Winston Churchill once described Russia as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Our very own Jack Slade previously employed the same comparison in an article about laconic Formula 1 legend Kimi Raikkonen. But as for the matter of the artist formerly known as Kanye West – now simply referred to as Ye – the unsolved puzzle requires his very own university course to truly comprehend. Which those of you in search of higher education can now actually undertake at Montreal’s Concordia University.
Conducted by lecturer and occasional rapper Yassin Alsalman AKA Narcy/Iraq-A-Fella/Damon DishDasha/2Pakh Shakur – who has previously taught similar university classes on Lauryn Hill and A Tribe Called Quest – this Kanye West course will be an in-depth exploration of the controversial iconoclast turned billionaire’s art, design, music, celebrity, and overall cultural impact in the age of information. Alsalman also intends to bring notable Ye collaborators such as Mike Dean and A-Trak as guest educators, although at this stage, nobody has been confirmed.
Here are a few topics one can expect from Kanye vs Ye – Genius by Design:
- The College Dropout: “Alternative methods to education, success, and self-actualisation.”
- Donda: “On transcendence, public grief, and matriarchs.”
- Graduation: “Undoing America, oppression, and creative heights.”
- You Ain’t Got The Answers: “Questioning power dynamics, industry, and Kanyetive Dissonance.”
RELATED: Revisiting The Unfiltered Brilliance Of Kanye West’s ‘The College Dropout’
“I think there are many artists that deserve a university course, from Ms Hill to Kendrick, André 3000 to Tyler. Hip-hop is an incredible, undeniable force, and culture. It should, and will, have its own departments in universities across the world when all’s said and done.”
“Reading wise, we are taking from The Autobiography of Malcolm X, readings by Homi K. Bhabha, Message to the Blackman in America by Elijah Muhammad, Jay-Z’s Decoded, Talib Kweli’s Vibrate Higher, and the MBDTF book by Kirk Walker Graves,” Professor Alsalman reveals to Dazed Digital.
“Nothing is off the table since he’s the table. I see his work in totality. There is a through-line we will be studying that you saw clearly in [Netflix’s Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy]. Maybe we will find the answers but we don’t have them right now (no pun intended).”
“I think it’s important to block out the noise and study the artistic direction we witness in our lifetime before people leave earth. And Ye’s story is comprised of so many greats, from Black Star to Chappelle, to 88-Keys and Consequence. We are going to try to piece it all together in real-time.”
Enrollment for the Kanye West university course led by Yassin Alsalman will be limited to just 200 students.
