I thought I'd post this, now that's it's been a while, and people still seem sort of interested in it. I honestly haven't thought about this speech too much since I gave it.
I wrote it one night when I couldn't sleep; I was standing up, hunched over my desk, scribbling on a yellow legal pad. I don't think I edited it at all from the original. I simply typed it up, and submitted it to Mrs. Cook for approval.
I don't really know if I truly agree with the speech or not. I wrote it emotionally. As such, it is what it is.
That being said--I think looking up to Kanye West is, in many ways, a very simple thing to do. Because oftentimes, you only have to look down.
That's not to discredit the point of the speech. West rarely misbehaves because of his job. He misbehaves because of some insecurity far deeper than his career. The point of my speech was that you can do what you love and get paid for it, not to idolize the fact that Kanye is sometimes a jackass.
Anyway.
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I remember 2007, and listening to Kanye West’s then-new album, Graduation.
Track one, “Good Morning”:
“Good morning, look at the valedictorian
Scared of the future while I hop in the DeLorean
Scared to face the world, complacent career student
Some people graduate, but we still stupid
Kanye West is an interesting fellow; he is a college dropout. Most rappers never even begin attending college—let alone go and make the conscious decision to stop going.
A conscious decision?
Very much so.
Kanye West dropped out of college to ensure success.
Success in the world of hiphop, where college’s involvement would be like dumping ketchup on an alarm clock, and then deeming the resultant Heinz-Timex monstrosity rather preferable to either component on its own.
Umm, no.
Which brings us back to that verse from “Good Morning”. Mr. West accuses the valedictorian of being a “complacent, career student” that is “scared to face the world.” From West’s viewpoint, the valedictorian guy is a joke. West is doing what he loves—making music. And not only that, he is making dump-truck loads of money while doing so. The antagonized valedictorian, while he may indeed get his own dump truck full of US currency, will probably never end up as happy as Kanye West—because Mr. I’m-Smart will have his nose too far inside a textbook to realize he doesn’t like anatomy. That he doesn’t like law. That he doesn’t like metaphysics.
To someone as pure as West, the career student is laughable. Why would anyone waste time doing something they don’t love? Why give up happiness for money when it’s possible to get happiness and money? I mean think about it—what’s easier: crafting yourself an enjoyable career for the remainder of your life, or working till you drop dead and there’s some more zeroes on the end of that five in your bank account? One of those is easy—anyone can slave away, double overtime, money in the bank, third mortgage, new BMW. But not many can say, “I love my job.” Just remember that money is the variable that could go either way, can happen regardless—but right now, choosing not to do what you love virtually guarantees you are not going to do what you love for the rest of your life. Forever.
Money can’t buy happiness, so plan your investments accordingly.
I admire Kanye West. Because he went against society, and won. Because he does what he enjoys and is still an incredible financial success. Guys, this is what we should aim for. Kanye West. We should shoot for the stars, literally. (Not at, that’s a felony.) We should do what we love and get paid for it. We should ignore advice that is completely contrary to our own life decisions; we should be selfish.
Others don’t admire Kanye West. Because he has an ego the size of this room, or bigger. Because he is completely and utterly selfish. Because he makes distasteful comments about presidents. But what’s wrong with that? That is what it takes to do what you love in life. To believe fully in yourself. To be proud of yourself, and by that measure, your thoughts.
The only alternative to selfishness is selflessness—and guess what? That means you don’t pick. Here, be a mechanic. Here, be a chef. Here, be a movie critic. Since when is getting told what to do an ideal of society? Isn’t this America? Let’s tell selflessness off. Let’s tell it to go away.
Let’s enjoy ourselves, our decisions. Let’s act in our own self interests. Let’s have a toast tonight, to us.
West does that. Money in the bank, remember? Getting the best of both worlds. Love your job. Love your life. Love your paycheck.
Selfishness is the key to this—this leaving high school.
The saying goes, “They’re ready to face the world.”
Guys, we’re on offense.
We’re not hanging back.
We’re a tactical strike, a precision movement.
We’re taking over.
And we’re not letting the world tell us anything about how we choose our lives.
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Conveniently, track six on Graduation is titled, “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”.
This Kanye West guy, I think he’s onto something.
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© 2009 David Kline
