Mr. Kanye West

To kick things off, I'd have to say that Kanye is indeed an a**hole. I'm referring most specifically to the whole Taylor Swift interruption at the 2009 VMAs, which I think everybody knows about by now so I won't go into it. But Kanye's definitely not alone in his inflated egotistical shenanigans. Famous people do and say rude/offensive things all the time. They cheat on their significant others, they trash talk other artists, they act like they are the center of the universe. Maybe Kanye is a little more upfront with his opinions, but he's certainly not alone. Take John Lennon's "Beatles will be bigger than Jesus" quote for example. A lot of people take the quote (which was just a metaphor, really) out of context and use it to hate on the Beatles. I can understand why people would be offended by the comparison of the Beatles to Jesus, just like I understand why people were offended by Kanye interrupting T Swift to say that Beyonce should have won the award. Am I excusing the behavior? No. Kanye could have blogged about it, or made a public statement elsewhere, or written in his diary. What I really do appreciate about Kanye, though, is that he is bringing some personality into the world of pop music. Controversial or not, the man is not afraid to say what's on his mind. He is who he is. And he gets his points across in his lyrics, his production, his interaction with the media. His songs are greatly autobiographical, which is somewhat of an uncommon element in mainstream rap/hip hop today (it all seems to focus on clubbing and women). So, would I want to hang out with Kanye? No. Do I like his music? Yes. Do I agree with everything he says? Certainly not. But I hope he keeps expressing himself and doing what he's doing.