Kanye recently said that he was as big as Michael Jackson. Umm... no ;)

he also called himself the "number 1 rockstar in the world" and said that rappers are the new rockstars.

I could careless about that hubris, its probably why he wore that "punk" jacket he got on e-bay that was on rob's thread. I'm more concerned with idiotic claims of being anywhere near the same level as Michael Jackson, because simply put, nobody living today can touch him. The pantheon of musical heroes of world renown include in this exact order (1) Michael Jackson, (2) Bob Marley, (3) Tupac Shakur..

speaking of Tupac..



Women don't need to be brainwashed into that, they often make that mistake well enough on their own. I feel you though, hip hop has taken an unapologetic turn towards misogynism, and with out the self-reflective explanations like Tupac's "Wonder Why They Call You Bitch", "Brenda's Got a Baby," "Me and My Girlfriend," "White Man's World", "Do For Love," "Just Like Daddy," or "Keep Ya Head Up"...

Tupac was a sincere artist with his own flaws with women, but he didn't hide or deny this, and he wasn't trying to promote some kind of machismo fantasy, he was just himself. Some of his music reflects his more hedonistic, objectifying side of his life with women, others reflect that real, deep, and honest respect for women, as mothers, sisters, friends, and equals. Tupac had a balance like no other rapper in regards to finding positive portrayals of women in his music. As to Yeezus, it is just plain embarassing if you ask me, that in the 21st century such blatant misogynism is allowed unfettered and uncriticized. At least Tupac was honest but trying to improve his relationships with women, and at least he knew where his flaws were, so that his music could perhaps have that same effect on other men, to both celebrate hedonism while also lamenting it at the same time, which is sort of male sexuality 101 ;)

the best way to hide your gayness if you are in the rap game is to constantly harp misogynistic sex shit.
(I hear Beyonce is a lesbian. I have friends who have seen her on the DL at the lesbian bars in Houston, mugging on the ladies, just like Gloria Estefan.)

Kanye West IS the #1 rock (well... pop) star in the world.

And rap is the new rock.

And while he may not be as big as Michael Jackson, that is a matter of opinion. He's sold records at roughly the same pace as MJ, and Kanye didn't have one of the most influential bands of the 60's to help him launch into his solo career with the world already behind him.

Relatively speaking, people talk more about Kanye than Michael. Kanye's a more interesting musician in my opinion, and lyrically they're on a par. Actually Kanye kills Michael. I'm just trying to be respectful here.

Apt comparisons all around.

If the people were smarter, Kanye would be as big as the Beatles. Of all the artists to make it over the last decade, absolutely nobody can compare with Kanye's mindblowing musical, cultural, and media influence.

So glad people are getting over nickelback, the previous "biggest" "rock" ...thing... in the... Canada. ugh, fuckit.

the Kanye hatred is ridiculous. can't wait to see what he does next. Pusha is gonna stream his new album today so at least we're gonna get some new Yeezus outtakes. :)

i'm with you Sev. the general audience likes to hate on Kanye so much, and what do we get as a result? top 10 charts which are full of generic bullshit. if people smartened up, mainstream music would be in a better place for sure.

there's the full interview:

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

good stuff.

but then us cool dudes would have to find something else to like. :p

Seriously bro, that is very debatable. In way, Taylor Swift or One Direction can be argued as more popular in the pop world, so again, for Kanye to say he is as big as Michael Jackson is simply ridiculous hubris with no apologies..



Dude, Kanye is big, but in the rap world he is not the biggest, just one of the biggest.


Again, in connection with global name recognition, even within his own time let alone posthumously, how can Kanye even begin to remotely compare himself to Michael Jackson? Even Michael Jackson, who was one of the sincerely nicest people to ever live, would probably give an implied face palm..







(a) You're talking out of your ass, when Michael Jackson passed away in 2009 the popular feedback loop made Kanye look like some unknown coffee shop artist in comparison, seriously.

(b) Michael Jackson suffered a lot of slander and gossip, you have to compare Michael Jackson in say 1985 or 1991 to Kanye in 2004 and 2012/13 for a fairer comparison, and its apples to insignificantly lesser artificially flavored apple drink ;)

 

FUCK THAT SHIT YO. You need to go back and listen to Michael Jackson again, because seriously, I don't mind you liking Kanye, BUT DON'T EVER TRY AND SEE THAT HE IS ABOVE MICHAEL JACKSON EVER AGAIN, ITS NOT HAPPENING BROTHER, PERIOD. I bet even Kanye himself would disagree with you!!!


If you were smarter you'd realize how absolutely stupid that sounds. How does Kanye even remotely compare to the Beatles? Kanye did not have anywhere near the cultural and musical influence and impact the Beatles had. The Beatles inspired everybody to start a band, from the Grateful Dead to Black Sabbath, and just about every band since, probably including Kanye himself credits Beatles as an influence! My mind is blown that you honestly believe the guy is mindblowing artistically?


To me, Kanye is the nickelback of rap, in fact, I'd probably rather listen to nickelback personally ;)

People have been over Nickelback for so long that your answer in itself is a few years old.


I like that you think your views are so objective that it automatically makes people ignorant for not listening to it the same way you do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It05EvqFD6s

This is priceless, and I can't even stand Jimmy Kimmel. If you were at the Sonic Youth show at Jimmy Kimmel in 2006, you'll recall I started a chorus of boos at Jimmy whenever he came out, and paraded him with heckling of, "You fucking suck Jimmy, you fucking suck!"

I read some articles, and looked at some of the tweets, and I honestly can't understand why either (a) Kanye is being so thin-skinned about and (b) why he reacting so immaturely when he is as he claims, such a notable public figure. Kanye comes across a petty, and some of the critics of Jimmy's original skit come across as overly sensitive and even rather dull.

I've seen almost as many stories about Kanye's choice in baby names as I saw about MJ after his death. Granted that's due to the general idiocy of the -American populace, but still. TMZ and People should be paying Kanye royalties for all the money they make off of his ass.

Besides, you're comparing a shocking and mysterious death of a massive celebrity turned complete recluse. If Kanye died today, you'd see the same level of fanfare and speculation and groups of crying black families (and laughing white families... GOD I HATE AMERICAN WHITE PEOPLE.)

If I were Kanye, I'd be a pissed off motherfucker too. Nobody gets it. People see surface shit, talk about it, ignore anything important he says or does, criticize him constantly, and then steal his discography from pirate bay while he finds no name rappers and puts them on the charts, gives to charities, makes music that is uplifting to a lot of people (well, maybe not Yeezus... but it's still good shit) and makes statements about our culture that go way over the heads of fat white twats like Kimmel. ... man, I'ma bust some Kimmel ass.


Ummm... are you sure you know who Kanye West is?


Yawn. Whatever, man. I grew up with Man in the Mirror, alright? It still makes me snap my fingers, and some songs from Bad and Thriller still hold up, but Michael Jackson was huge because of his star power (early on) and his great production. His lyrics were really quite ordinary. Kanye stumbles too, but he also says the absolute perfect thing about 6 times out of 10. But I ain't gonna judge you for liking MJ more. G'aon Girl!


He also hasn't had FIFTY YEARS to create that impact. And he's one black guy from Chicago, and the Beatles were four cute hipster Brits. Automatic handicap to Yeezy. Level the playing field and he's totally comparable to the Beatles circa Sgt. Pepper.

My real point was that there's never really been a Rap equivalent to the Beatles. I used to think Wu-Tang fit the bill, but while they might be the obvious choice for many, they simply haven't had that kind of commercial success. Yeah, their albums go platinum, and Chambers went triple, but they stopped having real "hits" a long time ago. I mean, they're the best fucking rap group ever, but seriously.


HOW DARE YOU!?

Hah!

Probably right. I am quite out of touch with almost all non-hip hop mainstream music.

Gets what, that an egoistical, self-absorbed, immature, spoiled brat of a rapper can't handle it when he is mildly roasted by one of the lamest people on TV? Kanye should have quite literally been able to laugh it off.


Kanye West aside, I am more than willing to get in on this busting Jimmy Kimmel's ass shit, soundz poppin.








In conclusion..

ok let's not forget that a lot of people still love and understand Kanye too. :)

Yeezus might actually be my fav album of the year. if not fav then most played... EASILY. to me it's the sound of someone (talentless or not, that's up yo y'all) who DOES NOT GIVE A FUCK. the definite sound of that shit. rivalling trout mask replica. rivalling any fall album. rivalling twin infinities. rivalling the coolest VU album. that's what i look for in music and that's why i love yeezus

definitely my album of the year. i was expecting Drake to beat it.. didn't come hard enough.

I have a pic of drake with my best friend's older brother at prom. they were in the same limo. not exactly starting from the bottom when you went to the richest high school in toronto's (shoot me, whatever) prom

Hell yeah. I completely agree, though I think Kanye had given a fuck in the past, about a lot of important things. But I believe the vacant, moronic, materialistic interests of his American audience, who write more about how fat his girlfriend looks in sex tapes than they do about his complete revitalization of hip hop, have probably discouraged him and turned him into an intentional boundary pusher.

Intentional boundary pushing is pretty much the definition of punk. Whether the boundaries are political, social, or sonic/musical really doesn't matter.
Kanye' created an album that is polarizing and confrontational and sharp as a razor to the wrist. And yeah, it's probably my favorite album of the year too. Thought it would be Yo La Tengo, Black Bug, Flaming Lips, or Nature Noir, but Yeezus is more punk than all those records combined.

wow

i listen to Yeezus everyday. i like it so much that i can't even go back and listen to one of his older albums.

Sighs. So we're back to talking about Kanye as the best rapper of the year for a shit record when so many other great, better records in hip-hop came out this year? Self-absorbed crap rap when will you disappear? Again, I have no beef with any of y'all liking the guy or his music, that is a matter of taste, but when we start throwing around "best of the year", "bigger than Michael Jackson," "more influential than the Beatles" bullshit I've had enough! I will call out names, again and again, for the sake of music, not to beef with y'all or with Kanye. Also, the whole, "Kanye resurrected hip-hop" is such condescending bullshit, first people say, "Kanye isn't a rapper, he's a pop-star" but then when they want it to serve their own self-centered purpose, suddenly he's not just a rapper, but he is the messiah of 21st century rap? BULLSHIT! That is simply WAY too disrespectful to all the artists, MCs, DJs, and rappers out there consistently putting out records that have NOTHING to do with Kanye West. Yeah, the guy is on KIIS-FM, but how is that exactly good for rap music or hip-hop? If anything, it DILUTES hip-hop and makes it bullshit. Also, the guy is immaturely self-absorbed, he begs for the spotlight, does anything he can to get it, and yet then when the TMZ aspects of the spotlight harm him, he suddenly wants to bitch and moan, and yet ironically USE THE MEDIA to do it?

They guy is an egomaniac, and I just don't like it. Its nothing personal to louder, or Severian, or any other Kanye fanz out there, but y'all got to have thicker skin than Kanye had over the innocent and cute skit. If you want your guy to be the most popular, expect him to be the most criticized or scrutinized, that is sort of how the spot light works ;)

For the record, this is the most "NOT GIVE A FUCK" record of all time. Here is the give even less a fuck part b released posthumously.. Insanely the first one immediately went multi-platinum!!! The early 1990s was wild yo.. Records like this would get you arrested in the 2010s, it made me laugh when they hyped up that 30 seconds of Kendrick Lamar supposedly talking shit, man, MICHAEL JORDAN talked more shit than that ninja. Not Giving A Fuck in 2010s isn't quite anything compared to the insanity of 1991-1995.

Trout Mask is such a masterpiece.. my mind goes crazy when i listen to that shit, like i don't know what there is about it but i fucking love that album!!

my fav Beefheart album is either that or Ice Cream for Crow (greatest retirement album of all time? possibly).

Big Sean's verse on All Me is soo bad haha.

i love Three Six Mafia, even after they went "commercial" they kept making great music.

i have listened to that album too many times and I have yet to get a single point out of it, no matter how much I love it.

I was never saying Yeezus was better than TMR/Twin Infinities and shit, I was simply saying it was the ultimate "I don't give a fuck album," which whether you like it or not is easily apparent. it's nowhere near as good as the albums I listed (easily some of my all time favs), but I'll leave it as is and fuck it.

everybody mentions Wu-Tang's legendary solo album run but honestly Three Six' is epic and criminally slept on.

Just to be clear, I never meant to say Kanye was bigger or more influential than MJ or the Beatles (he's not... no way... not possible unless he releases at least another 6 albums as definitive, influential, and popular as his first); I just meant that relatively speaking, I can't think of a lot of (any?) current artists that come any closer to being comparable to those two than Kanye.

Nobody will ever be more influential than the Beatles, but MJ might have been their solo equivalent had he not opted for weirdness and creepiness (whiteness); I just don't think Kanye's comparison is THAT far off.

Radiohead's the most influential group of the 2000's-2010's, but they're nowhere near even Nirvana-level popularity. Kanye has the mass cultural zeitgeist wrapped around his little finger. Or at least, he did... he's starting to sound a bit like a meth-head, and I'm not super happy about that. Hopefully he calms down a tick so he doesn't allow fuckers like Kimmel to completely assassinate his character.

Danny Brown's "Old" is out for stream on Spotify if anyone's interested.

so who's the Radiohead of hip-hop - Kanye or OutKast? hmmm..

Whoa, are you deliberately pulling from the rambling backlog of transcribed conversations, ADD space-outs, and "deep thoughts" that has provided material for so many of my SYG posts?

I mentioned this a while back. Well, I mentioned my Kanye VS. Shabbazz conversation with a friend, and my own "Outkast = Radiohead" call, made around the time I first heard Spearkerboxx/The Love Below.

But I think it might be Flying Lotus. hah.

I just bought Drake's album (the one with the tolerable cover) and I like it just fine. It's just basic, is all. I enjoy it a lot more than I expected.

Like Magna carta, it's probably going to get old pretty fast, but it's good shit, and I can't say I have anything against Drake in general.

TREE stomps his ass, though. TREE owns the soul beat in 2013.

I've decided THIS is the signature track from PWOWR.. I read some reviews, Priest is to underground for mainstream, its not rap in the conventional sense, and its not jewelz in the hood sense, it is the middle centered by pure wisdom. I've listen to music by a lot of very wise men, who drop a lot of ancient wisdom on their records, but Killah Priest is on a war path against the Devil on this record..













If you're a hater of radiohead then its kanye, if your a hater of kanye then its the Kastz..

My vote is that radiohead=outkast but its an almost pretentious comparison, personally I think radiohead is radiohead and outkast it outkast. further, I don't think radiohead are as necesarily groundbreaking or genre defining as their critical acclaim, however, I also adore radiohead, period. As to Outkast, I would argue that they are indeed impacting to hip-hop in huge way, the way radiohead is said to have changed music. I can agree that Kanye West is big, but I don't know if influential or redefining is exactly appropriate in this case. There aren't a bunch of Kanye sounding rappers or beatz out there, he is original in that regard. However there is a difference between being big and being influential. I suppose in this regard, radiohead isn't influential either, there aren't exactly a dozen radiohead sounding bands out there over the past 20 years. I can't speak for British music though, dear God help us, Glice what do you say?

new Tyler, Earl, Hodgy & Domo (basically OF :)) track: https://soundcloud.com/ofwgkta-official/look

Ok, I admit, I'm feelin that.

good comparsion. both are pretty good, forgettable albums. but one was shitted on and the other was hailed as a masterpiece. fucking critics.

honestly i used to stan Drake during the Take Care era. he was making music that i couldn't help but love. but i had to force myself to sit through NWTS, and after a few listens i have to admit this is nowhere as good.. ah well.