Kanye West

Kanye West Performed While Standing on the Bar at the Boom Boom Room at 3AM Last Night

Fashion Week tends to bring out musicians--consider Guns N' Roses's secret performance at the John Varvatos store in the spring, or the formidable line-up that Ralph Lauren, Balenciaga, et al have put together for the next week or so. And Kanye West has a penchant for performing unannounced shows ... More >>

A Pop Star's Guide to Making Music on Twitter

​A couple days ago, zeitgeisty rapper B.o.B stopped by Chelsea Handler's talk show. There, he disclosed an interesting detail: despite the fact that he and Paramore's Hayley Williams share dual billing on what is far and away the biggest song of his career, "Airplanes," the two have never met ... More >>

GOOD Friday: Kanye West, "Devil In A New Dress"

​Here we are again. As promised, Kanye West returned Friday night with another free MP3, and after a few weeks of the highest-profile collaborations (Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Swizz Beatz, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj... Bon Iver!), West goes this one alone. "Devil In A New Dress," though, is the first new K ... More >>

How Kanye West's Twitter Killed Music Magazines

​Today, Slate posts "an all-access, totally non-exclusive interview with the would-be king of hip-hop," Kanye West. The conceit is as follows: though the rapper stopped giving many interviews in the aftermath of his mother's death, in 2007, he's lately been on "a new-media-heavy promo offensiv ... More >>

Kanye West Played A Secret All-Formal-Attire Show at the Box Last Night

For those of you wondering why certain select people in your Twitter feed started complaining late last night about having to put on something nice and go somewhere secret, here is your answer: Kanye played an unannounced, all-formal-everything show (men weren't allowed in unless they had a suit a ... More >>

Week In Review: Aw Dude, You Missed It

Unfortunately, this just isn't fun anymore. Pic by Sam Horine.​It's Friday the 13th, and if you're as superstitious as we are here at SOTC, you'll stay away from the outside world altogether. Lucky for you, though, we've put together a pretty awesome rundown of dance parties to visit this week ... More >>

Hear the New Kanye West Track: "See Me Now," Featuring Beyoncé and Charlie Wilson

​Here's how fast things move these days: Kanye West premiered his new No I.D/Lex Luger-produced single, "See Me Now," on Angie Martinez's HOT 97 show about ten minutes ago. Beyoncé, who sings the hook along with Charlie Wilson, finished recording her vocals, according to 'Ye, at about 5 a.m. ... More >>

"Power," Paintings, Pomposity: The Uncertain Evolution of Kanye West's Music Videos

​Art: this is how we explain away indulgent decisions. Last night, Kanye West released the first visual--do not call it a video--from his as yet untitled new album: a "painting," as he and his director call it, for "Power." The clip premiered on MTV directly following an episode of the network ... More >>

Kanye West Will Spend Your Annual Income In A Week And Terrorize Your Child Via Twitter

Kanye's teeth next to Steven Holme's former profile pic. Coincidence? We think not. ​ Kanye West joined Twitter last week. Elaborate Web Shenanigans ensued. Here are our favorites.

The Kanye West Spontaneous Office Performance Train Rolls On

​One of the many things we loved about Drake's Thank Me Later was the way in which the 23-year-old rapper pulled back the curtain on fame and the industry: he talked honestly and simply about what it felt like to be in the midst of a multi-million dollar album/personality push. At the time, pe ... More >>

Please Welcome @BudgetKanyeWest to Twitter

At last, an affordable alternative to all those irresponsible Kanye West Tweets about impossibly expensive credenzas. We will happily trade the identity of the person who is operating this account for the name of the dude who used to blog for 'Ye. Any takers? [@BudgetKanyeWest]

Kanye West vs. Budget Kanye West: A Tweet-Off

​Yesterday we wrote about Kanye West's new Twitter. As Zach points out in SOTC's Week in Review, it's now been joined by the Budget Kanye West account (@budgetkanyewest). Budget Kanye tweets about deals he finds at Wal-Mart and reminds us that kitchen shears are a ripoff if you already have sc ... More >>

Kanye West. Performing At Twitter HQ. Oh Yes.

Exciting times for Kanye West, eh? First came video of his Twitter-dissing freestyle at Facebook headquarters, a video whose release was immediately followed by his, uh, starting an official Kanye West Twitter account. And now here's another video of him... performing... at... Twitter's... headqua ... More >>

So Just How Homophobic Is Rap In 2010?

​The familiar conceit of this past Sunday's New York Times Magazine article "Sissy Bounce: New Orleans's Gender-Bending Rap," goes something like this: There are some gay rappers in New Orleans. Rap's usually really homophobic. That's crazy, huh? Contrasting the apparently enlightened attitude ... More >>

The Best Tweets of Kanye West's First 24 Hours on Twitter

Welcome to so many more photos like this one. Via @KanyeWest, of course.​Even as we write this, Kanye West is cruising through New York in a Maybach, listening to Andre Rieu's recording of the "William Tell Overture," talking about the genius of classical music and the hardship of dating model ... More >>

Kanye West's Twitter Account Getting Huge, Fast

​If you've been living under a rock or something, you may not have noticed that the one and only Kanye West has opened a Twitter account. He's only had it for a day, and as of this posting has over 265,000 followers, meaning he's been garnering about 80 followers a second. How long will it tak ... More >>

Kanye West Performs at Facebook, Disses Twitter

Yesterday, Kanye West traveled to tech world, baffling a crowd of cellphone-toting Facebook employees by performing in their Palo Alto cafeteria, a cappella, in a sharp suit and matching scarf. Why they couldn't get him some sort of beat-delivery apparatus is unclear, though these raps sound more ... More >>

You Can't Make It Up: Kanye West Was At the LeBron James Press Conference Last Night

Twitpick via @youbigdummy​And thus did Greenwich, Connecticut become the vortex of bad publicity and ill-advised decisions last night, as LeBron James brought along a good luck charm to an hour-long press conference that turned into an abattoir of innocent basketball fan hopes and dreams. In t ... More >>

Kanye West Meets the Gilded Coffin of Tjuya: An Imaginary Conversation

Jennifer Taylor​Recently, Kanye West returned from retirement to visit New York and the "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" exhibition at the Discovery Times Square Exposition. "He said it was something he really wanted to see," a representative for the show told MTV News. West br ... More >>

Fashion Breakthrough: Is Kanye West's Neck-Toaster the Next Big Thing in Bling?

Click to Enlarge.​Last night, Kanye West performed "Power" on top of an Aggro Crag at the BET Awards and opened the show by doing so. Now, we have a music blog if you want to talk about the music of this musical performance. But we have a more serious concern: What was that thing around his ne ... More >>

Why You Hate Drake, and Why You're Wrong About Hating Drake

​By now it's clear that Drake's Thank Me Later, which comes out today, is pretty much the most polarizing record in rap since Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreaks--more so, even, since Kanye was a well-established and loved artist making his fourth record, where Drake, at 23, is a relative newcomer ... More >>

Kanye West Sampled King Crimson On His New Dwele-Featuring Song, "Power"

The first single from Good Ass Job, it feels safe to say, and what a beautiful return for Kanye West: bonkers King Crimson "21st Century Schizoid Man" sample flip, handclaps, drums pulled right off 808s, and the rapper's signature lyrical mix of goofy hubris ("No one man should have all that power ... More >>

N.E.R.D.

"When Everybody Puts on the Craziest Outfits Ever, Put on Your Favorite Old Band of Outsiders Dinner Jacket and Pull a Monster Out of Your Soul"

​Yeah, um, we had sort of vowed to quit with the various Kanye West year-end/decade-end acceptances speeches, each magical snowflake being unique in its own right and all that, but then we finally read to the end of the above one and decided that we couldn't make it to 2010 without putting quo ... More >>

Let Us Fondly Recall A Time When Kanye West, And The Music Industry, Were Full of Unblemished Promise

​Please enjoy this fantastic Kanye reminisce from friend-of-SOTC Sean Fennessey, centered on the heady College Dropout days of 2004, and featuring links to several early mixtapes from rap's favorite pariah of the moment. A fine complement to Kanye's own recent wistfulness. Representative sampl ... More >>

The Decade In Music According to Kanye West

​Well, not really, but the above is a surprisingly touching and randomly detailed picture of a specific moment in time for Kanye West. That moment? The making of The College Dropout, his 2004 debut and Entertainment Weekly's pick for best album of the decade--that's the honor he's responding t ... More >>

BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS

Kanye's protégé skips a beat and re-ignites

Well, Lady Gaga and Kanye West Aren't Touring Together

​Per a remarkably terse Live Nation email comes news that Kanye West's and Lady Gaga's "Fame Kills" tour has been killed. They had dates at MSG and surrounding arena-esque environs October 15-17. Feel free to do other things now. Stalling here while I think of an "I'mma let you finish" joke. D ... More >>

Which Was The Grossest Public Display?

​Screaming out rude, self righteous remarks for a mass audience seems to be all the rage these days, especially when said comments are shrieked while someone else already has the floor. Just recently, we've had the following sore-losery emissions of terrible manners:

Jay Leno Scolds Kanye West, Plays The "What Would Your Dead Mom Think" Card; An Appalled Nation Flocks To Letterman En Masse

Now look here. It was a dick move by Kanye, no question -- the farcical situation and meaninglessness of the award itself notwithstanding, the look on Taylor Swift's face as he bratted out for the 15,000th time seemed to be legitimately heartbreaking. (Leno: "When did you know you were wrong?" Kan ... More >>

Right, 'Ye Performed, Too: Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye Do "Run This Town" on Leno

This performance was to be a bit more of an event before Jay-z upstaged it with his own televised concert with these two on Friday night, and then Kanye really upstaged it with what you might call his own solo performance on Sunday, and then Jay Leno's show was revealed to be the exact same garbag ... More >>

Kanye West Ruins Everything at MTV Awards

​Fond as we are of his music, Kanye West is such an egomaniac that we are unsurprised to learn he interrupted Taylor Swift's Best Female Video award at the stupid MTV Awards last night, grabbing the mic and explaining to the nonplussed honoree and audience that Swift's fellow nominee Beyonce ... More >>

I AM SOMEONE, DAMN IT!

Because if Kanye can, so can you

It's Jay-Z From Now to September: "Run This City," Featuring Kayne and Rihanna

 New Jay-Z single, featuring Rihanna on the hook and Kanye for the win. "Run This City" apparently premiered on rap stations all over town at 9:11, because if you're Jay-Z getting radio stations to debut your tracks on the exact hour/minute of your upcoming release date is an easy thing to do i ... More >>

Jay-Z's "D.O.A" and the Five Auto-Tuned Songs (Among Many) That Prove Him Wrong

Jay-Z and his arch-nemesis T-Pain, together at Summer Jam last night Released late Friday, Jay-Z's new single, "D.O.A (Death of Auto-Tune)," from the now thoroughly-announced The Blueprint 3, is less a Martin Luther-like cry for hip-hop reformation than an awkward slab of concept rap. The concept: ... More >>

Amazing: Presenting "Caucasian," the Best Kanye West Parody/Remix Ever

Courtesy of Sporting News basketball blog the Baseline, please enjoy this reimagining of Kanye West's previously discussed 2009 NBA Playoffs theme song "Amazing," here rechristened "Caucasian" and dedicated to the league's white players. The Young Jeezy part is pretty astounding. "I like mayonnai ... More >>

Kanye West: "I Invented Fire, Motherfucker!"

Well, it's better animated, but you get the idea--the 30 Best Kanye West Blingees, Blingee being a happy-go-lucky glitter-and-animation populated zone of clip art and zaniness. It's like something Guy Debord would've invented after being reborn as 22nd century 12-year-old girl. Anyway, people real ... More >>

SXSW 2009: Top Five Wholly Subjective Austin Moments, Starring Dent May, Micachu, and Metallica

Nate "Igor" SmithJust some guy Two red-eye flights there and back, a night in a camper without a pillow or blanket, another crashed uninvited on an angry stranger's futon, no consistent shower or WiFi in sight--with pilgrimages like this, I think you're supposed to find God, but instead I found Den ... More >>

SXSW: Kanye West "Surprise" Show at the Fader Fort

JensenKanye West with Common at the Fader FortBackstage at the Fader Fort, half of the Voice team escaped to the Shockhound.com/Hot Topic trailer, hiding out from Kanye West's security, who swept through the backstage area at 7:25 and removed everyone without an all-access pass. When the coast was c ... More >>

Vibe Was Right About Kanye's Grey Beard

Sean Fennessey can't lose In a memorable no-account internet subplot to a movie I don't quite recall seeing the rest of, Kanye West got a tad agitated about the above Vibe magazine cover. (To wit: I DON'T HAVE GREY IN MY BEARD IN REAL LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M ALL DOWN WITH BEINGS IN MY 30'S B ... More >>

EW Has the Clipse Coverage Beat On Lock, Apparently

Somewhere Russell Simmons is wondering just what the hell happened First came the not-quite news that the Clipse were in the studio with Rick Rubin (he was the one who signed them to Columbia, after all). Now that same Entertainment Weekly reporter, Simon Vozick-Levinson, has managed to actually he ... More >>

REAL NUDE

Vanessa Beecroft teams up with Kanye again

Fashion Week: Kanye Makes Us Take His Mugshot; Cool Knits and Fast Cars at Twinkle; Masculine-Walking Women at Zero

David WentworthKanye West and Band of Outsiders designer Scott Sternberg Standing outside the empty storefront at 408 Broadway at a quarter to noon on Sunday, we wonder for a moment if we have the wrong address for the Band of Outsiders and Boy Fall 2009 presentation. A stylish young man with a red ... More >>

Fashion Week: Sean Lennon's GF Sprains Her Lip at United Bamboo; Cory Kennedy at Karen Walker; Vena Cava Drives Us to Drink

David WentworthCory Kennedy at Karen Walker The lights have dimmed at the United Bamboo show. Someone backstage is shouting "Right now! Right now!" But nothing is happening. We stare across the runway at front-row celebrity Sean Lennon and Angelina Jolie Jr. (a/k/a his stunning model girlfriend Cha ... More >>

Bon Iver: Digital Love, Analog Grief

Justin Vernon wins this year's battle of the heartbroken, Kanye's histrionics notwithstanding

The 100 Problems of Kanye West

At least rap's most troubled superstar is talking about his feelings,ugly as they may be

Thank God: Kanye Beard Status Update

Our buddies Tom Breihan and Sean Fennessey clear up the Kanye West graybeard/Benjamin Button's mystery. To wit, Vibe's music editor and author of the West cover story had strong words for those who can't distinguish between the telltale signs of a man aging in reverse and a mere "glisten": "Having ... More >>

Q-Tip, Profane Blog Commenter

On Kanye West's Bitter, Bone-Chilling 808s & Heartbreak

Call it post-graduate depression

The Quarterly Report: Status Ain't Hood's Favorite New Singles