Kanye West, the rapper who just months ago on a Katrina Relief telethon told the world that the President of the United States is the Diet Coke of racism. “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” he stated empathetically just a month after he dropped his album Late Registration. He then proceeded to dominate the news. Coincidence? I think not. West told Rolling Stone that being outspoken is the key to his success, "If I was more complacent and let things slide, my life would be easier, but you all wouldn't be as entertained."
The outspoken rapper must have decided that between Ted Kennedy and Hilary Clinton, Bush has enough detractors and moved on to the main man himself, J.C; the one and only, Jesus Christ. West posed as Jesus for the cover of Rolling Stone, which drops this Friday. He stated in the article, "In America, they want you to accomplish these great feats, to pull off these David Copperfield-type stunts, you want me to be great, but you don't ever want me to say I'm great?"
There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that this stunt will draw a firestorm of criticism from Copperfield supporters. “Who does Kanye think he is?” seethed Elizabeth Lenz, a die-hard Copperfield fan. “Copperfield did great things for this country…the whole world even. Kanye is disrespecting his mission and message. He doesn't even have the luscious Copperfieldian mullet!"
These kinds of brash comparisons have never boded well for celebrity musicians before. In 1966, John Lennon told the Evening Standard that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus. In response, Christian groups all over the world held bonfires to burn Beatles albums. Radio stations across the South refused to play Beatles songs and the KKK tried unsuccessfully to stop a Beatles show in Memphis. And the American tour that came after that comment was the Beatles last, ending with Lennon’s murder.
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