Let's Talk About Kanye- Inside the Mind of a True A**Hole

And yes, he sat like this, the whole time.

           Kanye did an interview with BBC Radio One’s  Zane Lowe and about a week ago and just like everything else Ye does, it entertained, and confused us at the same damn time. While poor Zane Lowe probably went in to this interview with the intention of talking about his latest album, Yeezus, what he got was an insight into the mind of Kanye West and good Lord, nobody was ready for that level of craziness. While people may have watched it and got a good laugh, and some twitter jokes out of the interview , whether you were looking for it or not you got a permanent opinion about Kanye.  They are going to be playing clips from this interview years from now whenever Kanye is mentioned.  Kanye ranted for about an hour in the 4 part interview, and said some really thought provoking things. Beside from Kanye's  weird"professional interview voice", here’s a few more things that caught my attention.

1)      Yeezus

In the middle of his rants about discrimination, fashion and his family, Kanye did manage to talk about his highly criticized album Yeezus (2013). His comments either cleared up any confusion you had about the album, or it confused you even more.  Ye mention that his album is not made for easy listening, and I couldn’t agree more. Ninety percent of the reason why I didn’t like the Yeezus album is because I couldn’t listen to it while I watched TV.  The whole sound of the album was angry and frustrating. It didn’t have a clear vibe that I could get into. The dramatic beats, random voice changes, and powerful content leaves you confused and requires thought to process what your hearing. In this recent time in music we are used to having an immediate opinion about a song after we hear it.  Music and the emotion it evokes is so clear and literal that when we hear songs like On Sight or Blood on the Leaves, we hate it because the song doesn’t tell us how we are supposed to feel about it. Are we supposed to dance, are we supposed to feel sad, are we supposed to be in love? Even when we hear deep lyrics from Tupac, J Cole or Drake, it still doesn’t take much to find out what, they are talking about, and what we are supposed to feel. Hell, half of the reason we love J Cole and Drake is because they tell us a story that we can relate to.  Yeezus covers so many different topics in his lyrics and places them on these crazy beats that we have to think too hard on what to even concentrate on.  Music like that doesn’t get our approval and gets laughed at the radio stations. Yeezus wasn’t made for the radio. Does this direction make Kanye a musical genus? Well, that’s completely objective. But it does make him an innovator. The dramatic way he separates himself from other artist, does need to be respected even if it’s not completely understood.

“Rap the new rock and roll!!!... We the new culture!...We the real rock stars, and I’m the biggest of all of em! I’m the number one rock star!”

2)      Damn, Ye is an asshole

This interview did make me think about what we consider asshole behavior. Yes, Kanye is an asshole. We all can agree on that. By definition, Kanye is the ass holiest of all assholes. But think about it; when was the last time Kanye ever lied? Did George Bush not drag his feet in sending federal help to New Orleans, while people (predominantly African American) were drowning to death in their homes? Was Beyoncé’s Single Ladies (2008) not the best video of that year? If someone was following you with a camera every time you stepped outside, would you not put hands on them at least once? While he may have terrible timing, and not necessarily be politically correct with the things he says and does, Kanye does speak the truth. When you tell the truth when people don’t ask for it, or want to hear it, you’re automatically labeled an asshole (duche bag ect.)  Kanye is a true asshole, and he’s proud of it.

Yes, this was the mood of the whole interview.

3)      Kanye is a God

This interview did give me a little clarity on the whole “Yeezus” thing.  When we hear God, our Christian minds go straight to the Bible. There is no man before, above or equal to Him. Agreed. But what if we took this definition out of a biblical context? (The Christian girl in me is beating me bloody with a Bible right now.)

What if this idea was how you viewed yourself? There is no man above me or before me. Isn’t that how we are supposed to view ourselves anyway? What if young black men had this type of confidence about themselves? Would they be killing each other for Jordans? Would they fight so hard for the respect of others if they thought this highly of themselves?  Would the beauty industry be a multibillion dollar industry if young girls knew that they could never equal the women they saw on TV anyway? That level of confidence would  be dangerous in the best way possible. You wouldn't even have to be arrogant about it because no one's opinion would matter anyway.  Even as much as Kanye loves Kanye , I don’t think he even possess that type of confidence.  But just imagine what you could accomplish if you thought no one was above, below or equal to you. Granted, in Christian context, this reference  is blatant blasphemy but I just think we as a society lack a word for this level of confidence because it’s such a farfetched idea. Closest word to describe it is, God.

“When someone comes up to you and say I Am a God, people say who does he think he is? I just told you who I thought I was! A God!”….  “Would it be better if had a song called I Am a Nigga?...All those colors and patinas fit better on a person like me”

4)      Jimmy Kimmel was wrong

Soon after this interview aired, late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel did a spoof of the interview using kids repeating some of Kanye’s quotes while drinking milkshakes. Soon after the spoof aired, Kanye turned his caps lock on and went on the most memorable, most entertaining twitter rants of all time! (*kanye voice*)

        Now while the spoof was funny, and Kanye’s caps lock furry tickled me, I could see why Kanye would be upset. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the quotes from the interview are funny as hell, mainly because of how serious and angry he was. And I’m not going to front like I fully understand the “genus” in Kanye, but none the less; Kanye was speaking some real truth and watching his seriousness reduced to a child, literally, did make me cringe a little. Once again Kanye’s asshole-ness overpowered the stuff that people needed to hear and his message just went in main stream America’s ear and out the other.  Because Ye has been labeled an asshole, main stream America doesn’t take him seriously and reduces him to late night talk show jokes. Jimmy Kimmel’s spoof really just demonstrated how oblivious the main stream is to discrimination and post racist era- racism. As long as you get the message Kanye was preaching, it’s ok to laugh, but the spoof just proved how some people just will never get it. Discrimination is just that “a spoof” of real life to some people.

 Best twitter rant of the century

Take an hour out of your life and let Yeezy educate/entertain you:

Part 1 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2T0fMkZoMo

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx3X4r-eCYQ

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PED4zgjG3Ng

Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIfUmGxSgpY

Stalker Notes:  twitter @kanyewest

“Why do you think Niggas in Paris is called Niggas in Paris?... because niggas was in Paris!!”

What's your favorite comments from the interview, leave them in the comments below!