Beethoven, Einstein, Kanye. All three of these men have been noted for their bizarre qualities and stylistic choices: Beethoven's deafness and his ascots, Einstein's quietude and his hair, Kanye's ego and his hater-blockers. All three declared insane. All three proclaimed geniuses.
Shane Koyczan, a slam poet, brought a definition to Beethoven's madness. The following is an excerpt of Koyczan's work:
distance must be an illusion
the man must be
a genius
Beethoven
his thoughts moving at the speed of sound
transforming emotion into music
and for a moment
it was like joy
was a tangible thing
like you could touch it
like for the first time
we could watch love and hate dance together
in a waltz of such precision and beauty
that we finally understood
the history wasn’t important
to know the man
all we ever had to do was
listen.
There's typically a method to madness. We see this with Beethoven as we do with Einstein. It is rumored that Einstein didn't speak until he was 10 years old because he couldn't find anything worthwhile to say and that he failed the kindergarten level of his education because he couldn't express himself well artistically. Though these are rumors, we do see the left side of Einstein's brain more than the right. His scientific genius still amazes scientists and thinkers to this date.
As for Mr. West, we are plagued with drunken antics and good music. I'll be honest, Kanye's most recent album is one of my favorites. He puts out some really good music and there's no question he's a quality artist, but some of the stuff he does on the side is purely irrational and stupid. He has proclaimed himself to be the greatest musician in the world, he goes into a jealous fit every time he loses an award to someone else, and the Taylor Swift fiasco will not leave the public eye anytime soon with the invention of immaletyoufinish.com
He's a great musician, but he's unpredictable. Ingenious or Insane? Which is he? As it was with Beethoven and Einstein, we need to wait until Kanye starts up with some work later on in his career. Though he is fame-obsessed, his passion for hip hop is undeniably strong.
I don't think that it is possible to distinguish and compare the differences among these 3 people. For example Beethoven's view of music as a way of art did make him different than most no matter his disability. Einstein on the other hand was a natural genius in his own way, maybe not in school related work but in other aspects that got him through life. In kanye's case, in all honesty I just believe he is a great artist but lacks intelligence.
ReplyDeleteHowever, to follow up, all 3 were geniuses in their own fields. And Kanye, in all technicality, is disabled. He is ridiculously closed-minded and, as an artist, he ought to be open to appreciating work outside his own field. Had Beethoven been able to hear the works of Handel and Bach, he would have appreciated them and drawn inspiration. Einstein, a physicist, helped Oppenheimer with the Manhattan Project and was not the mastermind, but merely a contributer to the Atomic Bomb. Kanye, rather than "dissing" other people's works in the public domain, ought to learn to appreciate them and draw from them. Kanye is great in his field, but must learn to expand himself/his horizons if he wants to be the "greatest artist alive," as he does proclaim himself to be. There is a correlation and that is their artistry. Each of the 3 people is an artist in their own right and, in order to bring about the next great composition, the newest innovation in theoretical physics, the most widely distributed album of the century, these people have to learn and be inspired to do something.
ReplyDeleteI must agree with Albert. Those three men have different view on music and are from different era's of music. Depending on which time period and music each listened to changes their views. Also, I agree with you dominic. The Kanye West/Taylor Swift issue is never going to be forgotten due to that website.
ReplyDelete