By Nick Amon —

Remember back in October when everyone wigged out that Kanye West announced he’d be performing in the KFC Yum! Center this December? I definitely do. Sadly, the key word in that question is remember, because that’s all that announcement will ever pan out to be – a memory.
Recently, West made the decision to end the rest of his Saint Pablo Tour after a controversial and abrupt end to a Sacramento, California show on Nov. 19. After performing three songs, West criticized Jay-Z and Beyoncé in a lengthy rant, all the while comparing his rhetoric to that of Donald Trump’s. Shortly after the rant, guess what happened next? Nothing. West simply got off stage and left.
To say the fans in attendance were upset would be an understatement. Refunds were issued to all those who attended the show, and that’s only the beginning. Since the tour cancellation, TicketMaster has issued a refund to every fan who purchased a ticket to see West during his Saint Pablo Tour, which still had a staggering 21 shows left scheduled.
Shortly after West announced that he’d be discontinuing his tour, it was reported that the Grammy-winning rapper checked into a hospital in Los Angeles for unknown reasons. This has left the majority of his fanbase torn between being angry with him for his abrupt cancellation of his critically acclaimed tour, and feeling sympathy towards him in terms of his overall health and well-being.
However, some critics have been diving deeper into the situation more recently by claiming that West may have hospitalized himself to cover up for not only his brand’s image, but for the tens of millions of dollars lost by the cancellation of his tour. TMZ reports that West’s carrier will pay him and the people West owes in the event that an “accident or illness prevents any insured person from appearing or continuing to appear.”
If dodging the tour’s financial responsibilities is actually his aim, I doubt many Kanye fans will have trouble deciding whether or not to be unhappy with the rap icon from this point forward. But in all reality, shouldn’t all of this be what they expect from him in the first place?
Regardless of how the entire situation pans out, it sucks that the city of Louisville won’t be getting their promised Kanye concert this December, and it sucks even more if this is due to some shady incident where he’s been trying to cover up his tracks all along.
I can honestly say none of it comes as a surprise to me. What does come as a surprise, is that out of 167 people polled through The Cardinal’s Twitter account, 57 percent of the respondents don’t even care about him canceling his show in Louisville.
I’ve been listening to Kanye since “The Late Registration” days, and a lot of his music has impressed me over the years. What I’ve learned over these years is that being a boisterous Kanye fan means you’re going to get in some weird conversations with people where you somehow get pinned into defending his erratic behavior. But to me, that’s the unorthodox beauty of being a Kanye fan to begin with.
Kanye is obviously not your ordinary individual. Sometimes he says stupid things that make us laugh at him, but what else does he do? He turns right around and makes music that immediately compensates for his behavior and reminds us of why he has such a platform to be stupid in the first place. He’s a hell of an artist, but more importantly, he’s a human being.
If you’re a fan of Kanye and by that I mean, a “name your favorite album and why” fan of Kanye, then you’ll understand my rhetoric. I could honestly care less how this situation turns out. Am I bummed he’s not coming to Louisville anymore? Of course. Am I still going to listen to his music and support him as an artist? Of course. Am I still going to gladly get myself into losing conversations where I have to defend his mindless behavior? Of course. Am I surprised from it all? Of course not.
He’s an odd guy, but what’s more vital to note is that he’s also very ordinary. Ordinary in a sense that he makes bad decisions – the only difference between you and him is that his are under a bigger microscope.

Regardless, I think the best way to sum all of this up is a quote from the man himself: “If you’re a fan of Kanye West, you’re not a fan of me, you’re a fan of yourself.” Take it how you want it, but the guy is painstakingly real, flaws and all.