Mr. Controversy
Kanye West is an arrogant asshole. I think the above clip makes that crystal clear but that whole argument is besides the point. We all already knew this and Kanye has admitted to this personality defect on several of his songs. This is also not the first time he has bumrushed the stage during someone elses acceptance speech, although it is the first time he has done it in defence of someone else. This was however the most public and least defensible of his antics to date and as a result it has turned most of the blogosphere against him. As a former debating champion I love to play the role of devils advocate and as a Kanye stan* (Pre 808’s and Heartbreak) I will make a valiant attempt to defend his actions.
Argument 1: Kanye was Right
Despite being simple, Beyonce’s Single Ladies video is dope. The Taylor Swift video is midly entertaining but it is the same high school story video that Blink 182 was making 10 years ago…does that make you feel old? The Swift video also did not inspire SNL parodys, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5qx-MVrXfk) or have some of the now famous dance moves that Beyonce does in the Single Ladies video. Most importantly MTV apparently agrees with me as they awarded the Video of the Year award to Beyonce for……SINGLE LADIES!!!! Tell me how you can be a solo female artist and win video of the year but somehow get snubbed for best female video. I understand maybe doing this for the purpose of creating suspense but logically it falls flat.
Argument 2: Kanye is VERY passionate about everything
One of the reasons I like Kanye West is that in a World full of media trained teen idols and cliche driven interviews he always speaks his mind. Even though his big mouth gets him into trouble sometimes, I personally would rather hear him say what he believes than to give the typical answer of how much the winner deserved it and how great he or she is. For example his almost teary apology on Jay Leno spoke volumes about his personality. Almost any other star I can think of would have spent the day rehearsing an apology with their publicist and would have had several canned answers ready for any question Jay Leno could throw at them. Instead Kanye went up there and apologized honestly and at one point gave live tv one of its longest silences in years while trying to think of an answer. It might not be the smoothest approach but it is oh so real.
Argument 2.5 2007 BET Hip Hop Awards Video of the Year Award
Now I know most of my dedicated fan base does not watch the BET Awards but I would like to bring up something that happened there in 2007. Kanye had won video of the year for Stronger and he started his acceptance speech with,
“I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to win an award I shouldn’t win”.
He then proceeded to tell the audience that he personally thought the UGK featuring Outkast video for International Players Anthem was better than his own video. He then asked that they come up and take the award they rightfully deserved. After Outkast came up and said that Kanye deserved it just as much as they did he hesistantly took the award back and they all walked off stage together. This is proof that what happened at the VMA’s was not just arrogant grandtstanding, it was Kanye as he always does speaking his mind (Albeit in a very inappropriate manner).
http://www.theinsider.com/news/412486_Finally_Kanye_West_Wins_Award_and_is_Humbled
Argument 3: Kanye was drunkkkkkkkk
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/kanye-wests-bottle-of-hennessy
The above link presents a telling chronological story of Kanye’s night through pictures. My favourite is him encouraging Joe Jackson to swig some Hennessey straight from the bottle.
Conclusion
So all things considered Kanye still picked an incredibly inappropriate moment to go up on stage and ruin the biggest moment of a teenager’s life. He is clearly sorry but he still deserves alot of the hate that he is getting in some circles right now. After all he should have known exactly how vitriolic the response would be from white America when an adult black man makes a pretty white teenager cry on live TV.
I just hope that I have presented the other side of the argument well and maybe made a few people reconsider their Kanye West boycotts. Lets be real, if he makes another Stronger/Good Life you will all be dancing in the clubs again.
P.S. Watching the International Players Anthem video again reminded me of how good it was. Check out the link below particularly the opening verse from Andre 3000.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3b9TfnHA8A
2 years ago • Notes