September 04, 2005

• Brilliant. I thought Mike Myers was going to shit himself.
• direct link to .wmv file.
• Who is Kanye West?
• I always roll my eyes when I hear what a great job or what a great leader Bush was after September 11th. What was so great that he did? Never mind the non-involvement with strategic and government decisions that were made that day. What did he actually do? He went to the site which was not a dangerous place at the time to offer words of encouragement. He then made speeches about the great strength of American resolve. Then he bombed the country that -- if a country did have to be bombed -- made the most sense at the time. To me, he really did nothing exceptional. What did he do that anyone else would not have done? And isn't it a wild coincidence that Giuliani and Pataki also showed tremendous leadership? In the current situation, Bush could have taken control immediately. He could have stepped in Tuesday and given the power reign to use whatever resources necessary to get people out of there. They could have had helicopters, ships, and buses there the same day that the levee broke. But he did not. He could have gone to the Superdome. He did not. He could have turned this into the PR coup that he turned 9-11 into. He could have shifted the black vote to the GOP in a serious way. He did nothing. Five, six days later? Are you kidding me? He could have had most of those people out there right away. If an earthquake hit Connecticut, he would have had choppers and buses and ships and anything else there the same damn day and would have evacuated all of those people. I think that Kanye is wrong in that it is really because the people are poor (and not black) that they were such a low priority. But I give him credit for trying to say something that he believed in that he was not supposed to say.
• Or I should say, what is he best known for (besides the commentary?)
• he's a famous hip-hop producer, and has recently found even more commercial success as a rapper.
• In the clip, you can tell that Kanye West was completely speaking from the heart. Like many of us, he's hurt and enraged at the slow response from the government. He looks a little scared -- he knows what he wants to say will not help his career. Rappers are supposed to "keep it real" by enacting a certain type of African-American masculinity -- they're not supposed to point out the systemic racism in the US. He totally blew the lid off of the fake piety of the broadcast.
• He's known for an awkward flow, great production, and some (banal, imo) moral posturing (e.g. Live 8). His debut was one of last year's top selling and top reviewed hip-hop albums. I admire the balls it took for him to say that on live TV, but I'm also kinda skeptical. He's got a new album to sell.
• This makes me like Kanye, even if he didn't even write the song "Jesus Walks." It is amazing that today if you turn on CNN, MSNBC, or even Fox in the middle of a soundbite from a government official you have to wait a minute before you can tell if they are talking about the hurricane situation or the Iraq situation. They both have exactly the same phrases, "Things are improving," "sending in reinforcements," "situation is under control..." I swear, if I hear that we "liberated" the people of New Orleans I won't be surprised.
• JC: Katrina "liberated' 'em. We're just "mopping up." While I agree that he brought up some things that will need to be addressed, I'm a bit worried that this will distract from the rescue and relocation. Also, we don't need the division at this point, we need to coordinate efforts.
• Kanye just put out a new CD on Tuesday... his first was successful enough that I'm sure it's expected to be "Top 5" its first week out. It'll be interesting to see what happens to it (but it'll probably be more reflected in its SECOND week on the charts)...
• Oops, I forgot one term: "insurgents"...
• I read the articles about this, but I didn't expect Kanye to sound so emotional. I haven't heard any of his music and knew practically nothing about him , but I have gained respect for him after seeing this. There are a lot of buts - the hurricane in New Orleans, in spite of numerous studies, excercises, and news articles, took people at all levels of government by surpise; the Governor of New Orleans made herself look sleazy and ineffectual by shrugging off criticism on CNN; Mayor Nagin was certainly in the thick of it and made a valiant effort, but I suspect that there were serious local failures as well. On Friday I overheard a conservative co-worker defending Bush, before I'd heard anyone try to blame anyone for the bungling of relief efforts, saying that people should have left the city or stockpiled supplies, that it was up to the Mayor or the Governor to commandeer vehicles and request support, and without request the government could not act. In the end, though, I think it's fair to criticize Bush. This was a federal emergency (officially and literally) and besides responding slowly and ineffectually himself, many of the federal agencies (DHS and FEMA, the National Guard, etc) who were directly responsible for dealing with the situation just failed disasterously, and apparently put a lot of effort into intimidation and defending private property when they should have been saving lives. Well into Bush's second term and nearly 4 years after a major reorganisation of groups responsible for federal emergency response, there's no one person who holds greater responsibility.
• Rappers are supposed to "keep it real" by enacting a certain type of African-American masculinity -- they're not supposed to point out the systemic racism in the US. Hmm, I'm no rap expert, but pointing out systemic and other forms of racism in the US feels almost like one of the common conventions of the genre ("Fight the Power" comes to mind as a classic). Whether or not it's "supposed" to be done is another matter, I guess. The official responses from The American Red Cross and NBC. I am kind of surprised that the producers didn't cut away from him during his remarks, especially before his final one.

  Though a several-second delay was in place, the comments were let through uncensored on the EST live broadcast as the person in charge "was instructed to listen for a curse word, and didn't realize he had gone off-script," according to an NBC spokeswoman. [wikinews]

  Now if he had said "George Bush doesn't fucking care about black people,"...
• I am kind of surprised that the producers didn't cut away from him during his remarks, especially before his final one. Now if he had said "George Bush doesn't fucking care about black people,"... This is a perfect example of what we've become used to, and it shouldn't be understated. It may or may not have been the appropriate venue for that sentiment, but why exactly would Kayne have not been permitted to say it? Why would it involve permission at all?
• I'm no rap expert either, but I know that it's been a while since mainstream rap has produced anything even approaching the relevance and potency of "Fight The Power." It was an amazing thing to see, even if I think class played a greater role than race in this unfolding tragedy. That, and as someone else said, it's fun to slo-mo Mike Myers' reaction and pinpoint the moment West's words registered, ala Ralph Wiggum. "Ri-i-ight... there!"
• "they're not supposed to point out the systemic racism in the US" I also have to disagree with this. Most of the rappers and hip hop dudes I listen to have a lot to say on the topic; Nas, Public Enemy, Ice T, NWA, Eminem, KRS-1, Wyclef Jean, and many more. And the old school guys in my list are name checked by a lot of the current party rappers because they were such a foundation of hip hop. In my opinion hip hop pretty much came to exist as a means of pointing out systemic racism. I will agree with you that the image is hard rather than emotional; but angry is good, and to me, that's what Kanye is; angry.
• I've had my doubts about Kanye West in the past, and have argued against him in the past. But he's %100 right. A week ago I didn't believe this level of racism existed in America. But the kind of response I take for granted didn't happen. I know, KNOW that if New Orleans had been full of people with my skin color, George Bush would've acted immediately and appropriately. The army would not be showing up with shoot to kill orders. Helicopters would not hear loud noises and assume they're being shot at. Looting would not've only been condoned, but actively promoted. Kids with a bus full of children refugees wouldn't be threatened with arrest. The government abandoned them because of their skin color. Kudos to Kanye for having the balls to talk about the white elephant in the room.
• "it's been a while since mainstream rap has produced anything even approaching the relevance and potency of "Fight The Power." I think Wyclef Jean's If I Was President comes pretty close. He did it live and acoustic on Chappelle's Show, and I was amazed.
• It may or may not have been the appropriate venue for that sentiment, but why exactly would Kayne have not been permitted to say it? Why would it involve permission at all? He doesn't need permission to say it anywhere, but he does need some level of cooperation from the network for his words to be broadcast across the nation. I didn't actually watch this on the West Coast but heard that some portion of his comments were deleted for this region's broadcast.
• Re: Wyclef Jean on Chappelle's Show -- QT and mp3 if folks are so inclined.
• As far as keeping it real, Kanye West has been going against the hardcore rap masculinity for a while now. He is more in line with the (P.) Diddy sharp dresser style. Kanye wears sweaters and polo shirts. He generally dresses like an 80's stereotype of a yuppie.
• Kanye West produced some classic....CLASSIC tracks for Jay-Z. Beautiful music, the greatest hip hop ever? I think so. For instance: Song Cry (The Blueprint) Girls, Girls, Girls (Remix) My second fave song ever - I don't even like rap IZZO (HOV) (The Blueprint) Takeover (The Blueprint) Never Change (The Blueprint) Encore (Black Album) ETC. Oh and recent songs such as Jesus Walks, the Workout plan, and GOLD DIGGER. DAMN. Kanye is important because he is the COOLEST MAN IN POPULAR MUSIC FOR THE PAST DECADE OR SO.
• I probably should have put what I said more specifically, but moneyjane's points are well-taken. It just seems like the mainstream of rap, lately, has been more concerned with seeming hard and macho and rich than with the types of political stuff the old school guys you listed were so concerned about. Also, it seems like most celebrities (especially since the Dixie Chicks got so much crap for criticising Bush, but with the noteable exception of guys like Sean Penn) are afraid to be political. It's just nice to hear a celebrity say something that isn't canned. It's even nicer to see them say something about racism.
• meredithea, I think that even when the song has a message, the video for it fails, and is instead nothing but thong bikinis. So the message gets lost on those of us who don't sit and listen to each word spoken, and instead just skim past bling on the way to something else.
• Mr. Knickerbocker: that could well be. When I see thongs, I change the channel, so I could be missing some political stuff. I'm not *against* thongs, they're just such a lazy shortcut.
• Shite, what I would've done to have been a fly on the wall in THAT control booth. Amazing.
• I can't get to the clip from work. Dang. But here's a video probably linked elsewhere of a couple of white guys getting similarly fiesty. I reall think this is more a question of class than of race, but at the same time, those issues are so tightly linked in the US as to be almost inseparable. Reading the transcript of Kayne West's remarks, I see he realizes that too.
• Holy shit. I just saw the video here. Wow. I've already read all over the net (while looking for the vid) people saying, "Oh, Kayne West is the racist one! He hates white people! I'm outraged!" While he was talking mostly about blacks, he also said "the poor" and "the less well-off." It's a sad fact that a lot of the time those are the same things. Man. This is going to stay ugly for a while. And I really think that it SHOULD.
• MonleyFilter: When I see thongs, I change the channel.
• When *I* see thongs, I wish somebody else was doing the laundry. Eeeeeew.
• MonleyFilter? Surely that should be ManlyFilter.
• Regarding that video TenaciousPettle linked, does Fox News continously have a flag in the upper right corner waving nonstop, or did they just put that there for the disaster? Because I think they did just for the disaster, and that really sends the opposite message than I think they want to send.
• I think they've always had that flag there. At least since 9/11.
• I think Fox news does have the flag. They also still do the terror alert level on their news ticker...
• I've got new-found respect for Mr. West. He completely diced through the facade of television. I heard about it before I saw the video (my sister called me up minutes after she saw it live). After seeing the video, it struck me as extremely heart-felt. Finally, *reality* TV...
• Yeah. It was obvious that the guy was so angry and upset by it all that he was nearly incoherent, his hands were shaking and so was his voice. The final outburst was what he'd been thinking and wanting to say all along. I admire him for speaking his mind.
• And speaking his mind knowing it was probably going to cost him. You could tell that was part of the nervousness, but greater than that was his idea that to say nothing and stick to the script would cost even more.
• And speaking his mind knowing it was probably going to cost him. Do people really think this is likely to hurt his career? I'm not so sure. I mean, before seeing this I really wouldn't have paid much attention to Kanye West. Since then I've made a point of tracking down and listening to some of his music. Rap doesn't strike me as a genre where anybody's going to say "Oh, I like the music, but I'm uncomfortable listening to it because of those politically inflammatory statements he made on tv". Of course, that doesn't mean what he said was insincere, or that it didn't take courage to say it.
• Good for him. There are too few voices like his on mainstream tv. And Mike Myers could have at least patted him on the back or something. "It's ok, man, it's ok..." Not even that.
• Do people really think this is likely to hurt his career? How anyone could conceive that this stunt would help his career is beyond me. I'm sure there are just as many ready to burn Kayne alive at the stake now, as there are those who are now a bit more interested in him as a result. Regardless of what happens with respect to his career, what he did took great courage IMHO. Hence, my new-found respect for him. Now, if chimpy could muster such balls...
• = Kanye
• he's been speaking out a lot lately, like when he did recently against homophobia... he seems like his reactions and voice are genuine.
• That's awesome, es el Queso ((
• Do people really think this is likely to hurt his career? Radio Play == $$$. Radio is run by big corporations. Big corporations love the current administration. Big Radio is scared of controversial artists...I mean, besides the prepackaged controversy of folks like Eminem, Marilyn Manson, etc. Less radio play == less $$$. I don't think it helps him financially, regardless of the street cred it generates.