Michael Jordan changed so much in basketball, he took his power

Hear the words of Kanye West, bold and unafraid, who declared: “Michael Jordan changed so much in basketball, he took his power to make a difference. It’s so much going on in music right now and somebody has to make a difference.” In these words, he speaks not merely of sport or sound, but of destiny, of the responsibility laid upon those with gifts to reshape the world around them. He reminds us that talent alone is not enough—it is the wielding of that talent for transformation that marks true greatness.

He invokes Michael Jordan, the figure who transcended his sport. Jordan did not simply play basketball; he redefined it. His skill, his hunger, his very presence lifted the game from competition to spectacle, from pastime to global phenomenon. But more than the points he scored or the championships he claimed, Jordan’s gift was in how he altered the culture around him. He showed that one man, through excellence and determination, could change the very way the world sees a craft. This is the power Kanye speaks of: the power to shift an entire field, to leave it forever different than it was before.

Kanye sees in music the same need for transformation. He looks at the abundance, the noise, the countless voices rising at once, and he knows that among them, someone must step forward—not only to entertain, but to challenge, to inspire, to carry the weight of making a difference. Just as Jordan refused to be ordinary in his game, Kanye insists that artists must refuse to be ordinary in theirs. To him, music is not merely melody or rhythm, but a battleground where new ideas, new feelings, new truths must be forged.

History has proven this pattern. Consider Bob Dylan, who entered music not merely as a singer, but as a voice of conscience in the turbulent 1960s. With guitar and word, he spoke against war, injustice, and hypocrisy. He did not sing to please alone, but to awaken. Like Jordan, he took his gift and used it to alter the landscape of his art. Dylan changed what a song could mean, just as Jordan changed what a game could be. And in the same way, Kanye calls upon the artists of his own time to rise above the ordinary, to bear the burden of creating meaning where others create only noise.

Yet this charge is not only for giants of sport or song. It is for all of us. To live with power is to live with responsibility. Whatever your field, whether humble or grand, you carry the chance to leave it changed. The farmer who tends his land with care, the teacher who awakens her students, the craftsman who builds with integrity—all are called to make a difference. For in every life there lies the seed of transformation, waiting to be sown with courage.

The lesson, O children of tomorrow, is clear: do not be content with simply existing within your field—whether it be work, art, or community. Do not seek only comfort or applause. Seek instead to make a difference, to leave the place you enter stronger, fuller, richer because you were there. Learn from Jordan, who took basketball beyond itself; learn from Kanye, who demands of music not only sound but significance. The same call is upon you.

So take this teaching into your days: whatever gifts lie in your hands, wield them boldly. Refuse the chains of mediocrity. Pour your energy not only into success, but into transformation. For when history looks back, it will not remember those who blended into the crowd. It will remember those who, like Jordan on the court and Kanye in his vision, took their power and chose to make a difference.