S. Samuel
Controversial rapper/producer Kanye West has once again turned his back on a television program by refusing to perform on NBC's "The Today Show" later this month.
West broke the news on his protest via a series of Tweets.
“I’m not performing on the Today Show for obvious reasons. I’m so happy the world got to see just a small piece of “the set up”
“I blatantly said I’m not performing on a tweet and to everyone around me and the next day they still announced a performance.”
“Do you guys see what I’m saying now… this is just a small slice of the day to day bullsh*t that goes on that helps to precipitate…”
“… the idea that I such an a**hole…. cause when I don’t perform oh noooow I’m the one that’s crazy or a jerk!”
“If I hadn’t tweeted about how they set me up at the show they would have never played the extra footage that displayed how disrespectful…”
West also asked his fans to decipher media tactics by re-examining the footage of his interview.
“I want you guys to look at that footage and start to put everything together now. It’s very simple to call someone angry or spoiled or…”
“the one thousand names I’ve been called but it’s harder to try to take a look at what’s really behind the curtain.”
“I’m so happy that my real fans are not as “basic” as the media makes them out to be… Did you see them try to justify playing the audio under my interview. Yo sometimes you’re just wrong and it ain’t nothing you can say to justify it believe me I know!”
“…And I don’t hate Matt Lauer… We don’t promote hate. That’s the whole point!!! I promote love and truth!”
“… we’re all products or our environments … reflections of our surroundings…” (Kanye West’s Twitter)
The video clip of West’s show appearance hit the Internet yesterday.
“I didn’t need you guys to show me the tape and prompt my emotions to what I’m going to say,” said West referring to Bush describing the rapper’s racist remarks about him during the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster. “Pre-looking at his face, I came up here because I wanted to say something to him right after the fact. I don’t really have to do the TV stuff. This is reality, this is the real thing going on. I don’t need all the jazz…I’m here to man up to different mistakes that I made and speak to the moment when I pegged George Bush as a racist…I came here to say I’ve made mistakes and grown as a person and that it’s not as easy as boxing someone into a villain role or into a race role. I did not have the information, enough information in that situation to call him a racist. That might’ve been the emotion that I felt.” (Rap-Up)
Prior to the clip landing online, West aired out his issues with the show’s host, Matt Lauer.
“”I can’t take anymore advice!!! I create, I’m creative, I have a good heart, everyone will see and understand one day. Everything sounds like noise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EVERYTHING SOUNDS LIKE NOISE!!!!!!! I don’t trust anyone! Very judged very scrutinized very criticized! I want everyone to know I have lows all the time but I make it through them! Yo I really wonder if Matt Lauer thought that sh*t was cool to play the “MTV” clip while I was speaking about Bush? He played clips of Bush and asked me to look at his face while I was trying to talk to him. I wish Michael Jackson had twitter!!!!!! Maybe Mike could have explained how the media tried to set him up!!! It’s all a f*cking set up!!!! . This is rock and roll life my people… you can’t stop the truth you can’t stop the music and I have to be strong or “they” win!!!! . Sometimes it’s not simple, some days it’s not easy… I just want to create. I love you guys, thanks for the support!” (Rap Radar)
Check out Kanye West’s appearance on the “Today” show below:
