Is Yeezy season approaching? Nope. Yeezy season is here.
Morale is higher than ever, and Penn State is ready for you, Kanye West.
I really cannot think of a time when the student body has talked about or looked forward to a concert so much. Stampedes have occurred to obtain free tickets (shout-out SPA: we love you). Here’s what I’m confused about though – people are never quick to admit that they love Kanye West. Or they’ll say, “I love his music, but he sucks as a person!” You are wrong. If you like Kanye’s music, you like Kanye. If you’re at a Penn State football game, you scream to the hooks from “Power” and “Black Skinhead” without even thinking twice. Kanye is in each and every one of us. To say that you don’t like Kanye is to say that you don’t like yourself. And you should always love yourself first.
That being said, one of the most talked about and disputed things regarding Kanye West is his relationship to himself. Everyone knows that Kanye loves Kanye. However, over the years he has clearly gone through endless emotional trauma dealing with this relationship. “Runaway” is quite arguably the anthem for our generation of insecurity and instability. We are a generation full of people who graduate college still pretty aimlessly; we are people who fall in love one night and don’t feel the need to talk to the person they loved the next day. A full orchestra tells a story of someone seemingly normal messing up and having no idea what to do. Kanye touches on this subject a lot; it’s what makes him so relatable. What makes him admirable, though, is the confidence, humor and the nonchalance he displays despite his internal turmoil. The man is a narrator of our lives. You hear him at the gym, at parties – everywhere. And he is willingly coming to the middle-of-nowhere Pennsylvania because he feels like he owes it to us. If you say you don’t like Kanye, that’s fine, because even if he has a strange way of showing it, Kanye loves you. Think about it: if Kanye is in all of us and Kanye loves himself, then Kanye loves you. Don’t take that love for granted!
There are three boys I’ve met here at Penn State who are amongst the biggest Kanye fans I know. The first is a total introvert – a brilliant and humble science major whose focus and meticulousness is something I will never obtain. He is a real mad scientist kind of guy. He has an Excel sheet that he uses to dissect the music he listens to so he can systematically compare and contrast it (or something like that). The second is the sweetest boy I know who has probably never cursed in his life and makes people cards just to be nice. He once told me the song; “Waves” makes him so happy. The third is a the loudest frat boy I’ve ever met who has a giant Donald Trump banner hanging in his room. I don’t need to say anymore. Now please inform me on another common thread these boys would have. Kanye has the power to form cohesive bonds between people like that, even if it’s just for one night at his concert. I can’t think of any other force that could do that.
With that being said, I’m going to go pick out my outfit for the show. I saw Kanye my freshman year when he came during the blizzard, and I couldn’t be more grateful that everything comes full circle and he’s here for my senior year. Can’t wait to get Kanye-fresh with all of you.