Raf Simons loves... Kanye?

[mamaboy]

lil wayne brings sweet memories when i was obssessd with bathing ape

[curiouscharles]

i dunno about you guys, but I am an unabashed fan of Kanye. The guy undoubtedly has some sweet skills as a producer, and I find his music to be vastly superior to most other radio druck playing these days. Sure hes a gigantic dickhead, but hell, thats entertainment! I bet some sick sneakers will come out of this.

***
DISCLAIMER - I am a rap fiend.
***

I'm glad somebody spoke out before I had to - I'm a pretty fervent follower of Kanye's flavourings [canadian spelling, suck me]. Many [read: most] people who consider themselves to have an elevated taste in art love to disregard artists like Kanye [mostly because of his mass appeal, and the facility of his likability], but I for one cannot ignore his surmounting skills as a producer.

The fact that Raf likes Kanye adds to my already prodigious level of respect for Monsieur Simons - as it shows a lack of pretension polluting his own tastes.

That being said, maybe I should read this article now. :/

[curiouscharles]

love this. Kanye is talented in music, but as other hip hoppers, he is all about the flashin, which I don't like.

lil wayne brings sweet memories when i was obssessd with bathing ape

These two posts really got me thinking... what got me into fashion in the first place was the awareness of any ardent fashion subculture existing at all. Yes, it began with my infatuation with hip hop forums [a la philaflava] which [years ago] led me to places like hypebeast which [still years ago] made me aware of peoples' obsession over limited edition nike skateboarding shoes.

If I hadn't been interested in all the flashin all those years ago, I would have never investigated the culture behind bad/juvenile fashion, which eventually [and rather quickly really] led me on my path to an interest in true fashion.

As much as I love to disregard places like hypebeast, superfuture, and even style forum [to an extent], if it weren't for my exploration and [temporary] infatuation with those places myself, my eyes would NEVER have been opened to what it is I [read: we] love now.

I don't know if what I'm saying is resonating anymore, but I've noticed Kanye's style is going through the same process [albeit very slowly]. So just because he's obsessed with all the flashin right now, doesn't mean he can't see the brilliance in a CCP suit six months from now, yuh deeg?

[but that being said, recognizing brilliance doesn't herald the ability to reproduce it yourself :/ ]

[Jon]

The only problem I have is that Kanye has always been an attention whore (just look at his blog...). It's the same as Karl Lagerfeld being all on Hedi's/Raf's jock with Dior/Jil Sander suits. Appreciate and respect the man and his talent, but it's hard to take his tastes seriously because he's proven to be quite the trend-whore.

...aaaand a peace offering: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEccxPPwXmI

[ironman]

flashin's not a problem...the problem is, dude is always late to the party but acts like he's the first one there.

agree. i don't mind so much if he wants to learn about new stuff, but the way he posts on his kanyeuniversecity blog like he discovered it is annoying.

if you look at his blog, it's not hard to catch him in the act of "discovering" something a few days after he sees it on here/superfuture. disregarding his music, i think he's pretty lame.

I bet you Kanye lurks on SZ... so:

FUCK YOU KANYE WEST - YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT FASHION (I STILL THINK YOU'RE MUSIC IS OKAY, THOUGH) AND IF I EVER SEE RAF SIMONS X KANYE WEST SNEAKERS I WILL STRANGLE YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS.

[Chim]

hahahaha Jon. First time i've been sigged :)

[Jon]

hahahaha Jon. First time i've been sigged :)

You're welcome! I'm 'a make ya famous.

[maldoror]

Many [read: most] people who consider themselves to have an elevated taste in art love to disregard artists like Kanye

wait, what?

did you mean rap, or am I missing something?

[Servo2000]

wait, what?

did you mean rap, or am I missing something?

This gross dismissal of rap as a genre is patently absurd. Unless you're going to start arguing that a lot of other genres are similarly artless I can't imagine that you have a reasonable argument to support this.

The article is actually really interesting - I had a pretty decent idea of the angle that Kanye would be approaching this from but it jarred Raf Simons miles out of the usual comfort zone his interviews fall into which was extremely refreshing.

I don't think Kanye will ever be able to design a collection on his own (not because "He's Kanye! Look! He likes sneakers! How trite!") but simply because he didn't really ever have the opportunity to develop his visual and design sense before entering the mainstream - Raf Simons, while admittedly not a trained fashion designer, had industrial design school and an inernship with Beirendonck and on and on and on. If Raf Simons had been a music produced until he was 27 I have little doubt his first fashion collection would've been an absolute disaster - no better than Kanye's, most likely.

[maldoror]

This gross dismissal of rap as a genre is patently absurd. Unless you're going to start arguing that a lot of other genres are similarly artless I can't imagine that you have a reasonable argument to support this...

Dude, what?

I wasn't saying anything about rap as distinct from any other musical genre. What I was saying is that music is music and art is something else. Sometimes there's overlap, however imho Kanye West is not one such point of intersection. This has nothing to do with the fact that he's a rapper, or with rap as such. I would say the same thing about any of my favorite musicians, because they are musicians, not artists. Being artful is not the same as being an artist. These kinds of statements undermine the autonomy of art as such.

That said, the last thing I want to do is derail this thread into (or have) an aesthetics debate. For me, defining art isn't even the point here. Rather, I'm simply saying that no one is posting an mp3 of the new Kanye track in the favorite artworks thread for a reason, or, alternately put, does this list look normal to you:

bruce nauman, francis bacon, kanye west, hermann nitsch, jason rhoades...

[Servo2000]

I misunderstood - I thought you were trying to say something you weren't and I agree wth you otherwise so no harm done - and I agree - that list looks strange but I think that there are other lists of "artistic" musicians or even certain visual artists I could see him in a lineup with. I certainly wouldn't put him beside Francis Bacon by any means but I could see him put up with the likes of (the obvious here) Takashi Murakami or maybe other musicians who absorbed the sounds of a subculture and made more "pop" versions - Trent Reznor, maybe?

[gaultierfnd200]

Kanye did go to art school in chicago and would have graduated, but he dropped out a semester before he had all his hours. I'm pretty sure he has had some time to dovelope his aesthetic. So at the least it will be interesting. Don't write him off so fast.

As for the comment about his blog; I do find it a bit egotistical. As if he discovered all the things we already know about. But, then again most of the readers of his blog would never have been exposed to the photographers, designers, models, and fine artists, if he didn't put them on his website.

[Servo2000]

Kanye did go to art school in chicago and would have graduated, but he dropped out a semester before he had all his hours. I'm pretty sure he has had some time to dovelope his aesthetic. So at the least it will be interesting. Don't write him off so fast.

Really? Interesting. That changes things somewhat.

[Faust]

99% of rap I heard is shit. Who wants to take me up on this?

[Jon]

99% of rap I heard is shit. Who wants to take me up on this?

Damn. I'm almost up to the challenge. Maybe I can change your mind on Damir Doma while I'm at it.