite the same man or artist since.

But even in the darkness of the underworld there is a ghoulish fascination in seeing how the once self-proclaimed 'Yeezus' might resurrect himself back toward the light. Certainly, in opposition to the positive energy of his heavily Christian influenced 'Jesus Is King' (2019) and 'Donda' (2021) albums, the new 'Vultures 1 and 2' collaborations with Ty Dolla $ign appear to reflect a descent into increasing sexual degeneracy and unrepentant hedonism as if (after all the controversies involving his anti-semitic rhetoric) he has made his peace more with being the villain these days than the hero. Darkness sells but there is a hope that somehow, Kanye West will return with his true redemption soundtrack and remind the world why his fully optimised 'ultra light beam' brilliance is greatly missed.

So if we're to believe the rumours of nitrous addiction swirling around online at the moment, then Kanye may have finally find himself undone by this chemical compound which looks to be his very own kryptonite. This drug which reportedly slows down your brain significantly and induces feelings of disassociation and separation to your environment as well as causing a potential derangement of the spinal cord would be a sorry end for someone with such creative superpowers but not untypical of many depressing outcomes for talented artists throughout history.

Returning to my earlier Mariner analogy, I believe Kanye's Albatross was his own soul which he unknowingly sacrificed the night of the 'Donda 2' listening event in Miami when he split his childhood home in half.

Perhaps, if he is to recover it from this current dark chapter then he might need to restore the old 'Donda' house in the exact same place where he tore it apart.