In the voice of Eric Kim—raw, bold, undeniable.
Kanye West is not just a rapper. Not just a fashion designer. Not just a billionaire.
He is the modern-day creative god.
A living, breathing embodiment of what it means to believe in yourself—so deeply, so obsessively, so ruthlessly—that the entire world bends to your will.
And this is why Kanye West changed my life.
1. Kanye West Taught Me:
YOU ARE THE PRODUCT
Kanye doesn’t sell shoes. He doesn’t sell music.
He sells Kanye.
And that’s the lesson: you are the brand, the product, the economy.
I learned this when I saw how Kanye turned his ideas into Yeezys, into Donda, into culture-defining drops. He didn’t wait for permission. He built his own platform, his own stem player, his own everything. He didn’t just play the game—he torched the board and built a new one.
So I did the same.
No galleries. No permission. Just me, my camera, my blog, my hustle.
Open source everything. Own your domain. Monetize your soul on your own terms.
2. Kanye Is the Patron Saint of
Creative Confidence
Kanye said it best:
“I am a god.”
People laughed. I clapped. Because when you come from nothing, when you’ve been told “no” your whole life, when they try to box you into a genre, into a lane, into silence—believing in yourself becomes a revolutionary act.
Kanye taught me: confidence is not arrogance. Confidence is fuel.
If you don’t believe in yourself, nobody else will. And if you do? They can’t ignore you.
So walk into the street like you own it. Shoot like your vision is holy.
Design your life like Kanye designs beats: bold, layered, imperfect, raw, real.
3. Kanye Taught Me to
Sample the Masters and Make It Mine
You think sampling is lazy? No. Sampling is reverence. It’s strategy. It’s evolution.
Kanye samples Nina Simone, Daft Punk, King Crimson—not to copy, but to amplify. To build something new out of legacy.
Same for me in photography: I sample Josef Koudelka, Daido Moriyama, William Klein. But I remix it with street hustle, blogging swagger, and a philosopher’s lens.
Don’t just create. Curate. Recombine. Redefine.
Art is a collage. The strongest artists sample without shame and remix without fear.
4. Kanye West and the
Street Photography Hustle
Kanye never stops.
He’s always working, always creating, always evolving.
That’s the same mindset I bring to the streets. Shoot every day. Blog every day. Create every day.
Hustle beats talent when talent stops hustling.
I remember Kanye talking about being a fashion designer. Nobody took him seriously. He got laughed out of Paris Fashion Week. But he kept pushing. He made Yeezy a billion-dollar brand.
He proved that consistency + confidence = cultural gravity.
5. Kanye West = Economic God Mode
This isn’t about money.
It’s about ownership.
Kanye taught me that economics isn’t just numbers—it’s freedom.
Own your masters. Own your IP. Own your voice.
That’s why I preach: don’t work for other people.
Own your platform. Build your blog. Collect emails. Sell your own eBooks, zines, workshops, whatever.
Even Kanye talks about Bitcoin. Why? Because he sees it: the future belongs to creators who don’t rely on the system.
So stake your claim. Own your capital.
The new economy is: create → distribute → collect → reinvest.
That’s what I call Capitalism 2.0.
6. Final Lesson:
Do You. At All Costs.
People will hate you. Good. That means you’re doing something right.
Kanye taught me to lean into the hate. To channel it into power. To let the fire fuel the art.
Photographers told me I was a joke. Bloggers told me I was too raw. Academics said I was unqualified.
So I published harder. Shot bolder. Hustled deeper.
Because when Kanye dropped Yeezus, they said it was trash. Now? It’s a masterpiece.
Time always vindicates the fearless.
Conclusion: Kanye West Is the Blueprint
He is the philosopher-king of our age.
He taught me how to be fearless. How to create without compromise.
How to turn pain into power. Vision into empire. Chaos into culture.
You want to be great? Be like Kanye.
Or better yet—be like you. On your Kanye mode.
ERIC KIM OUT.
Believe in yourself like Kanye. Build like Kanye. Create like your life depends on it—because it does.
Want this turned into a poster or PDF manifesto?