The Kanye Conundrum
Crazy Genius or Just Crazy?
2009-09-14
In an interview with Bill Maher recently, Jay-Z, the Elvis of rap, called Kanye West no less than a genius. Who am I to disagree with Jigga? Actually I don't. Kanye West is an amazing and even visionary talent. Global music, design and culture have become his influences and he’s created something very unique in a world of sameness and mediocrity.
That said, there’s a really thin line between genius and nutcase, and Kanye crossed that line at the VMAs. To quote Charlie Murphy on Rick James, Kanye West is a "habitual line-stepper". We've put up with geniuses and their quirks for centuries - Einstein, Picasso, Dali, Miles, Michael. In the end the gift of their work outweighed the eccentricities. Kanye should find no solace in this comparison. You're a genius, my friend, but not like that.
There are levels of genius and Kanye's particular genius has several levels to go before it rises to that list. Further, no level of genius provides enough of a buffer for being a dick. Sorry, I searched the thesaurus for a better word, but some words just fit the circumstance better.
You could say that Kanye's MTV outburst that embarrassed Taylor Swift was at least not about his ego this time, but Beyonce's honor as a video artist. Except that last night Facebook and Twitter were buzzing about Kanye West, not Beyonce's more deserving video. So at the end of the day, it was, as always, about Kanye.
I’m not as surprised that Kanye made himself today’s news as I am that a guy who seems to know so much about the music business gave MTV that much power. Who cares what MTV thinks about videos anymore? Clearly the channel lost their authority in that area years ago when shows like The Real World took over and the "music" part of MTV went the way of vinyl. So why does MTV seem to get under Kanye’s skin so much?
Last time, he was upset about being relegated to a minor stage. That made some sense at least. This time, it was irrational.
If one understands the demographic of MTV, Taylor Swift winning Best Female Artists makes complete sense. Who is more like the 17-year old white girl audience of MTV than a 17 year old white girl? Kanye should have been defending Miley Cyrus' honor, not Beyonce.
So maybe this is actually another example of the genius of Kanye West. Knowing that the VMAs are largely irrelevant other than a night of TV entertainment, and that there will never be a day when his videos will run once an hour like good videos used to back in the day of classic MTV, he seized the moment and used MTV the same way they use artists get ratings. That's a stretch, perhaps, and still doesn't excuse doing it at Taylor Swift's expense. That would at least make sense.
Then again, what is everyone writing about today? Wasn't there a Michael Jackson tribute or something?
