Kanye West is speaking up about the recent Barneys New York racial profiling accusations, and he reveals that he is torn between love and hatred for luxury in the midst of a consumerist culture.
From hip-hop sensation Kendrick Lamar to the talented teenager from New Zealand, Lorde, many stars are coming out against luxury and consumerism, but it seems like Kanye is stuck on the fence about it.
During his latest show for the Yeezus tour, he talked about a deeper complication surrounding the Barneys racial profiling incidents. Instead of blaming his best buddy Jay Z for sticking with the high-end retailer, he took to task the luxury brands that he says do not appreciate Black customers unless they are wealthy enough to make up for the fact that they are Black.
Kanye referred to it as “rich n****r racism.”
The Chicago native then began mocking sales clerks who reach out to African-American customers who have found new wealth.
“Please buy them,” he said in a condescending tone. “I know you got some money, I know you can’t wait to spend it, n****r.”
The rant mirrors the same stance on luxury that Kanye takes in much of his music including, “New Slaves” and his verse on “Clique” in which he raps, “I rather buy 80 gold chains and go ign’ant/ I know Spike Lee gone kill me but let me finish/ Blame it on the pigment, we living no limits/ Them gold Master P ceilings was just a figment/ of our imagination, MTV Cribs.”
In other words, Kanye believes that luxury retailers and other expensive brands are using flashy materials to essentially keep African-Americans as modern-day slaves, worshiping the image of wealth – whether they have actually attained it or not.
Of course, that doesn’t mean he isn’t divulging in luxury purchases himself.
West admitted that he is about to go all out for his wedding to Kim Kardashian and during an interview with Power 106’s morning radio show Big Boy’s Neighborhood, he discussed just how big he was really trying to go.
“Two words: Fighter jets,” he said about his wedding plans.
It’s also very possible that Kanye was simply joking, but everyone also thought he was pulling our leg by naming his baby daughter North West, so who knows.
He also didn’t have any reservations about splurging to get just the right ring for his future wife.
“[Kim] knew I was eventually going to ask her to marry me,” Kanye said. “I just had to get that ring right. I worked with four different jewelers. Three rings were made and only one hit the ringer and that was Lorraine [Schwartz]’s.”
Spending money on an engagement ring is much different to spending on high-priced designer clothes, but even in that arena Kanye can’t really make up his mind on where he stands.
During the very same interview he took a jab at Louis Vuitton and claimed he wouldn’t design for the brand if he was given the chance.
“If I had the opportunity to design for Louis Vuitton now, I wouldn’t because the prices are too extreme and I don’t want to use my message to have kids saving up that much to be a part of what the ideas are,” West said. “That’s the problem for me with luxury.”
That’s a major contradiction considering earlier this year Kanye received some backlash on social media when one of his own T-shirts, which was essentially a plain white shirt, was priced at well over $100.
“This shirt better come with a cure for cancer,” one person wrote as a caption on the photo when the posted the shirt to Instagram.
It wasn’t long before others joined in on the bashing.
“There better be a map to Heaven in the pocket,” another user commented.
“It’s not worth it unless it’s gonna give me superpowers,” the next comment read.
So some people could argue that Kanye’s own designs feed into the very consumerist culture that he criticizes in his music, especially after he collaborated with shoe designer Giuseppe Zanotti and released styles that cost more than $5,000.
