Thursday night I watched an interview of Kanye West on the Jimmy Kimmel Late Night Show. 

The first thing I need to say is that I am amazed at Kanye’s innate ability to leave you speechless.  I was somewhat taken back by his presidential candidate of choice, and even more astonished by his determination to back a man many have come to dislike for obvious reasons.  I watched a proud young Black man speak his truth unapologetically.  I like Kanye West!!  I never really paid much attention to his music simply because I don’t particularly care for pop, hip-hop or rap.  Not that I haven’t listened to this genre in past, it’s just not my go too selection.  I enthusiastically passed by Kanye and all the other pop cultured artists, when scrolling the music channel until I came across a much appreciated Smooth Jazz station. After hearing his interview, Kanye might easily become one of my favorites.  It’s not so much the music in as of itself, but rather the man behind the music that interest me.  Kanye is an extremely likable young man with vision and hope.  He is awesome!!  It was late night TV I couldn’t sleep and Jimmy Kimmel is one of the funniest talk show host I’ve seen.  I like Jimmy Fallon as well, however, it’s Jimmy Kimmel that gets me laughing so hard and loud my husband has to tell me, keep it down.   Back to Kanye, he talked about how you can be fucked up and still be great.  Yeah, that was awesome.  He dubbed the term, “not being fully Ye”.  He celebrated being Bi-polar and did not consider it a weakness that holds you back, but rather something to rise above.   I think being Bi-polar was the catalyst that gave Kanye his fierce sense of self-awareness and self-acceptance.  He is honest first and foremost with himself, and with others he speaks his truth without fear of reprisal.  He seemed to be a little guarded, he sat with his arms folded or crossed almost the entire time only to clasp his hands tightly together on his lap when his arms were not folded or cross.  Nonetheless, he spoke with such convention and genuine sincerity in his voice.  I felt his truth as he talked about a moment of clarity he shared with his daughter.  Musing over a piece of thread he was placing into the eye of a needle he reminisced how he had amassed a small fortune doing just that.  I was a jaw dropping moment, something so powerful in that statement that made me cry.  His outlook on love for mankind and ability to see beyond the faults of others is incredible.  He seemed to understand the greater good and purpose of God’s placement of so many peoples in this melting pot called Earth.  Kanye talked extensively about doing what others though was impossible for him, yet he willingly moved in that direction.  He reminds me of Brene Brown.  In her book Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms How we Live, Love, Parent and Lead.  Kanye opened himself up to becoming vulnerable to millions of people without fear. I never thought I would take time out to listen to Kanye’s music, let alone an interview about him.  However, I eagerly want to immerse myself in his book. I truly believe getting to know this man of power and sensitive will be of great value.  There’s no wonder God has blessed him so richly.  He got my attention, started my wheels turning at the first mention of being fallible.   God put something amazing and powerful in each of us, it’s time to dig deep and bring it to life. “Adrienne Vanterpool”