The Most Powerful Underdog in the World: Understanding Kanye’s Entire Insane Career

No rapper has been more thoroughly confusing over the last decade than Kanye West. In the six plus years that he's been on the scene, critics, fans and haters have often found themselves bewildered by West's choices, and I was beginning to think that Yeezy was simply an enigma we'd never truly understand. And then I read the following quote on his blog:

"I'm on the plane listening to [his 2004 debut LP] The College Dropout," Kanye wrote. "It brings back so many memories. We were the underdogs. I never feel like I'm not the underdog. I never felt completely comfortable."

When I read that quote, it was like the archangel Michael visiting the Virgin Mother Mary to tell her she was carrying the son of God, the skies parted and a light shown down upon me. Suddenly all of Kanye's career made sense. Suddenly I understood his every move. That underdog feeling was the fuel that drove Kanye's art, and when faced with increasing success he was forced to go to further and further extremes to maintain his outsider status.

In the beginning, of course, it was easy to find story lines for the underdog narrative that fueled Kanye's drive. He was chubby, he was a producer no one thought could rap, he broke his jaw, he was a college dropout. The odds were legitimately stacked against him, and whether he would admit it or not, he loved it.

But then the worst thing that could possibly happen to an underdog happened; Kanye became incredibly, enormously, unbelievably successful. As an sports team will tell you, it's far easier to battle to reach the top than to remain on top, and unlike his big brother Jay-Z, Kanye was clearly never comfortable with being on top. After all, what do you do when you have the thing you've worked your entire life to get. Where do you go from there?

Crazytown, that's where. When viewed through the underdog lens, Kanye's often volatile carer begins to make perfect sense. It's crucial to remember that Kanye wasn't necessarily doing all of these things as conscious attempts to remain an underdog. With that said, let's review what (I imagine) was going through his head during landmark moments in his career.

* "College Dropout" era - No one believes I can rap, I'll show them. In fact, I'll do a song about Jesus. They'll hate that.
* "Late Registration" era - I need to show the world I'm not a one-hit wonder. No one believes I can do it, but I'll show them.
* "Graduation" era - Crap, I'm hugely successful. Honestly, I don't know what to do. What if I risk pissing off Jay-Z and complain about him for ten minutes on "Big Brother"? Maybe he'll get mad and boot me off the Roc. Compared to Hova I'm still just an underdog, right?
* "808s & Heartbreak" era - Well fuck me, I'm a hip-hop institution. Maybe I'll release a pop album with nothing but me singing in auto-tune? Perfect! People will hate on my like crazy! I'll be an underdog all over again!!!
* Etc. - Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. Sure I caught some heat for "808s", but on the whole people loved it. What am I going to do now??? Maybe if I get really into European designer fashion, get me a bald girlfriend and drunkenly interrupt America's most beloved white girl Taylor Swift, I'll be back on the outside.
* Now - It worked! The hip-hop world is regularly mocking my fashion choices, and a sizable portion of mainstream America hates me again. Now my next album will be a "comeback" of sorts. Underdog here I come!

Is it any wonder that Kanye's apparent need to be simultaneously loved and hated, to be both the consummate insider and outsider, have led to some pretty bizarre behavior? And if his past is any indication, we haven't even begun to see the lengths Kanye will go to maintain his underdog status. I wouldn't be surprised if in five years he's doing a punk-techno album with Lady Gaga. Actually, that doesn't really sound that unlikely.

I'm not going to lie to you, this underdog theory is fucking genius. Go ahead, when run through the underdog theory, nearly every song/album/action he's ever done suddenly makes perfect sense. This must be what Einstein felt like when he discovered the theory or relatively...damn, I guess all this writing about Kanye's inflated my ego by osmosis. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go blog about Dior's new spring line.