In a span of little over a week, Kanye West dominated headlines with his sold-out Yeezy Season 3 fashion show-“The Life of Pablo” album premiere mashup at Madison Square Garden; became a social media pariah after reigniting his one-sided feud with America’s pop sweetheart, Taylor Swift; unleashed an expletive-laden tirade behind the scenes of “Saturday Night Live”; and played positive peacemaker, breaking up a nasty paparazzi fight at a Los Angeles airport.
In more straightforward terms, it was just Kanye being Kanye.
“It’s all part of Kanye’s mad creativity,” Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Kelly Price tells The Post. The respected R&B veteran, who recently released the contemporary gospel single “Everytime (Grateful),” is one of several high-profile artists featured on Kanye’s much-discussed, much-dissected “The Life of Pablo,” which also includes contributions from Rihanna, Chance the Rapper, Kendrick Lamar, Rick Rubin and Ty Dolla Sign.
“There are certain people who are very passionate about what they love and about what they know,” continues Price, who is gaining accolades for her soaring appearance on the spiritual “Pablo” standout “Ultralight Beam.” “And when other people don’t see their vision, it’s frustrating. You just feel like, ‘Why don’t they get me? Why don’t the critics understand what I’m trying to do?’ I think that’s what makes Kanye such a great artist. He’s so real and honest.”
When Page Six dropped the exclusive bombshell that Kardashian matriarch and deal-making “momager” Kris Jenner was fearful that the controversial rap superstar and eccentric fashion head was damaging the omnipresent clan’s entire brand — even beyond that of his wife, Kim Kardashian — it was yet another twist in the wild, one-man saga that is Kanye.
“His Twitter rants are out of control, and Kris fears that he’s taking the family down,” said the unnamed source. “Kris wants Kanye to hire someone to handle all the noise and drama so he can focus on being an artist.”
Those rants include his now-infamous Twitter assault on chart-topping rapper Wiz Khalifa and their shared ex-girlfriend, model Amber Rose. (Kanye has since apologized for his shocking barrage of 27 tweets in which he negatively referenced Wiz and Amber’s child.) And then there’s his puzzling rebuke of Pitchfork Media’s glowing review of “The Life of Pablo,” awarding the eclectic, star-studded release a rating of 9 out of 10. “Pitchfork, the album is a 30 out of 10,” Kanye blasted. “To Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, New York Times, and any other white publication. Please do not comment on black music anymore.”
There’s talk that maybe the stress of being $53 million in debt, a shocking revelation Kanye himself made, coupled with the news that “Pablo” has over 500,000 pirated copies in circulation, is getting to the polarizing pop-culture icon. Indeed, there’s no shortage of think pieces and editorials questioning West’s mental stability, a point that former longtime co-writer Rhymefest brought up when asked about his friend’s recent behavior.
“I love my brother,” he posted in a Feb. 12 tweet. “I pray for his mental health. My brother needs help, in the form of counseling. Spiritual & mental. He should step away from the public & yesmen & heal.”
Others point to the death of Kanye’s beloved mother, Donda West, who he recently announced will be the subject of a video game titled “Only One” — which centers around his mom “traveling through the gates of heaven” — as still having a profound effect on the erratic visionary.
“Kanye’s mom was his calming spirit,” an anonymous source close to West’s camp tells The Post. “She was the one that made sure that Kanye was good. She was that steady force. His mom was the one to be able to talk to him and calm him down to get him to see the bigger picture.”
Others, however, insist that the Kanye West who was secretly taped behind the scenes at “SNL” — claiming that he was “50 percent more influential” than Stanley Kubrick, Pablo Picasso, Apostle Paul and Pablo Escobar — has always been there.
“Kanye has always had that impossible belief in himself,” says Datwon Thomas, editor in chief of Vibe. Thomas recalls first meeting West back in 2002, before the release of his landmark 2004 debut, “College Dropout.” “When I was introduced to him he was definitely full of himself, but in that classic self-promoter way,” he says. “Not simply as an a - - hole. Even back then, as a producer, he thought he was the greatest. But Kanye was very focused musically. He put in the work. He’s even taken that drive to the fashion world.”
While it has yet to be seen if West’s high-priced, stripped-down, minimalist clothing designs will translate to across-the-board success on Madison Avenue, he has already been crowned the darling of the shoe game. His $200 Yeezy Boost 350s, designed in collaboration with Adidas, sold out on Feb. 19 in the United States in just two hours. “We are talking about someone who was laughed at early on by the fashion world,” Thomas notes. “[Footwear News] already awarded him with shoe of the year.”
“I’ve worked in the studio with everyone from Puff Daddy and R. Kelly to Mariah Carey,” adds Price. “Every supercreative person that I’ve ever worked with has a method to their own madness. They all completely give themselves over to their creativity. So what is viewed as crazy or controversial by the public, to someone else like a Kanye West it’s just normal.”
So is Kanye simply getting rewarded for bad behavior? Or is he really the genius he proclaims himself to be? His detractors and fierce supporters will no doubt have conflicting opinions and battles.
But one thing is for sure.
“Kris Jenner can’t tell him what to do,” muses Thomas. “He’s not Kim, Khloé, Kylie or Kendall. He’s not one of her kids. Kanye West is Kanye West.”