Kanye West and Jimmy Kimmel aired their grievances man-to-man in a compelling discussion last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live. If you recall, Kimmel spoofed a Kanye interview with BBC using children. The spoof infuriated Kanye which led to a spectacular Twitter meltdown.
Most, including myself, believed the whole thing was a stunt. It didn’t pass the smell test. It seemed rehearsed. Kimmel assured his audience that “no”, this was the real deal.
That was two weeks ago.
When Kanye appeared on Kimmel last night, I assumed both would be apologetic. A few jokes here and there, a congrats on your baby and let bygones be bygones. I was wrong.
Jimmy Kimmel: “I don’t know if you know this but a lot of people think you’re a jerk”
Kanye: “For me I’m a creative genius….I’m totally weird, I’m totally honest, I’m totally inappropriate sometimes and the thing, for me to say I wasn’t a genius I would be lying to you and myself.
That’s how it started. Kanye being Kanye, the world’s biggest egomaniac. I was ready to tune out, get a good night’s sleep in. I wasn’t interested in hearing about Kanye’s many successes, I wasn’t interested in the Kanye West bio.
But things changed rather quickly. In-between scatter-brained thoughts, Kanye began to make sense. He talked about creativity, art and classism. For eight straight minutes, Kanye delivered a beautiful soliloquy. It was his “to be or not to be” moment. It’s worthy of your time (last two videos).