Everything We Saw At Kanye West's Star-Packed Social Experiment In Wyoming

Kanye West is a master of the redemptive arc. As music industry titans filed into Diamond Cross Ranch on a crisp Thursday evening, the façade wasn't hard to peel back. The same critics who claimed West was cancelled after calling slavery "a choice" were right now in a bacchanalian haze watching caramel and chocolate horses roam in green tranquility.


For one fleeting night, West did what he does best. He sampled. Only this time the records he smashed with each other were in service of a social experiment. Where else could your average Wyoming citizen visualize Scott Disick yell to Kanye, "What's going on with you?" Yeezy's listening party did indeed turn "TMZ to Smack DVD." The celebrity sightings were like a real-life version of Upset Libs unfolding — Jonah Hill chopped it up with Kid Cudi; Kim Kardashian shot the shit with 2 Chainz.


Bizarre, oddly perfect, and in slightly sour taste, the event was a microcosm for Ye the album. The question that hung over the proceedings like a plague was simple: Was Wyoming our generation's Jonestown, even if the Kool-Aid was seven soulful beats from the most influential artist of the last decade?


It wasn't, however thankfully Chris Rock understood the jig. The legendary comedian joked that the crackling bonfire on a typical day could be the site of a Ku Klux Klan cross-burning. The juxtaposition between laughing media personalities and awkward chuckles from Wyoming residents was palpable.


"No black man has taken more advantage of his freedom than Kanye West," Rock proclaimed through a feedback-drenched microphone. He wasn't wrong. A number of 150 people ascended the mountaintop to be able to see if West's first profession — the music — could win back that "freedom" or showcase his version of it.


On "Yikes," Kanye raps, "That's my bipolar shit, n---a what? / That's my superpower, n---a ain't no disability." Before the album played, the Chicago artist walked the ranch, and seeing him field photo requests from fans and make small talk with various celebrities was akin to Superman facing his Kryptonite. West was cordial, although beneath each forced smile was the pain of an artist in the midst of a rebuild. The circus surrounding a gentleman still battling mental illness made the lyrics even more visceral.


Kanye isn't all right, however in person it is clear to be able to see he is fighting to be. On "I Thought About Killing You," West is talking about killing a mysterious person. As I flashed back to earlier that evening, it was clear that he could be talking about himself and the man who almost crumbled an empire with every misguided tweet. With his spouse, Kim, by his side, Kanye huddled each person around the fire to hear his stories of drug addiction, marital woes, and the sonic method of killing one's demons.


Yeezy has wrought significant damage on the black community. No quantity of free drinks, dry brisket, and free merch can change that. Each day millions of African-Americans are fighting for their lives and sadly can't retreat to the snowy mountains of Wyoming to heal the pain of a nation that won't let them kneel, raise their hands, or speak out against the oppression creeping into their lives.


However, for a number of hours, Kanye's social experiment worked. At one point, I stood next to a gentleman who mentioned he taught Kanye kickboxing, and his spouse. With a mouthful of ribs, we talked like we had been companions forever. He remarked how it was astonishing that West supposedly invited all the members of the resort where he finished Ye to the festivities. We talked his move from Florida to Wyoming and the adjustment it took. Who is aware if any of this was true, yet the moment wasn't lost on me.


In Wyoming, the barrier between celebrity and fan dissolved. Before the album played, I walked up to a unassuming man in a grey hoodie. It was Kid Cudi. As my voice trembled, I instructed them Man on the Moon how his music got me by means of the pain of death. Scott warmly mentioned, "No, that was habitually you." It wasn't fair to lay that at my idol's feet, although his kind words properly illustrated that we're not that different from Kanye. We're all looking for love, whether we are multi-platinum-selling artists or fans disguised as reporters and social critics.


Maybe West wasn't reborn in the fire Thursday night, nevertheless he didn't need to be. There was never a "old Kanye." What Cudi mentioned to me could apply just as with little effort to West: "That was routinely you."