The Last Real Rock Star

Kanye West is awesome.

And I'm not just saying this to be contrarian. He really is what music (especially MTV music) needs. He's the last great rock star. He's the Ozzy, the Axl, The Kiss, the N.W.A., the Cobain, the Vedder, and the Snoop of this generation.

Reading message boards and comments all over the web today, you would think that Kanye West murdered someone or at the very least, killed a bunch of pit bulls. Everywhere I turn today, the haters have come rushing out and while I think that much of that hate is race driven (a separate post, but people STILL don't like an outspoken black man, especially when he steals the mic from the cute, blond, teenaged, girl-next-door, country crooner), I do understand the anger of some people. Personally, I thought the whole scene was hilarious, but I must admit that I have always loved Kanye. But on other levels, it was also awesome because it was precisely what music and more importantly, MTV, need in 2009.

Before I get to my point, let me explain what happened for the two of you who missed it (and I guarantee that no more than two people in all of America don't know what I am talking about). Kanye West jumped up on stage and ripped the mic from Taylor Swift midway through her acceptance speech and shouted to the crowd that Beyonce should have won the VMA (she should have). A chorus of boos rained on Kanye and we woke up this morning to a full on controversy with the country loving conservatives of the world defending poor Taylor from the evil black man who stole her moment in the sun.

Like President Obama commenting on the Cambridge arrest of Professor Gates, I was watching this live (mostly so I could rip on the VMAs; some dude no one knows hosted it; Britney Spears won an award; Eminem was a presenter. MTV clearly thinks it is 1999 and really, REALLY needs to find a new identity) and I knew we'd have a full on shit storm. And we have. The Kanye haters have pounced.

For whatever reason, people don't like Kanye West. He is an amazing talent that has breathed life into a painfully banal (critically if not so much commercially) genre of music. Kanye's beats and rhymes are amazing and he has been universally acclaimed by critics since he burst on the scene with "Through The Wire" years ago. So it is hard for people to hate Kanye as a professional. But you always get the sense that people don't like him as a person. People mask their hatred for him in all sorts of different ways, but really, I'm quite sure why the don't like him (read: outspoken black man). And this was the moment all those Kanye haters were waiting for because now they can hate him AND feel justified because, you know, he's a jerk and that poor Taylor Swift missed her moment, and Kanye is obnoxious and blah blah blah.

But know this: Kanye has a history of these antics. He is well known for "George Bush doesn't like black people" comment on the Katrina fundraiser, but no one was really offended by that because it was so completely ludicrous. It was just hilarious, mostly because of the look on co-presenter Mike Myers' face. But he has also done this after losing out to a techno band and to Gretchen Wilson (who?!?) at other award shows. He also threatened to superfly TNT the Grammy's one year if he didn't win album of the year (he did and he should have). So really, how was last night a surprise to anyone? And more importantly, what are you all so upset about? For, as they say, this is rock and roll.

And that's why I loved it.

Mainstream music is in a bad way right now (but music, if you look in the right places, is actually the best it's ever been) and record sales and concert sales say so. Nickelback, Daughtry, Rob Thomas and that band that sings nice songs about American soldiers are the "faces" of mainstream rock. And in mainstream music other than cock rock, it is the same old same old who sell records (the years highest selling artist? Michael Jackson). Jay Z, Beyonce, the cast of American Idol, and for some weird reason, country musicians are the only people moving records. There haven't been many relevant new voices in mainstream music in some time (Lil' Wayne has been successful as has T.I.), but really, can you list ten mainstream acts that have been all the rage for a sustained period of time this decade? You can't. Because there are no mainstream pop acts that can get it done.

And that is why Kanye West matters. And that is why what happened last night was awesome because music (and MTV especially) needed this. Desperately.

We needed a new Ozzy biting off bat heads and a new Axl and Slash going on stage with bottles of Jack and swearing (this act invented the seven second delay at awards shows). And while Kanye West certainly looks different than these guys and sings music that is drastically different than these guys, he is really the same. He is an entertainer who has figured out how to entertain. He has figured out how to endure in a time when music acts last as long as a large cheese pizza on the set of The Biggest Loser. He is a performer and an actor and he knows it and anyone with half a brain knows it as well. The only people who don't know it are the ones so blinded by their weird hate of this guy that they can't see him for what he is.

What if Kanye had done this to Shakira?!? Would anyone care?!? What if he went back in time and did it to Ricky Martin or what if he did it to J-Lo or Madonna?!? Would anyone have reacted this way?!? Absolutely not. Like so many parts of our popular culture, music can be divisive and in this case, you have the conservative country lovers on one side and those dirty gangsters on the other side.

And that's what makes Kanye's rant even more hilarious because I think it was completely calculated and no one can see that. As a long time Kanye Superfan, I can honestly say his last album was not good. He tried something different and it didn't work. For the first time in his career, he received some bad reviews and the genius that was Kanye eroded a bit. Because he is so damn smart (and please do not doubt for a second that he is), he KNOWS this. He KNOWS this wasn't his best album and he knows that his place among the pantheon of hip hop legends took a hit because of that. With his friend and fellow rap God Jay-Z about to release an album and Lil' Wayne being the new darling of the critics, Kanye West knew he HAD to do something and do something he did.

I'm not saying what he did was right. It was actually one of his lamer efforts and came off as somewhat predictable. That said, I found it to be a hoot and not because of who he did it too. Just moments before, I told my brother that I actually didn't mind Taylor Swift and I sometimes keep one of her songs on when it comes on the radio (it would have been way more to my liking if Kanye did this to John Mayer or Fall Out Boy). But the backlash has been outstanding. Where was this backlash when he did the same exact thing to two techno dudes from Europe?

And that's what people are missing. Kanye is an entertainer and it happened at the MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS FOR CRISSAKES!!!!! This show isn't exactly the bastion of class and sophistication. It is not the floor of the senate or even the Academy Awards. It's the MTV Music awards! The same place where Howard Stern once came down on wires in assless pants and ripped a huge fart. It's where Madonna made out with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. So really, who the hell cares what Kanye West did?!?

And this again makes Kanye a genius. He KNEW where he was doing it and likely thought that few would care. But after he saw the almost immediate backlash on Twitter and Facebook, he apologized to Taylor Swift and reportedly called her mother to apologize (more than a congressman did).

And that's what entertainers do. They shock. They outrage. They provoke. From the Beatles to Oasis to my nemisis Eminem, controversial rockers are the best entertainers. But they can't just shock and enthrall people or they will not last (I'm talking to you Marilyn Manson). But when you are surpremely talented (as Kanye is) AND supremely outrageous (as Kanye is), then you can be an enduring and more importantly RELEVANT act. And Kanye oozes relevance because he is so damn good in addition to being so damn bad.

Disagree with Kanye or not, music needs Kanye West because he is entertaining and he is the true definition of a rock star. Arrogant. Egocentric. Unpredictable. Narcissistic. Entertaining. And wildly, wildly talented.