For communication to be effective, we're told the receiver has to understand and comprehend the transmission of a visual, a sound, or an idea from the sender. But what if that's wrong? What if we're not ready to comprehend the message until a later point in time, at least not in the way the sender intended?
Kanye West is misunderstood, to say the least. But that doesn't mean he isn't effective in the delivery of his message. We just need a better translation.
When West compares himself to Steve Jobs or Walt Disney, we hear “I'm the greatest”. But he means that in those cases of creative genius, they weren't limited to just their initial area of expertise. For example, had Steve Jobs created Macintosh and never been allowed to apply his ideas to additional areas, we'd never have gotten such technological marvels as Pixar's “Toy Story” or the iPad
All Kanye wants is to be allowed the creative freedom to turn his ideas into tangible product. Many people ask why a person of such status and wealth needs to plead his case to major corporations. They ask why he can't just use his own capital and business acumen to accomplish these goals.
Its simple economics, really. His major complaint recently is that all of the world's top designers are snatched up by luxury brands and major players in the fashion industry. This ensures that all of the finest and most desirable product is available exclusively to the elite, or at least people spending far beyond their means. If Kanye were to independently design, manufacture, market, and distribute his own product, he wouldn't be able to obtain materials and other necessities at the same low costs a major corporation can
Its like shopping at a Mom and Pop corner market, versus a major Supermarket. The Supermarket buys product in such bulk that they get a lower price. The smaller market doesn't have the revenue of the Supermarket, nor the space, to buy in that quantity, so they pay more per unit. And the cycle continues
Of course there would be a demand for Kanye's products. His Yeezy shoes with Nike have demonstrated that. What he's saying is he needs the support of a large company's resources to ensure that his products would be profitable, at least enough to continue to produce them
Support for West seems to be largely generational. His brash nature, and seemingly “you're with me or against me” attitude tend to keep Baby Boomers at bay. But younger generations have been raised in this “in your face” culture where social media allows each person to broadcast their opinions to a worldwide audience. Because of this, young people are very receptive to West, while their parents are turned off by his braggadocios claims
The solution is simple. Kanye shouldn't rely on the very people who are turned off by him for success. Why not use the younger generation's affinity for him to his advantage? West has long used the Internet in new ways to market himself, and it only seems right to continue to do so. Crowdsourced funding would solve his problem. Just as music is “pre-sold” by media outlets to guarantee greater sales revenue by launch, he could do the same for his other ventures. Surely the hype for his product could be cultivated into an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign. He could generate the ma**ive amounts of capital needed to efficiently create product, while also keeping profits at a level that would allow him to cut out the corporations he denounces completely