Entertainment

Kanye West Just Twitter-Attacked A Music Producer

by Claire Elizabeth Felter

The self-ascribed greatest artist of all time has been providing people around the globe with all sorts of creative performances in recent days. Sure, West just dropped his newest album, The Life of Pablo, but the hip-hop artist's other expressive offerings of late have had pretty much nothing to do with his music. Rather, West has taken advantage of his free time to either support alleged sexual assaulter Bill Cosby, blame Taylor Swift for his own misogynistic lyrics, or ask Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for a boatload of cash. The musical artist apparently wasn't done with his social media funtime, because Kanye West went after a major music producer on Twitter, but not before being called out first.

The target of West's Tuesday Twitter rant was longtime music producer and keyboardist Bob Ezrin, who has worked with legendary groups including Pink Floyd and Kiss. West first inquired on the social media site if Twitter users had any idea who Ezrin is — apparently, West was not familiar with the Canadian music producer before this week.

The tweets, however, didn't come without reason. Ezrin wrote a post published in the newsletter, the Lefsetz Letter, on Monday that went after West in a major way. Ezrin's writing isn't so harsh at first, with the producer making the argument that West's creations just won't be as long-lasting as others' in hip-hop and rap music.

Unlike other creators in his genre like Jay-Z, Tupac, Biggie or even M.C. Hammer for that matter, it’s unlikely that we’ll be quoting too many of Kanye’s songs 20 years from now.

The criticism then arrived in what could only be referred to as a flood. Ezrin transitioned from passing judgment on Kanye's music to everything that makes Kanye West, the person.

Instead Kanye’s greatest achievements have been in the form of excessive behavior, egomaniacal tantrums and tasteless grandstanding. What he is a true artist at is living his life out loud – and shoving it down the throats of the rest of us whether we give a shit or not. He’s like that flasher who interrupts a critical game by running naked across the field. Is that art???

And, so, in what other way could West respond than with a Twitter flood of equal proportions?

That's right. Ezrin included in his opinion piece the argument that West had failed to "meaningfully or memorably address social issues" through his music, mentioning several rappers — including Macklemore — who have.

Yes, it definitely appears to be all positive vibes on West's end.