THE BEATLES MAY HAVE BEEN BIGGER THAN JESUS, BUT YEEZUS IS BIGGER THAN THE POPE. Last week at his Madison Square Garden show, a commercial-religious accomplishment that’s particularly fitting considering Yeezy’s allusions to both Pablo Escobar and Saint Pablo, and the fact that the venue’s previous record holder was the Pope. Rosary beads and crucifixes can move units, but they’re apparently no match for t-shirts and hoodies. Kanye West’s myriad accomplishments are often covered by the smog of self-immolation that hovers over him, but there’s simply no denying the music industry history he’s been making. At a time when the music itself often brings in a fraction of a fraction of a penny but a $40 t-shirt is still a $40 t-shirt, “thou shall put as much effort into selling merch as thou puts into selling albums” is now a well-known commandment for artists, and no one’s mastered the gospel like Mr.

With Kanye West, Miri Ben-Ari, Fonzworth Bentley, Yasiin Bey. Kanye West: College Dropout - Video Anthology Poster. Add a Plot ».

Tyler the Creator’s controlled a booming clothing line for years now, Rihanna’s fans swoop up any uniform their admiral releases and Drake’s pop-up shops have predictably come paired with around-the-block lines, but they’re all still mom and pop shops compared to Kanye’s Wal-Mart. So how did he do it? The answer is that is he’s been doing it. They called me crazy and pointed fingers — KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) but there is no other brand that could sell 1 million dollars of clothing in 2 days from 1 location!!! — KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) Kanye’s haute couture aspirations have been road blocked by the very people he so desperately wants approval from, drove him into debt and led to at least one legendary explosion. Never forget, the answers Sway didn’t have were about self-funding a profitable fashion line. Easybox wlan crack.

But while Yeezy’s attempts to supplant Versace on the global fashion stage are still a work in progress, those have given him a true expertise. Kanye doesn’t just know how to stitch a hem, he understands the economics of production and distribution like no other artist. He isn’t studying how to tell shirts at shows, not exactly. He’s soaking in Adidas’ global production expertise in board room meetings, he’s studying how Forever 21 makes all those millions (), and those lessons that are clearly translating to selling a lot of t-shirts at shows. West’s recent merch mastery proves there’s just no replacement for hard work and investment, but Kim Kardashian is a close second.

And also my number one design rule of anything I do from shoes to music to homes is that Kim has to like it. — KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) I’m not so jaded that I believe Kanye and Kim’s union is a marriage of opportunity. It’d be more accurate to say that they seemingly recognize a kindred spirit in each other, spirits that are determined to overpower traditional channels to success by the sheer overwhelming force of their personalities, and the cult those personalities produce. With Kim’s planet-shattering TV, Instagram and Snapchat presence by his side, Kanye doesn’t have to do much more than marketing than the occasional tweet. He’s able to and create a sense of the moment that brings together thousands compelled to be a part of something bigger than themselves, with the pics to prove it. Those of us who were in college when College Dropout seemingly dropped out of the sky and into our hearts are now spending our money on daycare and babysitters, not hoodies.

Instead, it’s Kim and her extended network that have kept ‘Ye plugged into a younger generation more than that will instantly become the envy of everyone in homeroom. Legitimately great looking clothes that are well-made, produced and distributed smartly, branded consistently, tied to real world events and marketed powerfully. While very few artists, (AKA really anyone not name Kanye, Beyonce, Taylor or Aubrey), have the resources to operate at Mr. West’s scale, those five principles can work for anyone. Individual shirts for each of his college stops, playing into a sense of the moment., giving them a higher percentage of profit of each sale and enabling them to make more than other artists who sell even a significantly higher volume. Wax is selling, the only limits are your own creativity. Hell, even – if you can’t beat Kanye, join him, whether he likes it or not. Once told me that today making music is just like owning land.