MORE UNPOPULAR OPINIONS: THE KANYE POST
Another J-Zone entry that will surely be met with disagreement, but people forget that pre-the Bad Boy era, there was a such thing as an UNPOPULAR OPINION. That said, Kanye West is being unfairly hated on for shit he does well and unfairly praised for shit he does poorly. I think his ego is more enjoyable than his music.
I’m already expecting it. This is 2009. I cannot have an OPINION about somebody that makes more money than me. That would make me a "hater". Lower tax bracket folks with no clout having “opinions” about those in the stratosphere of superstardom went out of style with men wearing men’s clothes. That said, here’s my two cents on that guy that got sick of going to college.
Stop acting surprised. We’re the ones who created Kanye in all of his Eddie Cain of The 5 Heartbeats temper tantrum glory in the first place, but I’ve always had an unpopular opinion in that people have it backwards. How many times have you heard this statement?
“Kanye West is a jack ass with a big ego who happens to be talented”.
I hear it daily, but my outlook on Kanye is actually the polar opposite. Kanye West is a master puppeteer of the people, a talented genius on the marketing front that may have as much musical talent as the guy rapping in the credit report.com commercial. On second thought, the credit report.com dude wins. This commercial has way more funk than that "Love Lockdown" feces that Kanye made, that’s for damn sure.
We all know Kanye is a classless hemorrhoid, but he’s 3% talent and 97% publicity, so that’s what he’s supposed to be. But before you all get disgusted and pout in disbelief at his latest stunt, realize that every Facebook post, every TMZ article and every MTV report is responsible for him being the brat of a celebrity that he is. WE created that award-show crashing arrogant guy, and he took it to new heights. Look, it’s 2009 people, and its all about publicity. THAT is what generates revenue. All over the internet, people are saying "he went too far this time". Huh? No, he didn’t. If that was anybody else, then yes, that’s disrespectful and going too far. But he’s Kanye being Kanye, that’s what he does, and he does it extremely well. Nothing is "too far" for him, thus when the rumor surfaced that he claimed he was the new King Of Pop after MJ passed, everybody believed it without confirmation. Why? Because he’ll eventually say it, and when he does, people will keep him in the spotlight simply by paying attention to him. He stated "George Bush doesn’t care about Black people" on TV. He’s right, but it was stated conveniently right before his album dropped and he never elaborated on that statement in depth again. The statement was true, and I’m not saying he didn’t mean it, but a good chunk of that was to boost the buzz for Late Registration. It worked like a fuckin charm, you went out and bought that so-so ass album to see what he was about, right? Point blank, with his latest outburst at the MTV VMA’s, he made the show all about him without even performing. Although he apologized, he already accomplished what he set out to do. I didn’t watch the VMA’s, all I know about it is Kanye bumrushing Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech. When asked what’s the first thing you’ll remember about this award show in years to come, it will no doubt be Kanye showing his ass. Mission accomplished, that’s the mark of successful promotion in 2009. Do ANYTHING to stay in the news, nothing is sacred. That’s the Twitter-obsessed, facebook checking every 2 minutes, short term memory, ego-maniacal, gossip loving culture that we’ve created ourselves, accept it and stop being surprised. He’s just taking full advantage of it. Kanye has a bright future as a publicist should he ever come in for a crash landing and abandon making those karaoke ass albums. And speaking of which, when he decides that he’ll go the country western route for his next album, you’ll all rush to itunes to support that trash, so stop acting like you’re fed up with his behavior.
A friend of mine said Kanye is soft for bumrushing the acceptance speech an 18 year old girl who he knew wouldn’t check his ass. True, but look at him. Do you expect stand-up manliness from that guy? Kanye may be a classless hemorrhoid, but he’s no dummy. He’s an incredible walking PR firm, and that in itself is a talent that takes an extraordinary level of effort to perfect, like it or not.
Look, Tila Tequila’s no talent trampy ass took supposedly serious alleged abuse allegations to Twitter with an “It’s On!” statement. Rappers punch each other in the mouth conveniently right before their albums come out. A dull moment can kill your career in 2009, so good and bad publicity are one in the same. I’m waiting for someone to admit to having a threesome with Susan Boyle and a gibbon right before their movie hits theaters…boost those box office sales. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, as long as people are watching. In fact, I’ll go as far as saying that Kanye is a marketing genius. He’s realized how stupid WE are, and he’s used that public stupidity and frivolity as a springboard for a 24-7/365 media campaign that keeps him in plain sight and us eagerly awaiting his next meltdown. He has no choice, how long are people going to stay interested in that Sweet-N-Low music he makes? I’d rather see another Kanye outburst than another Kanye album. If the media stopped caring and being shocked at his brazen outbursts, he would humble and crumble in a Superhead blowjob orgasm minute. He’s laughing at us all, because he’s at the top of the Google searches on a daily basis, and we put him there. Even I got trapped by penning this article, that makes me guilty too. I honestly don’t think he really has an ego problem at all, I actually think he’s a very sharp dude that stays one step ahead of a star struck, gossip reading, Spot Book literacy level American Public that speaks in acronyms -LMFAO,SMH,ROTFL,FML- because he KNOWS people will eat this shit up every time. He’s on top of the world, and he won’t relinquish that position until people start ignoring him. Our undivided attention is his cardiovascular system.
But I’ll also take an unpopular stance on the other side of the issue. Kanye West is not a musical genius, not even close. Never has been, I always felt he was overrated. When he outsold 50 Cent (after 50 challenged him on first week sales) on their shared release date a few years back, I went into a three week long depression, I cut my cel phone off, lost 4 pounds and everything. I wanted 50 to smash him so badly, I bought 50’s album. In fact, I bought it a few times…on CD, vinyl…I tried to buy it on tape, VHS, reel to reel, Betamax and 8-track too, but the lady at Rock & Soul record store looked at me like I was nuts. At that point, Kanye was David and 50 was Goliath, but look what a few years can do. Kanye has taken over as the man you love to hate, the master puppeteer of shameless PR, but I’ve always felt his music was average at best and bird shit at worst. He dropped a witty verse and a catchy beat (usually for another artist) every now and then, I’ll give him that. But come on, with the buzz he had in 2005, people were acting like he topped Amerikkka’s Most Wanted or Tim Dog’s Penicillin On Wax album or something.
He also helped catapult two of the most vomit-inducing trends to the forefront of pop culture.
1. Bad 1980’s Metro fashion straight out of a Spiegel catalog. Go to Union Square in NYC to take a look at what he’s helped promote, you just might lose your lunch.
2. That disease of Auto-tune in full album form (and live renditions of it like this shitty Gong Show worthy “performance” ) and the whole "I’m above rap because I sing now" shtick.
When he makes an ode to “Golddiggers” that can come within 5,000 feet of this classic song, call me…
Even early on, when I didn’t believe the hype upon his initial rise to stardom, I’d hear this all the time…
“But College Dropout and Late Registration were amazing man, admit it, or you’re just hating.”
Unpopular Opinion: No, they weren’t. They weren’t bad, and they had some good ideas on them, but I never got what all the hype was about. After all of that buzz about him being the next big thing, I gave both albums a full listen and found myself reaching for that MC Hammer gangsta rap comeback CD I kept in my car to get giggles out of people. Gangsta Hammer > Kanye. The beat for "Pumps In A Bump" > the beat for "Through The Wire", have you ever heard "Pumps In A Bump" in a boomin system!? Jeeezuussss!!! Obviously his first two albums were better than the comatose musical territory he would explore in recent years, but I never saw what the fuss was with that guy, call me a "hater" if it makes you feel better. It seemed like it was just timing above anything. In 2004, people were tired of blinged out thuggery and soulless indie rap with amateur drum programming. The yuppie/hipster movement was beginning to migrate towards rap, but the next face of the movement couldn’t be 50 Cent. He was too threatening. 50 was successful with an intriguing life story, but he was still too rough around the edges for the folks in Beverly Hills. Rap didn’t have a harmless guy that you could invite to dinner and not have to hide the silverware, but he’d still have the balls to call out George Bush on TV. In sitcom comparison, 50 Cent was Good Times, but Kanye was The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. Likable to every demographic with a story anybody could relate to. He was the Carlton Banks of rap with a slight edge. He didn’t shoot and kill anybody on record, he had some wit, he wasn’t afraid to be the middle class brother and he helped push sampling back to the forefront of production. He filled the void of non-threatening and sample-based rap that a certain demographic had been longing for since Death Row took over the rap game in 1993, and I won’t take those achievements away from him. He also made few dope beats for other artists, but is he this musical prodigy that he and everybody else chooses to believe he is? No. He was a change of pace that came about at the right time. That said, Kanye West’s biggest talents are timing and having an uncanny ability to have complete control over a star-obsessed, TMZ addicted world. Just my opinion, who gives a shit.
That said, stop making a fuss about this guy, leave him alone. As for his public displays of idiocy, you can do either of two things. Accept them as part of his shtick and respect his publicity stunt genius or just ignore him completely. If you do the former, accept all outbursts with a grain of salt, laugh at them and realize a guy with sub-par musical talent is running the music world by saying "I’m the best" enough times that you’re actually starting to believe it. I think its hilarious, all bullshit aside. However, if you do the latter, he’ll suddenly become a humble guy that may just offer to mow the lawns of the first 22 people that buy his next album.
What were y’all doing watching the VMA’s anyway? Award shows blow, read a book instead.
September 15th, 2009 at 9:58 am
I won’t defend Kanye on this one, but you know how I feel about his music. 5 solid pop records. Sorry.
September 15th, 2009 at 10:19 am
*4
September 15th, 2009 at 10:36 am
liz, we always argue about this hahaha. and we always will!
September 15th, 2009 at 11:32 am
a good point well made.
can you write some more about record shops and digging please?
September 15th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
damn… just when i think you cant top your last blog……
September 15th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Wow…I wish I had written this. It’s brilliant!
We (and the media) did create the monster known as Kanye..but I for one, will not be buying his (or any other) current mainstream krapola, until I hear something worthy of my hard earned $$$.
Reeno
King of Soulful Electrofunk
http://WWW.SPAZZOID.COM
September 15th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Thank you. that was dope. and on point as far as I’m concerned.
September 15th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
You know he’s a marketing genius when even the president comments on his antics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwtAqt4Bxho
He’s mastered viral marketing, that’s for sure… Even though some of his music makes me break out in hives.
September 15th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
thank you. there is a reason he will be invited next year to the vmas, why jay leno gave him airtime on his show last night, and why he did his apology on HIS blog, twice. talyor swift should have thanked him at the show when beyonce gave her a 2nd chance. I never heard of taylor swift until this whole story broke out, but u know i def checked out her video afterwards. He takes that whole howard stern/ fox news publicity to another level. there is a reason fox news is #1 in cable ratings, 1/3 if not 1/2 of their audience is liberals buggin out watching their shit. I’ll admit it, i ate it up too, i watched the vma thing on youtube several times AND talked about it at work.
As far as him being a musical genius… NO. Did he have a couple dope beats and some slick verses? yea, but did he push boundaries? did he experiment? He never pioneered anything, he took what was out there and expanded on it. As a producer hes got some talent, he did have a couple dope tracks, however there are tons of other producers out there that deserve more respect. That whole designer/director/artisit/mullet boundary pusher shits gotta go though.
And by the way, didn’t his mother die when hey momma came out? Just sayin…
September 15th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
@ Step one: Co-sign…..I’ve had it up to here wit the Kanye stuff….I come to J-Zone’s blog to hear him clown people that dilute their lives with his pop culture influence and to read ill shit about Zone’s diggin adventures, Cassette Tape love and production tales….
September 15th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Big DO, Step One…Cassette tape article coming next week, stay tuned. Don’t want to pigeonhole this blog into one area, I write about everything. It wont be an all diggin blog or an all Kanye bashing blog haha, its an everything blog.
September 15th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
and by the way, this piece was clowning pop culture throughout. next to get slayed…twitter.
September 16th, 2009 at 7:20 am
So on point,
love this Blog,
still I thingk this VMA thing was staged,
It reminded me to much of the Bruno/Eminem drama from a couple month back.
September 16th, 2009 at 8:20 am
Word, I never heard of taylor swift before this and I never watch the stink awards, shows you how much any coverage is a boost for anyone involved.
September 16th, 2009 at 9:00 am
I thought it was an excellent example of trolling which combined ODB style stage invasions and that Schoolly D I Don’t Like Rock ‘N’ Roll spirit in an era when too many rappers are kissing up to terrible MOR rock/pop artists for acceptance.
However, i do (did?) really rate KanYe as a producer as the guy has a plethora of bangers from The Truth by Beanie onwards.
September 16th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
“I’m waiting for someone to admit to having a threesome with Susan Boyle and a gibbon right before their movie hits theaters…boost those box office sales” - Great line
I fell off my bar stool when I read that.
So the general consensus is that this wasn’ a random drunken outburst but a clever marketing ploy - I wonder when his new album coming out??
September 17th, 2009 at 7:32 am
I consider myself to be out of the loop musically, but I didn’t know who Taylor Swift was before this “outburst”. Case closed.
September 17th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Listen:I love slaughtering sacred cows and shitting on people’s dreams; its a passion of mine.
But J-zone is wrong.
Kanye’s antics were stupid and wack this time, no doubt about it. He usually defends the underdog, or at least gets passionate about his own work. But here, swift was the undog and he bullied her and ruined her shit. Beyonce don’t need more accolades, or more defending. That chick got it made, and was gonna live fine without that award.
However, people kill me with the “Its all marketing” crap. They are reasoning backwards.
Kanye is one of the biggest artistic risk takers in popular music. Again and again, he does shit that, previous to his doing it, seemed risky and unusual. He is one of the least ‘marketed’ most ‘in control of his own art and image’ dudes there is!
When dudes was jersey wearing, he was preppy. Tell me, was YOU wearing jersey’s at that time J-zone???
When raps were at their blingy-est, he was rapping about getting his jaw wired shut, Jesus, and all falls down.
He was on the Roc, rapping about college and wearing pink sweaters.
He split the production of his second album with fiona apple’s producer, sampled some ol ass ray charles, made his first single off that album anti-blood diamonds.
3rd album led off with a daft punk sample and was very early in the super electronic sounding shit phase.
THEN, he drops an 80% autotune singing album, with kraftwerk sounding beats!
This whole time, he’s resurrecting common, putting out rhymefest, giving dilated peoples their biggest hit, fucking with Estelle, kid cudi, consequence, etc.
He’s droppin verses for fall out boy, madonna, and MJ.
He’s doing rap concerts with live orchestration, with huge spacey sets he physically designs HIMSELF, crying onstage about his mother.
He’s on live telethons, refusing to play along, dissing the president at a time when that shit was not popular to do.
Even on Punk’d, when they tried to take his film, he snatched it from who he thought was a FED and ran!!!!
This dude is not calculated. He’s not corporate, he’s not precisely marketed. He is among the most honest celebrities there is.
Beyonce woulda NEVER done that for herself, but then, Beyonce wears a facade 24/7. Doesn’t mean she didn’t think it.
Jay Z woulda NEVER got political like that on live TV, but then, Jay Z is focused on the bottom line (”I wanted to rhyme like common sense, but I sold 5 mill, I ain’t been rhymin like Common sense”. Artistically disgusting.)
Kanye is a man of contradictions, as are we all. He makes good and bad songs, good and bad decisions. He Has albums I like more, and albums I like less, songs I like more, songs I like less, and I loved him for going at bush, and was disappointed to see him bumrush a teenager who obviously didn’t need that.
But he is not some marketing creation.
He is a publicist’s nightmare: impossible to predict and control, making impetuous decisions based on thoughts and feelings that he actually has, not the ones people want him to have.
You may not like him, but it is ridiculous to accuse him of being a media creation and then to espouse the vrtues of 50 cent, perhaps the biggest artist to blow because of who he was and what he’d done (or what was done to him, pop pop pop), not because of his sonic wizardry and microphone prowess and the INCREDIBLE Interscope machine behind him.
I don’t say hater. It does seem like a way to say “success should be respected, however it’s obtained.” And I don’t agree with that. There are people with doe who I don’t respect. Who I wouldn’t wanna be.
But Kanye did it the way we ALL dream of blowing: He made the music that he thought was hot, despite it having very little popular precedence. And it took off and validated the SHIT outta him. Now, he’s gassed. But if anyone should be gassed, it’s the dude who followed his heart and became an icon. He broke every rule, and NO ONE thought his career as a rapper/producer would take off until well after it did. He’s the definition of organic success in that way: people heard the music first, and they liked it. And now he’s front and center at every awards show. Some people don’t like it, just like some people don’t like what J-zone does (or what I do). But it ain’t the marketing.
For once, it’s the art.
September 17th, 2009 at 9:27 am
@ Beatmonsta…obviously we don’t agree on a lot of points, but its all good, your points were well stated. that’s why this blog is the home of unpopular opinion and ensuing debate! the bottom line is discussion, whether in agreement or not, is always a good thing. word…
September 17th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
@ beatmonsta:
I look at things a different way:
when he first came out his beats did not sound much different than just blaze, and he was not the only dude rocking polo, backpacks and preppy gear. samplin ray charles is not pioneering anything and neither is rapping against rocking jewelry, they’ve all been done before. Oh and that daft punk sample is sampled from here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3AKrwna2C8
so in other words it would be similar if he came out with a newer version of hammer’s “you cant touch this”. and autotune? he was not the first but may very well be the last.
recognize this song too?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=728o3osYo3o
Now there is sampling and there is rippin off. these are just rip offs. take a dude like RZA for example, now thats a pioneer…. you can tell its a rza beat 10 seconds in and he chops his shit up.
As far his fashion thing, its popular to be different now and thats why his pushing things like mullets and zebra striped hair. He never would have done that 10 years ago because that would just be weird.
And if you think his videos have pushed boundaries check these out:
justice dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWV4TIb776Q
kanyes good life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su_zrW9WBVk
chairlift evident utensil
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LG39Wp7OzQ
kanye welcome to heartbreak
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ7jCWufP00
and no i dont have a kanye doll in my house that i stick pins into every night
September 17th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Kanye West is just horrible.
Just fucking awful.
He is like a white man in black face shucking and jiving.
It’s disgraceful. Everything a man should not be when they get a little dough.
September 17th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Beatmonsta: You could have just said “he’s a nigger” going on natural instinct and no reasoning or though.
September 18th, 2009 at 12:57 am
Kanye cares entirely too much about award shows. i think he’s talented and he has the sales to prove he’s popular, but when it comes down to it, he cares more about what MTV, AMA, the Academy, etc. thinks than he cares about his own dignity. i appreciate what he said about Hurricane Katrina, but as a man, i think he has a little bit of bitch in him. he takes me as the type of dude that get’s dumped by his dream girl and shoots up the cafeteria and then himself. if you’re an artist and you enjoy making music, than who care’s what the next cat thinks? especially when the next cat historically dismisses your artform to begin with. and another thing, since when does Kanye’s opinion mean anything more than anyone else’s? pitching a fit is supposed to change the way we think about a damn music video? seriously?
and where the real muhfuggas at? stop giving the next dude props for the kind of clothes he’s wearing.
September 18th, 2009 at 6:43 am
@ Mr. Shush…great analogy about the cafeteria shooter, haha.
September 21st, 2009 at 12:22 am
Yeah it’s good timing but at the end of the day , everything happens in gods time . You cant compare Kanye to a Large Pro , Diamond D or Rza cause he’s not from that school . Look at him……he just reflects the current times and everything little thing I dont like about it BUT as a pop , emo rap or whatever producer/rapper I give him props . Think about it ….he didn’t really follow anybody . Him and Pharrell are trendsetters but everybody cant follow trends. Everybody praises him for “bringing back samples ” but for real for real you should praise Jay-Z for picking those beats . Does he even still sample ?
September 21st, 2009 at 6:22 am
Strap on your tinfoil hat and get ready… I came up with this nonsense on a forum where they got talkin about the whole Kanye fiasco. I think the marketing genius is above and beyond Kanye:
Viacom (owns MTV) and NBC Universal are kind of “friends”, so to speak, in the corporate world.
NBC Universal (home of Leno’s new show) is partially owned by Vivendi. Vivendi owns Universal Music Group, the parent label of Taylor Swift’s label as well as Roc-a-fella and Def Jam (labels Kanye’s worked with)
Kanye runs up on stage, suddenly this relatively unknown Taylor Swift gets thrust into the public spotlight. It also drives attention back to MTV, maybe get some people interested in watching one of the 1700 reruns of the awards show they’ll play until next year’s show and in turn get them to tune in to some of MTV’s other garbage.
Now you put Kanye as the first guest on Leno’s new show. This stage-rush nonsense is still fresh in people’s mind, everyone wants to know what Kanye will have to say!
So with one little staged event, they generate priceless mainstream buzz for MTV, Taylor Swift, Kanye, and Leno. You can’t buy that kind of press!
The big flaw with my conspiracy theory is I thought for sure Taylor Swift would be on Leno soon after. At this point I think it’s too late for them to really capitalize on it anymore.
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:51 am
I’m not a Kanye fan in the least but I think that conspiracy theory is a bit much, even for him.
Taylor Swift doesn’t really need the exposure, her two albums have sold over 6 million units in a download crazed era.
I just wanna know when Suga Free is droppin another album to shit on all these mufuckas & put the impin back in the pimpin’
September 28th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
I totally agree with all you wrote in the post.
And that G Rap song is classic!
October 11th, 2009 at 9:45 am
This is pretty much how I feel to a tee: brilliant write up. And also props for shouting out Kool G Rap. He never gets adequate credit.
October 11th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
I totally agree with Beatmonsta.
Plus I’ll add that theres nothing “unpopular” in hating Kanye or BadBoy in 2009.
My grandmom is hating on em too now.
What the fuck is unpopular in hating on them?
Were you hating on Kanye in 2004?
Were you hating on Badboy in 1995?
I don’t think so… so… the whole post is lame.
October 11th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
The unpopular part was the fact that I DON’T hate Kanye for what most people hate him for, his ego. I was never a fan of his music (yes even in 2004), but most people were fans of his music until they got sick of his “ego”. I still think he’s entertaining.
July 30th, 2010 at 8:09 am
Kanye just straight-up sucks a lyricist, rapper & producer and always has.
Nothing more too it.
You heard “Going Home” he literally just plays the entire Gil Scott Heron original.