#knayewest

I watched the Kayne West interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live last week. I have a friend at work who loves Kayne. I mean LOVES Kanye. The way I love John Mayer loves Kanye (well, close at least). I figured it would be something we could discuss the next day. I’ve also recently tried to improve and expand my online presence, because, well, it’s 2013, and you’ve got to keep up or you fall behind. In doing so I have finally, begrudgingly, began using Instagram, and started this beautiful little Tumblr (Which brings me back to the blogging days on LiveJournal, and how I always felt like Doogie Howser, pouring my heart out to a keyboard and screen, but I digress.), and have become more active on Twitter. This made me aware of the recent Kimmel/Kayne feud that entertained so many of us. Just for the record, I agree Jimmy does in fact look a bit like Spongebob, but in a cute human way. Once I began watching the interview I had one main reaction, which I repeated, aloud, several times: “Is he high?” I could not get over the fact that his affect, tone, rhythm and voice seemed off, his eye contact unsettling, and his words belligerent and rambling. The man seemed high. I’ve seen high people, plenty of them. All kinds of different high too (I live in LA, it comes with the territory). Why was he there? What was he trying to prove? Why won’t he shut up? I actually quite enjoyed how Kimmel just kept quiet and let him babble on, almost incoherently. It was reminiscent of when Tom Cruise jumped on Opera’s couch declaring his love for Katie Holmes. It was a sick kind of modern history in the making, a celebrity unraveling played out for entertainment on television. I almost felt bad for the fact that I sickly enjoyed seeing this guy make a complete fool of himself while thinking he’s making things better from his last crazy interview. Then he called himself a genius, compared himself to Da Vinci, and said that Kim Kardashian deserves a star on the walk of fame. I was quickly vindicated for enjoying his lunacy. I discussed the interview the next day with my Kayne fan friend. She agreed it was abnormal, but when I asked about whether or not she thought he might have been under the influence she responded with an answer that piqued my curiosity. She said he reminded her of an ex she used to date who suffered from Bi-Polar Disorder and often refused to take his meds.* This made me think. If it were the case would the prideful Yeezus ever be honest about it? If it is I hope he gets some help, especially as a father now. I, on the other hand, think the guy is just too full of himself, and maybe enjoys a bit of cocaine now and then. But who am I to judge? I don’t really “follow” Kanye, I don’t read or watch his interviews regularly. I haven’t bought his last few albums (but you bet your ass I had College Dropout and played it repeatedly for months on end). I have zero knowledge of his pursuits in the fashion world. I know he married Kim, named his baby North West, got a little nuts on Twitter, and looked like a weirdo on late night TV. But, I judged him. My friend pleaded her case on how talented he really is, from music to clothes, and how one interview, given the wrong circumstances, could make anyone look nuts. I don’t listen to rap. I’m not very into fashion. I have no authority to determine his worth to either of these. So, I will cease the judgment. I will not crack witty jokes at his expense for a cheap laugh. I will step back, shut up, and not ridicule from my ivory tower. Because of John Mayer.

This brings me to Miley Cyrus. A kook of epic proportions right? That dirty tramp who pranced around the VMA’s with her tongue wagging like a thirsty dog locked out in a heatwave, rubbing her Hank Hill butt all over a married man’s crotch, while defiling a foam finger. Ouch. She took it hard for those choices that night. I’m not even really of her target demographic but I for one was quick to jump on social media and not only make fun of her, but philosophize about what went wrong where and how, and why she should be ashamed of herself. I hopped right on that bandwagon. Then I read her Rolling Stone interview, and actually thought a little bit more about it. The circumstances and the possibilities. She’s a real person. She is growing and learning. She IS talented, believe it or not. Have you heard the girl’s rendition of Jolene? (You can check it out here: http://youtu.be/wOwblaKmyVw). She’s also twenty years old and obscenely wealthy. Do you remember being twenty years old? You might not of had the means to party like Hannah Montana but you certainly felt that you could do what you wanted and say what you wanted. Unless of course you were a tool. But pretty much every other twenty year old on the planet felt that way at one point in their burgeoning adulthood. She’s twenty. And obscenely wealthy. I just have to repeat those facts to make sure you understand what we’re talking about here. She is almost literally a kid in a candy store. Pretty much still a kid. The whole world is her candy store. So, she experimented, she tried something different, she elicited a reaction. Isn’t that what entertainment is all about? Isn’t that what being young is all about? Would you rather of seen a middle aged woman do that? That also made me think about what the reaction would have been to someone else. How would everyone have reacted if it were another poptart up there, one without a Disney history? Would that of shocked anyone if it would have been Ke$ha? What about Rihanna? Would there have been an uproar if Lady Gaga humped a foam finger? Was the real offense just simply that this person did not meet the expectations we had for her that night? Were we only offended because we got something different than we thought was coming? Was it wrong to express herself differently? Even if in bad taste? In all honesty, the performance wasn’t great, but was it worth ridiculing a young artist over? I have no idea if she has some bigger vision, if she’ll learn from this and was secretly disgusted with her choices, or if she’s found herself artistically and will be the next groundbreaking artist to change our perception and move the industry forward. Remember, Elvis was once called “dirty and vulgar” by Ed Sullivan. I suddenly felt ashamed of myself for being so quick to admonish her online and in conversation. I decided to step back, shut up, and not ridicule from my ivory tower. Because of John Mayer.

What does John Mayer have to do with any of this? As a die hard fan I have had to defend this man for years. From off-hand interview comments about sexual napalm and his white supremacist dick, to why the “Your Body is a Wonderland” kid deserves to play at Crossroads. I know how talented John Mayer is. I have seen him live, multiple times, every chance I get actually. I know what those hands can do with a guitar. I have listened, and listened, and listened to every word of every lyric on all of his albums and can appreciate the thought and carefulness that was put into them. I have watched, over the last decade, an artist grow, and change, and improve, and fall, and rise again. I appreciate the process. I have witnessed him make mistakes and apologize, and make others and not. But in the end, I’m not buying the person’s album, I’m buying the artist’s album, and a personality flaw, a poor choice of words, a bad interview, none of those things take away the talent of that artist. He is arguably (not arguably to me, but for the sake of everyone’s opinion) the most talented guitar player of this generation. He can make those strings sing to you. You want modern day blues brilliance? See John Mayer. The talent is still there, whether you like him or not. I’ve gone over this this with countless coworkers, strangers and friends in John Mayer’s favor, because I’m a fan. I will go over this in the future in Kanye and Miley’s favor because I’m not a hypocrite. Because what’s true for those I love is still true for those who baffle me. Because what’s true…is true.

  *A serious note about Mental Illness: