Kanye is soulful and that's all there is to it. He's almost single-handedly raising the standards in many ways for mainstream rap music. If you can't see that, then you need to take a pause.

No way is he a fantastic rhymer, but he's better than most producer-rappers with his rhymes ("killin' y'all niggaz on this lyrical shit/mayonaise-colored benz/i push miracle whips"? forget it!). He'd be better off as producer only, of course, because his beats and soul samples are undeniably amazing.

I equate my feelings for Kanye to my feelings for U2. If you haven't drinken the Kool Aid then you just won't get it.