I hate being Bi-Polar its awesome

Kanye West, one of the world’s most famous recording artists, is probably now most well-known for his erratic behaviour, controversial opinions and sizeable ego. The recent live documentation of his bi-polar disorder – and wider mental health problems – has ignited loaded debates relating to his inflammatory actions, but how fair are those criticisms?

Kanye’s eighth and latest album is his rawest effort so far. On it, the words “I hate being Bi- Polar its awesome” are plastered across the album cover. The first song on the album, titled “I thought about killing you”, follows his stream of consciousness where he shares suicidal thoughts openly and candidly. Other songs are peppered with lyrics about his bi-polar disorder being a “superpower” not a “disability” and about hurting himself to see if he still feels pain. While perhaps not musically brilliant, the album was lauded by many for not only addressing mental health issues but for facing them head on.

But not everyone was convinced. The same rawness and supposed transparency Kanye expressed on the new album was amplified in the weeks leading up to its release. After taking a hiatus from social media, Kanye’s tweets on his return expressed support for Trump and other far-right figures – unsurprisingly, people were outraged. He also made an appearance at tabloid news site TMZ offices, ranting about a number of things, the most memorable being his belief that slavery in the U.S. must have been a choice. Naturally, all this controversy caused heated discussions both online and offline. Like his music, Kanye was as polarising as ever.

The most interesting debates weren’t the ones about whether his tweets were (ethically and factually) right or wrong. They were the ones that asked if his actions were driven by a hunger for attention; whether he believed any of this crap or whether this was a product or perhaps manifestation of his declining mental health. Maybe we were witnessing manic episodes unfold right in front of our eyes, unfiltered. Or maybe this was all part of Kanye’s genius to help promote the album. This was the real crux of the problem; do we think Kanye is being genuine?

Those who saw his behaviour as characteristic of an unstable person, suffering a breakdown, called for better support around mental health and for the end of its stigmatisation, especially in popular culture. “Why are people mocking a man with genuine problems?” this group asked. Others, who felt that they saw beyond his PR tactics, were comfortable in ridiculing and vilifying this deluded, megalomaniac figure. “He’s just malnourished of attention!” this group shouted.

As with most things, the truth lies in between two extremes. An increasing amount of people are coming to accept the fact that Kanye has mental health problems, but they’re unwilling to let go of the idea that he’s also an A-hole. His bi-polar and his acknowledgement of the condition doesn’t excuse him of his obnoxious character.

When Kanye says something outlandish and people inevitably claim that he’s being out of order, the reaction isn’t dismissive of his mental health issues. Kanye as a person and persona is much more than the state of his mental health, and his inflammatory behaviour isn’t owed to his bi-polar. People’s frustration that Kanye is being purposefully controversial isn’t necessarily an insinuation that his bi-polar is faked or is an insignificant issue.

A quote from comedian Pete Davidson summed this up quite nicely when talking about Kanye’s support of Trump and his rants: “Kanye, I know you’re like ‘No, this is the real me. I’m of the meds’... Take ‘em! There’s no shame in the medicine game. I’m on them, they’re great.”

It’s no surprise that once his album was released and it peaked at number one in the charts he’s rarely been mentioned in the news in a negative light (except, now after announcing another album the cycle has resumed and there’s been some more backlash). It’s not as if his bi-polar has suddenly been reversed. And nor was his bi-polar merely self-diagnosed in the build-up to the album’s release.

So, is the hate that Kanye attracts when being volatile fair? Like his persona, the answer is multifaceted: we shouldn’t ignore Kanye’s bravery in bringing to light the fight against mental health stigma, and we shouldn’t dismiss his struggles with his own mental health, claiming that it’s been fabricated, but we also shouldn’t deceive ourselves in believing that his faults are explainable only by his bi-polar and not by the rest of his character.