美国国家公共电台 NPR A Conversation About Kanye West, Twitter Philosopher

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Kanye West is writing a philosophy book on Twitter, according to Kanye West on Twitter. And the tweets - his chapters, if you will - are pretty sunny. The superstar rapper is talking about being present in his own life, about sharing ideas, about the nature of time and space, which is not Kanye's usual tone. In fact, he quit Twitter in what seemed like a pretty low point for him last year. So what can we glean¹ from Kanye's triumphant² return?

Sam Sanders is the host of NPR's podcast It's Been A Minute. It's a podcast about the news and culture of the week. And he is basically a Kanye scholar, which is exactly why he's joining me now. Sam, welcome to the program.

SAM SANDERS, BYLINE³: Thanks for having me. You're being too kind.

CHANG: (Laughter).

SANDERS: I wouldn't say Kanye scholar, perhaps just Kanye enthusiast⁴, apologist and defender⁵.

CHANG: Oh, that's...

SANDERS: Forever and for always.

CHANG: That's a lot, all right.

SANDERS: (Laughter).

CHANG: I want to hear some of that. All right, so just to be clear, when we say philosophy, we're not talking, like, Immanuel Kant or Aristotle. I mean, we're talking about Kanye giving life advice.

SANDERS: Giving life advice - I've been...

CHANG: Why would I want life advice from Kanye West?

SANDERS: Because it's actually good. Let me tell you what happened. So Kanye West - all of a sudden this week, he began to tweet out these really inspirational quips on Twitter. And actually, you know, if you want, I can read some for.

CHANG: Yeah. I want a dramatic reading, Sam.

SANDERS: OK. Here's one of the latest that he tweeted. The beauty is in the imperfection. This one's my favorite. Be transparent⁶ as possible. Stop setting plays. Stop playing chess with life. Make decisions based on love, not fear - inspirational Kanye.

CHANG: OK.

SANDERS: Do you like it?

CHANG: It's all right.

(LAUGHTER)

SANDERS: It just really stuck out to me this week because, like, Kanye is not known for being that Zen...

CHANG: Uh-huh.

SANDERS: ...and that serene⁷. And I've just enjoyed it.

CHANG: Yeah. Can we talk about how he's not that Zen? Like, go through some of the highlights with us right now, all of the years-long public controversies⁸ that led up to this moment.

SANDERS: Oh, do we have the time, Ailsa? I don't know.

CHANG: Oh, we do. We do. Unpack⁹ it.

SANDERS: Let me try to do it really quickly, you know? So since the release of his first album "The College Dropout¹⁰" in 2004, everyone knew he was really good at this stuff, but he already came out of the gate with kind of a reputation as being braggadocios¹¹ and kind of brash. But he really kind of became this darker character in the culture after he crashed the stage at the VMAs on MTV in 2009 and interrupted Taylor Swift when she won her award.

(SOUNDBITE OF 2009 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS)

KANYE WEST: Yo, Taylor. I'm really happy for you. I'm going to let you finish. But Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.

(CHEERING)

SANDERS: But there were some other things that led people to really question his mental health in the last few years. He released an album in 2016 called "The Life Of Pablo" unfinished. Then he had a tour for the same album. And in November 2016, he had to cancel the tour. There was a lawsuit¹² over it, and it was said in the lawsuit that he was facing, quote, "serious debilitating¹³ medical conditions." Then he popped up. He showed up at Trump¹⁴ Tower. It was just after he had been released from a psychiatric hospital.

CHANG: Yeah.

SANDERS: So if you were a believer in Kanye, you were kind of worried about him.

CHANG: OK, you are obviously a true believer.

SANDERS: Yeah.

CHANG: I can hear that all over. But Kanye's a brand. Maybe this is just a way of capitalizing on his brand. It's - I know I sound a little jaded¹⁵, but he's getting all this attention now. We're all falling into his lap.

SANDERS: You know, I can see it as that, but it's not focused enough for me to say that it's actually that intentional¹⁶. I think it's just Kanye having a good week.

CHANG: It's not done well done enough to be intentional.

SANDERS: I think Kanye's just having a good week. And I think with Kanye, a lot of people have seen him through the lens of popular culture as inherently broken. But as someone much smarter than me once said, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

CHANG: (Laughter).

SANDERS: And some of these tweets are just right. And I think if I can find some time to celebrate someone finding a bit of happiness, even if it's Kanye West, I'll take it.

CHANG: Sam Sanders - he's the host of NPRs It's Been A Minute, a podcast where he catches listeners up on the news and culture of the week. And I guess this week, you guys are obviously going to talk about Kanye.

SANDERS: We're talking about all the news that's fit to talk about, but also it is a very special Kanye-themed episode.

(LAUGHTER)

CHANG: Thanks so much, Sam.

SANDERS: Thanks, Ailsa.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "POWER")

WEST: (Rapping) I'm living in that 21st century, doing something mean to it, do it better than anybody you ever seen do it. Screams from the haters got...

1 glean   

v.收集(消息、资料、情报等)

参考例句：

• The little information that we could glean about them was largely contradictory.我们能够收集到的有关它们的少量信息大部分是自相矛盾的。
• From what I was able to glean,it appears they don't intend to take any action yet.根据我所收集到的资料分析，他们看来还不打算采取任何行动。

2 triumphant   

adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的

参考例句：

• The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
• There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 enthusiast   

n.热心人，热衷者

参考例句：

• He is an enthusiast about politics.他是个热衷于政治的人。
• He was an enthusiast and loved to evoke enthusiasm in others.他是一个激情昂扬的人，也热中于唤起他人心中的激情。

5 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

6 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

7 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

8 controversies   

争论

参考例句：

• We offer no comment on these controversies here. 对于这些争议，我们在这里不作任何评论。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon. 围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。 来自辞典例句

9 unpack   

vt.打开包裹（或行李），卸货

参考例句：

• I must unpack before dinner.我得在饭前把行李打开。
• She said she would unpack the items later.她说以后再把箱子里的东西拿出来。

10 dropout   

n.退学的学生；退学；退出者

参考例句：

• There is a high dropout rate from some college courses.有些大学课程的退出率很高。
• In the long haul,she'll regret having been a school dropout.她终归会后悔不该中途辍学。

11 braggadocios   

n.自夸，吹牛大王( braggadocio的名词复数 )

参考例句：

12 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

13 debilitating   

a.使衰弱的

参考例句：

• The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
• You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。

14 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

15 jaded   

adj.精疲力竭的；厌倦的；（因过饱或过多而）腻烦的；迟钝的

参考例句：

• I felt terribly jaded after working all weekend. 整个周末工作之后我感到疲惫不堪。
• Here is a dish that will revive jaded palates. 这道菜简直可以恢复迟钝的味觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。