Billboard (here) and MTV (here) are reporting that after being shut out of the MTV Video Music Awards last night (Sep. 9) that Kayne West is finished with the station. Kanye’s video for “Stronger” was nominated in 5 categories, and lost in all of them. He reportedly threw a hissy fit, and was quoted as saying, “That’s two years in a row, man … give a black man a chance. I’m trying hard man, I have the … number one record, man.”
I hadn’t seen or heard “stronger” so I thought I would give it a listen and watch the video-on UMG’s YouTube page-to see what all the fuss is about. The video definitely has some pretty cool imagery, the saturated colors in Japan were nice, the Steve Austin 6-Million Dollar Man sequence was kinda cool looking, but then there’s Kanye doing that rapper arm thing that all hip hop guys do, which was way lame and the hot Japanese chick (sic) dancing by herself, very cliche. And the hospital sequence… whatever. Yeah, I get it, part of the story, but ho hum, coulda done without it. The video really only has a few elements and they are just repeated over and over. It gets boring to watch really fast.
The music is definitely a kinda hip and creative electronic canvas to build on. But, it it doesn’t build, it devolves into boring repetition quickly. But then there are the lyrics and the vocal performance. These are not the saving graces of the video. At least if you turn down the sound you have something nice to watch, but your ears are accosted by childish boasting and cliche lyrics.
The songs seems to be about picking up a girl, and bragging about how great he is with all his cool clothes and shit, but then in the chorus he goes on this “stronger” tangent. He raps about we should “bow in the presence of greatness” and how we “should be honored by my lateness,” and goes on about his expensive clothes. Verse 2, more bragging and product name dropping to impress the girl.
The chorus makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, and are some of dumbest lyrics. Here’s some lines from chorus 1 and the never ending chorus 2. “I need you right now,” “Waiting all night, that’s how long I been on ya,” “You know how long I been on ya,” “Like Prince on Appelonia,” “Since OJ had Isotoners,” “Let that that don’t kill me make me stronger,” “I need you to hurry up now, ’cause I can’t wait much longer.” What the hell is all that crap? I think he’s trying to tell the girl to come home with him, but then there’s the “stronger” bit. Also, the song is about 2 minutes too long. It’s the same thing over and over and over. I was done at about 2:15. There was no need for this song to go 4:21.
If this is the best he’s got, I’m sure nobody will miss him at MTV. That’s more room for someone with talent and something to say.
And about the “give a black man a chance” thing. Well, excuse everyone. Maybe you should take a cue from all the black women that are winning year after year and either write smarter songs, or have someone write a song for you if you can’t. You’re obviously just not the genius your publicist tells everyone you are. Maybe you should concentrate on writing good songs with somewhat intelligent lyrics, and living up to your own hype, instead of getting laid, posing, bragging and “bling-bling” (yeah, I can’t believe I used the word). And stop behaving like a brat. You don’t deserve awards and accolades because of the color of your skin or because you are a celebrity, you have to earn them. And, Kanye, this crap got exactly what it deserved, and earned… nothing.