“I am God”
Kanye West’s contemplated next album title, as reported by the BBC, here. A source associated with West says the title is “half-serious.” (So he’s only half-joking?)
Before we rush to judgment about the man who also recently said “I am Picasso,” let us note that, theoretically speaking, West might be planning to *merely mention the phrase* in his album title, rather than to *use it in his own voice, as applied to himself.* He might do that in order to explore themes of grandiosity, megalomania, and the perils of pop stardom. The album might introduce the blasphemous phrase in an ironic way, so to say that he, its author, is of course *not* God, even as our brand of media capitalism gives him obscene powers. He might be after profound truths, seeking to restore rap music’s important but increasingly neglected function as social critique.
Maybe. It is logically possible, strictly speaking.
But likely? Plausible? Would you bet five dollars that he’s not just suffering under delusional grandiosity? (Me neither.)
