Please Do Not Support This Man

Have you heard / read yet about the classless, douchebag stunt Kanye West pulled at the Video Music Awards last night? The way he completely upstaged Taylor Swift? Or did you maybe witness it in real time? If not, let me know and I’ll send a link to the YouTube video – assuming it hasn’t already been posted a million times to your FaceBook news feed. Gee whiz, what a tool that guy is.

I DVRd the whole VMA mess so I could watch it tonight, fast forward through 90% of the crappy parts (i.e. all the music performances) and just watch host Russell Brand being sexy and hilarious. Now it looks like I might have to watch a little bit more than that, because I also understand that this person Lady GaGa – whose music I have also never heard but whose wardrobe I know from memory – did something interesting.

But getting back to Kanye West, in every single clip I’ve ever seen of him at an awards show, he’s either interrupting someone or throwing a shit fit. I was on his side for about five minutes for what he said about George W. Bush after Hurricane Katrina, but I really don’t understand how he has fans. His best song was based on having lifted an entire Elton John song (“Someone Saved My Life Tonight”), which he then rapped over. Talent!

I remember about five or so years ago, my writer friend Nicole and I were reading the results of the Village Voice’s annual “Pazz & Jop” music critics poll, as we had probably submitted our ballots for the only ten rock-type albums that managed to get released that year. And I’ll just never, ever forget Nicole’s voice asking me quite earnestly and sincerely, “Who the fuck is Kanye West?” because he had won the top position of “Best Album Of the Year,” despite the fact that important rock critics like Nicole and me (sarcasm mode turned off) had never even heard of him.  That was the year I stopped writing CD reviews for good.