Kanye West’s “Good Life,” featuring the unholy annoyance of T-Pain, is a track that marks a milestone for the Chicago-bred rapper. That milestone is his induction into the “sell-out” hall of fame.

With this track, from his not so hip-hop album “Graduation,” West appears to come out of the closet as a materialistic superstar who may have just been pretending to be the “savior of hip-hop.” Sadly, it seems that West has succumbed to the habits of the “average” rapper, making pointless and forgettable references to “haters giving him salty looks” and teasing us with a lifestyle that most of us regular folks down here at the foundation of his pedestal can’t, and probably never will, experience (unless the majority of you have had champagne on a plane while getting some … er … service.)

What ever happened to the Kanye West whose music gave empowerment? We’ve come a long way from “Jesus Walks,” haven’t we?

And to address the issue of the “haters,” the only thing to hate is West’s lost militancy and consciousness that made his first two albums worth listening to.

Music fans should note that just because a rapper isn’t talking about violence doesn’t necessarily mean he’s therefore talking about anything important. You don’t get to be labeled a positive artist just by avoiding being a negative one. West is trapped in a purgatory of near irrelevancy right now.

Don’t take this criticism to heart, though. There’s no doubt that West makes good sounding music for the most part. Perhaps we were all just bamboozled into believing that this young man may have had the social concerns and influential ingenuity of Common, Mos Def or Talib Kweli. West is good at what he does, but whatever he’s doing is a bit far from authenticity.

Is this hip-hop or just plain pop? Since West himself seems to be straddling the fence between making music for the soul and music for the soles of rich people’s shoes, we can only assume one thing: Kanye West does not care about hip-hop people.

Congratulations Mr. West. Welcome to the good life. We will miss you back here on planet Earth.