[OPINION] The Humble Hustler: Why Kanye West is the Go-Getter’s Role Model

Kanye and his Cheerleaders

The media critics are Kanye’s cheerleaders, just like my haters are mine. Every time he breathes in public, they shout his name. He has an audience to criticize every move he makes. However, they lazily attack his character rather than his argument. Take New York Fashion Week creator Fern Mallis’ reaction to Kanye’s fashion show: “I mean, I’m not a fan of his music, and the attitude and the agenda is not my style,” she told the New York Post. This type of language is common amongst Kanye haters—straight for the artist rather than the artistry. Even though they attack his name, his career is his rebuttal;  he’s one of the top-selling artists of all time, and he’s arguably today’s most influential person in sneakers. So when you hear a sensationalized “outburst” from Kanye fighting back, he’s simply defending himself saying, “This is what I’ve done. This is what I want to do. You can root for me but don’t try to stop my dreams.” After all, cheerleaders do belong on the sideline.

The People’s Hustler

Kanye West is a humble guy. Yeah, I said it. You can choose to judge him off his worst moments, like when he’s interrupted a couple awards ceremonies, but a noble man can admit when he’s wrong—as Kanye did when he apologized for making such mistakes. Also, I feel compelled to mention the multiple times he’s given up his own music awards to other artists he believed were more deserving. I’m sure it would pain the cheerleaders to include that fact in any of their maligning commentary.

Kanye is a people person. He creates for the masses. He’s not a “designer rapper” with a strip club target audience. He has H&M dreams, not Hermes—Steve Jobs, not Steve Wynn. The $350 tag on his shoes are Adidas’ price points, not his. The luxuries he worships are his family, not his cars. No celebrity is more anti-class system than Kanye himself: “Class is one of the things people want. You wanna be first class. But in a plane crash, everybody dead. It ain’t no class then; it’s just a whole crash,” he protests in a recent Breakfast Club interview.

West’s journey is a reminder that moral people do exist at the top. The media’s attempts to mangle the words from probably the most well-spoken artist in hip-hop are as much a disservice to society as their actions are to him. As an entrepreneur with my own visions, I, too, aspire to remain humble, appeal to the masses, and be myself. So my cheerleaders will always have something to talk about. All day.

Written by Eghosa Aihie, President & Chief Revenue Officer at Alumnify Inc.