Welp… that was all sorts of confusing and disappointing.
Kanye West just concluded tonight’s Billboard Music Awards and for most of us hip hop heads, we kept it on in the background for 3 hours to see ‘Ye shut it down with flames.
Unfortunately, the censors shut him down amidst Kanye’s now customary flames.
‘Ye began with “All Day” and ABC’s censors overreacted to the lyrics with silence for quite literally more than half of the song. It continued as Kanye went into “Black Skinhead” and to top it off, ‘Ye seemingly purposefully stood with the flames and behind some pyrotechnics to only project a silhouette. It didn’t quite work given the smoke and camera’s distance (in fact, the better effect is from Theophilus London’s IG video below… very cool.) Naturally though, Twitter was ablaze (no pun intended) with a high amount of WTF memes. I’m with the masses here — upset at the censors.
But it does beg a couple questions: 1. With the high volume of ‘n’ words, should Ye really be pushing “All Day” to non hip hop dominated audiences (like a telecast for pop music on ABC or even a Bulls game where the percentage is not as much as a Yeezus concert.) And 2. Why go back to “Black Skinhead”? Yeezus is a month shy of 2 years now.
Stay tuned for the silver lining to come of this performance: the next Kanye stream of consciousness.
A couple tidbits via Theophilus London…
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Elsewhere in the night, the only other performance you have to see is Wiz Khalifa & Charlie Puth’s “See You Again” which featured viral violinist Lindsey Stirling to add a fresh touch to the melody. I dug her addition and the Paul Walker tribute video in the back at the very end. Why did Wiz have to turn up like that at the end? I would have preferred a classic pose it out moment.
I grasp for straws for more must-see highlights from the BBMAs. There’s really only J. Lo & Rita Ora left, ha!
Gowhere Hip Hop 