Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

My nearly bulletproof love for Kanye has eroded

suntimes.com · 12d · first reportShare

The first rap song I memorized was “Gold Digger.” The chop of Jamie Foxx’s crooning banged out the speakers of my family’s Honda. From there, I probably have listened to every Kanye West verse from “The College Dropout” to “The Life of Pablo.” Nile Lansana Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times I’m a first-generation Chicagoan, born and raised. I grew up in Chatham off 79th and Cottage Grove, and Kanye’s mother, Ms. Donda West, was a family friend. “Amazing” and “Touch the Sky” played on every pre-game car ride to middle school soccer and basketball games. When I was doing poetry slam in high school, “Champion” would get played after every bout we won. He inspired the earliest days of my writing journey. Kanye’s persona — which felt genuine even with all the bravado — and his music meant something to me. So his fall from grace has been hard to watch. When he stood with Donald Trump, I felt betrayed and bamboozled. We’ve come a long way from Kanye saying "George Bush doesn’t care about Black people,” a