After years of beating the drum, American rapper Kanye West has finally announced that he will run for the US president in 2020, and he is backed by Elon Musk of all people.?
As if the spotlight is not always on him, the global hip-hop legend knows how to make himself heard. He called for ¡°the promise of America¡± right on the fourth of July, the day America got its freedom.
So it isn¡¯t a wonder that West¡¯s tweet on Saturday went viral like wildfire. At the time of writing, it is nearing 4.5 lakh retweets and 9 lakh likes. Awakening interest from everyone across the globe, the tweet reads:
¡°We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States! #2020VISION.¡±
The choice of words is definitive, confident, much more confident than the iconic MC has ever been about his wish to be the top representative of the United States. And having personally heard his lyrics for more than a decade now, I can assure you that he is quite capable of choosing his words as per intent.
After all, this has long been hinted at. Only last November, the Grammy winner said "When I run for president in 2024, we would've created so many jobs that I'm not going to run, I'm going to walk¡± during an event.
Kanye is still to file any paperwork for his presidential election run. And of course, there is much to be done even before he can think of. A Bloomberg report sums it ¡°he would need to qualify for ballot access across 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as build a presidential-grade political organization from scratch without the support of a party infrastructure.¡±
But if he is serious, guess who is in support?
Not many points on guessing that, as the Tesla co-founder took to Twitter, soon after West¡¯s declaration, to show his support. There is, however, a long standing friendship here that many might have missed.
Just at the beginning of the month, Elon Musk and Kanye West had posted a picture together on Twitter, with both wearing ¡°Orange¡±. Check out the image clicked by Grimes below.
The relationship isn¡¯t a recently formed one. In 2018, when Musk was asked ¡°who are you inspired by?¡± during a session at South by South West (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas, he responded saying, "Well, Kanye West obviously."
Prior to this, the SpaceX head wrote about Kanye for Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people - "Kanye's belief in himself and his incredible tenacity - he performed his first single with his jaw wired shut - got him to where he is today. And he fought for his place in the cultural pantheon with a purpose.¡±
He went on by saying, "Now that he's a pop-culture juggernaut, he has the platform to achieve just that. He's not afraid of being judged or ridiculed in the process. Kanye's been playing the long game all along, and we're only just beginning to see why."
There is a strong reason to believe that Kanye is not really gunning for the top US post as hinted by his recent tweet. Some even call the tweet a promotional stunt for his next album possibly called ¡°Presidential Dropout,¡± in line with his first debut album ¡°The College Dropout.¡±
In case he is, Musk can be a powerful ally to have. Though the hip hop legend is arguably not the best candidate for the top job, having Musk as a promoter of his cause among the technology eco-space in the US can be a big propellant for Kanye¡¯s cause.
A simple understanding for this is, Musk has managed to live through it all. The Tesla CEO has been repeatedly ridiculed for some of the absurd public statements that he has made. There is, however, a known understanding of the tech billionaire being passionate about the causes he worked towards. Electric cars, reusable rockets, underground tunnels with long vacuum tubes, he has dreamt it and achieved it all and without a doubt is still relentlessly pursuing them.
His recent big break came with SpaceX, as he sent the American astronauts onto the International Space Station from American soil, in an American rocket, a feat achieved after decades of American space programmes.
If Musk decides to back Kanye in his endeavour, it is not a brainer to judge that the impact would be immense in increasing the already famous rapper¡¯s appeal to the US public. All this, if Kanye is really serious about running for the top spot this time around.