Kanye is a legend (or will be one when he retires) because he has
visible, long-lasting impact on the new generation of rappers. Outside of Britney and Beyonce, no popstar to debut this century has more impact than him. This isn't a matter of how much he's sold (since that is completely irrelevant to how much impact an artist has made). This is a matter of whether or not artists look to him as a source of inspiration. Taylor has sold way more albums than him, but has zero impact on any actual artists. Katy has sold way more records, but has no impact either. When will ATRL realize that numbers don't matter
You've got the biggest rapper of the decade, Drake, who started out by emulating the sing-songy style Kanye used on
808's and Heartbreaks. You've got J Cole, another big rapper, who has been trying to emulate Kanye's sound from the
College Dropout with many of his past releases. You've got new comers like Travis Scott, Chance the Rapper and Vic Mensa emulating his style and actively vying for his attention as well. Like what's not to get.
TLDR; Kanye became a legend with
MBDTF, has more impact than all of ATRL's faves, and you can all deal with it