If there's anything that Kanye has proven over the past decade, it's that he knows how to stay at the forefront of the pop culture consciousness - regardless of what he's doing.

Ever since he burst on the scene with "Through the Wire" and "Jesus Walks" in 2003-04, he's stayed ahead of the musical curve. When he wasn't topping charts with "Gold Digger" or "Stronger," he was defining the sound of 2010s mainstream curve on 808s and Heartbreak or creating one of the most critically acclaimed albums of all time, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Even Yeezus, with its harsh, industrial production and acerbic lyrics, will probably achieve widespread acceptance a few years down the road.

But with all of Kanye's trendsetting influence in music, and now fashion, has come Kanye's arrogant persona, the man who isn't afraid to speak his mind ever. Sometimes that's come back to bite him in a big way--no matter how you spin it, no matter how much "All the Single Ladies" deserved an award, getting drunk at the 2009 VMAs and interrupting Taylor Swift was a poor decision that has haunted Yeezy for years.

But if you look beyond the most obvious, blaring examples of Kanye's on-camera bluster and parse through the often inarticulate rambling, you can find Kanye West bringing up very important, very real issues.

Kanye is the world's greatest living contradiction, and we're being unfair to him if we don't explore every corner of his personality. Approach this list with an open mind.