Kanye West's Presidential Bid A 'Media Ploy' Says Longtime Friend

OAK LAWN, IL ­— Brian Richardson knew immediately that there was something amazingly unique about one of his Polaris High School classmates when a biology teacher struggled to properly pronounce Kanye West's first name.

Then a freshman, West — the future billionaire rapper who this week filed to be included on Illinois's November ballot as an independent candidate for President — quickly educated the teacher on how to correctly identify him moving forward.

And he did so with flair.

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"It's Kanye … pronounced with a 'Anye,'" Richardson, now 43 and the father of three, recalls his now-celebrity classmate saying during the first day of freshman biology at the Oak Lawn high school that has since closed.

"I'm the K-A-N-Y-E in b-iology."

Although Richardson hasn't spoken to West in more than a decade, his high school ties as West's best friend now provides him a lens through which he sees similarities between the sometimes socially awkward classmate who drove his mother's Jaguar to school from his home in Blue Island, and the one who is now making headlines for his run for the Oval Office amid suggestions that the rapper struggles with mental illness.

Each time West's name enters the news cycle — whether it be for a new album, his political aspirations or his latest spin into the celebrity gossip market — Richardson's phone is inundated by former classmates, which causes his memories of his long-time relationship with West to come flooding back. But as close as the two were into their 20s, between their time in school, playing basketball in the park or working out freestyle rap lyrics on the front porch of his childhood home, Richardson doesn't buy into what West is trying to sell to the American public.

"He always had this, 'I'm a baby and things have to be my way' attitude," Richardson, who now lives in Bartlett, told Patch in a telephone interview on Thursday. "Like when he lashes out in the media now, it sort of fits with who he was (at Polaris). It all makes sense. He's in his 'I need attention' mode right now.

"He's trying to get attention from everyone."

Richardson said he remained close with West until he was 22 — after West left for Atlanta to do production work for Jermaine DuPri and after Richardson left for college at Illinois State. But he vividly remembers getting phone calls at home from West, asking for his opinion of recording tracks as he experimented with various musical genres that would eventually end up on his albums. Yet, as creatively talented as West was before he found celebrity, Richardson said that there were always different sides of his friend. They routinely played out on a large scale.

Richardson recalls moments when West would lash out at his Polaris teachers with obscenities, but then would be honored by the school for his artistic achievements. So when he now sees West enter the news cycle in a variety of ways, Richardson is never completely surprised.

During their four years in Oak Lawn, Richardson said West always struggled to be accepted but always felt the most comfortable when he was producing artistically. Another Polaris classmate, John Novosel, wrote in an email to Patch that he recalls a school assembly when West grabbed the microphone after the assembly had ended and launched into a freestyle rap cover of a popular 90s song, carefully omitting obscenities to avoid trouble with school officials.

"No one moved or tried to take the mic away from him," Novosel wrote. "Several huddled near him and clearly appreciated how he ran through the lyrics. There was an unspoken trust there."

As time has passed, however, Richardson has witnessed West deal with celebrity in various ways. From his music becoming a worldwide phenomenon, to marrying Kim Kardashian, to the 2007 death of his mother — a former college professor at Chicago State — West has sometimes struggled to cope with life as it happens, Richardson senses.

Richardson, who has always considered West to be a combination of a "level-headed dude" and a "coddled mama's boy" who often struggled to find acceptance in school, believes his long-time friend will eventually return to his roots when celebrity fades and he hits "a wall." In the meantime, though, Richardson wishes West well.

Various media accounts have suggested that Kardashian has concerns over her husband's mental health, and in a series of deleted tweets, West seem to implicate Kardashian in trying to have him committed. While Richardson doesn't believe the bi-polar diagnosis that some have suggested the rapper struggles with, he does have difficulty lending too much legitimacy to West's dedication to politics.

This week, Kardashian wrote in an Instagram story that she had not spoken publicly about West's struggles with mental illness out of West's right to privacy. But in a plea for compassion for her husband, Kardashian wrote that while her husband is "brilliant and complicated,....those who are close with Kanye know his heart and understand his words sometimes do not align with his intentions."

Richardson, from a distance, takes a similar stance, especially in relation to this week's election filing in Illinois, which Richardson believes will quickly fade.

"This whole president thing is a complete joke," Richardson said. "I don't think it's going to follow through. … His music shows nothing but his creativity. He's made phenomenal music over the last 15 years, but this now, (West) hasn't always been engaged in the African-American community and yet, he's trying to poise himself to be the savior for the African-American community. It's an odd thing. … I think it's just a media ploy now."