The materiality of diversity – Kanye West/Ye between religion, race, and dis/ability

Kanye West/Ye, one of Hip-Hop’s most controversial artists, embodies the ambivalences of race, religion, class, and disability. His self-portrayal oscillates between a Jesus-like figure and a devout Christian, while he critiques the commodification of Blackness yet celebrates consumer culture. Following his bipolar diagnosis in 2018, Ye reflected on his condition as both disability and ‘superpower’. West’s work reveals religion not merely as ‘religious coding’ (Lincoln Citation2018) but as material aesthetics embedded in sound and image. This paper employs the aesthetics of religion to explore that materiality and introduces the concept of the corporeality of racism by connecting critical race theory and epigenetics. Drawing on Disability Studies, it analyzes the cultural and embodied dimensions of bipolarity. Through West’s art, interviews, and documentaries, I argue that understanding his intersectional identity requires a dialectical approach to materiality that bridges, rather than opposes, the material and the socially constructed.