By Angelike Bekiaris

Most people either say too much or say little to nothing at all. There are very few out there who have found the balance between the two. So, if you had to choose between the two, which would you choose? Well personally, I would choose to say what I wanted, much like how Kayne West does. I envy his ability to be so outspoken. It takes a lot of courage and confidence to speak out about what’s on one’s mind.

Kanye Omari West was born on June 8th of 1977. In his early life, his parents divorced. He attended school normally until college, where at first he attended classes at Chicago State University as well as the American Academy of Art. At some point he then dropped out to pursue his music career. His first productions were involved with rapper Grav’s album Down To Earth. West produced eight tracks on the album. Down To Earth didn’t really grab too much attention. His fame came later, when he started producing for A-Fella Records, where he ended up producing Jay Z’s song “This Can’t Be Life”.

He continued producing and had great success with it. West then began to pursue the career of rapping as a solo artist. His pursuit was quite a struggle though, seeing as A-Fella Records only saw him as a producer.

He then got the chance to rap a verse in Jay-Z’s album Blue Print: A Gift Or A Curse. He produced for this album, and was also signed to as a rapper.
As far as West’s outspoken side goes, there were a few times where he has spoken openly about how he feels. One of the most memorable ones I’d say was at the Video Music Awards, where West went to the stage after the first award was given, for Best Female Video, which was presented to country singer Taylor Swift. He took the microphone from her and said, “”Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!” This of course made the audience go silent, both from shock as well as disgust. Later on, rapper Wale who was the MC for the house band, told the crowd, “You can’t fault a man for speaking his mind”. This of course was followed by more disgust from the audience, this time followed by booing.
Though being too outspoken sometimes can be taken harshly by most, it is still an admirable quality to have. The way I see it, if you don’t say barely anything or nothing at all, no one really takes note of your presence. But if you take a stand and say what you have to say, then people will hear you. Of course we all have different opinions and thoughts, so not everyone is going to approve or agree with what you say. But it is better to speak your mind, rather than go unheard, and that is why West is my radical.