Post by mccjeff on Feb 24, 2016 16:54:01 GMT -5
Pink Floyd And Phish Producer Bob Ezrin Destroys Kanye West In Open Letter
In an open letter shared by veteran music journalist Bob Lefsetz's blog, the Lefsetz Letter, long time record producer Bob Ezrin sharply took Kanye West to task for his over the top antics and self aggrandization. Ezrin has earned the bonafides to speak out on such matters, helping to create masterpieces such as Pink Floyd's legendary double album The Wall and Lou Reed's Berlin, not to mention his recent work on the Phish album, Fuego.
In the letter, Ezrin was bluntly dismissive of Kanye's self purported "Genius," dropping hits like "...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. He didn’t open up new avenues of public discourse like NWA, or introduce the world to a new art form like Grandmaster Flash, or even meaningfully and memorably address social issues through his music like Marshall, Macklemore and Kendrick."
The letter wasn't entirely critical, as he did give Kanye props on his production skills, saying: "In my opinion, his productions are his best work – and I admit I’m jealous of several of them..." though he went on to say "...but I don’t think he’s on quite the same level as Timbaland and Rick Rubin among several others. His song writing – meaning the stuff with melodies – is sophomoric at best."
He even took a moment to lament the recent pairing of West and music icon Paul McCartney, opining "I was embarrassed for Sir Paul – one of the greatest Artists of our era – by their collaboration, though it was pointed out to me that this got him his highest chart position in decades. So I guess he didn’t mind. But I kind of did!"
Ezrin worried that people seem to be buying into the hype and equating Kanye's body of work as "Art" with a capitol "A." Or as he puts it "...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???"
That fact that Kanye has released an album he is still tinkering with, Ezrin was found himself pondering the very nature of West. "The great musicians, writers, poets, rappers, performers, dancers, players, conductors, directors and producers work all their lives for that one moment of complete perfection – that one brilliant performance, that one perfect song, that one enduring and life-altering work. 10,000 hours is peanuts in comparison to the real amount of time spent by true artists in their lifelong pursuit of excellence. But no one else that I have seen is this happy to have the audience watching all along the way. They are working to the culmination of something; to the exquisite feeling of completion that comes from working and reworking until that moment when their creation, or their performance, is as good as it could possibly be. This guy is just feeding the media machine and I’m not even certain to what end. Maybe he JUST needs the attention, like that flasher, and isn’t happy unless he’s the center of it."
He closes a letter with a sad lament. "I don’t even know why I’m so angry about this. Except maybe I lament for a world where being truly, world-shakingly excellent at anything – at least in the field of popular music if not elsewhere – is no longer absolutely necessary. You can be a star today just by creating a public life that people pay attention to. That’s it. All you have to do is be interesting or likable or shocking enough and you can have your 15 minutes of fame…even if that means that no one will remember you or what you’ve done in just a few years. Line ‘em up. How many “popular artists” have come and gone in just the last decades. In my mind (which is a pretty busy as often too judgmental place, I will admit) real artists make stuff that changes the world and LASTS."
Naturally, Kanye took to Twitter to reply.
Has anybody ever heard of Bob Ezrin???
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 24, 2016
I’m tired of old people that have no connection with anything trying to comment on music!
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 24, 2016
Do something relevant… Please don’t speak on me bro ever again!!!
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 24, 2016
Bob please never speak in public again… you are everything that is wrong with the old guard …
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 24, 2016
Ezrin I truly feel sorry for your friends and family that they have had to suffer an idiot like you for so many years…
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 24, 2016
This is an interesting feud that's developed. As Kanye points out, Bob Ezrin is a stalwart member of the "Old Guard," a man with a decades long career who's worked on cultural touchstones and yet has managed to stay relevant to the present day. Kanye West has shown himself to be a talented producer, a performer with aspirations to the higher levels of art and a public persona that is baffling in its complete lack of shame and nuance. The two couldn't be farther apart on notoriety scale, but knowing the attention Kanye's antics bring, Ezrin is about to have his profile raised considerably. Let the good times roll.
In an open letter shared by veteran music journalist Bob Lefsetz's blog, the Lefsetz Letter, long time record producer Bob Ezrin sharply took Kanye West to task for his over the top antics and self aggrandization. Ezrin has earned the bonafides to speak out on such matters, helping to create masterpieces such as Pink Floyd's legendary double album The Wall and Lou Reed's Berlin, not to mention his recent work on the Phish album, Fuego.
In the letter, Ezrin was bluntly dismissive of Kanye's self purported "Genius," dropping hits like "...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. He didn’t open up new avenues of public discourse like NWA, or introduce the world to a new art form like Grandmaster Flash, or even meaningfully and memorably address social issues through his music like Marshall, Macklemore and Kendrick."
The letter wasn't entirely critical, as he did give Kanye props on his production skills, saying: "In my opinion, his productions are his best work – and I admit I’m jealous of several of them..." though he went on to say "...but I don’t think he’s on quite the same level as Timbaland and Rick Rubin among several others. His song writing – meaning the stuff with melodies – is sophomoric at best."
He even took a moment to lament the recent pairing of West and music icon Paul McCartney, opining "I was embarrassed for Sir Paul – one of the greatest Artists of our era – by their collaboration, though it was pointed out to me that this got him his highest chart position in decades. So I guess he didn’t mind. But I kind of did!"
Ezrin worried that people seem to be buying into the hype and equating Kanye's body of work as "Art" with a capitol "A." Or as he puts it "...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???"
That fact that Kanye has released an album he is still tinkering with, Ezrin was found himself pondering the very nature of West. "The great musicians, writers, poets, rappers, performers, dancers, players, conductors, directors and producers work all their lives for that one moment of complete perfection – that one brilliant performance, that one perfect song, that one enduring and life-altering work. 10,000 hours is peanuts in comparison to the real amount of time spent by true artists in their lifelong pursuit of excellence. But no one else that I have seen is this happy to have the audience watching all along the way. They are working to the culmination of something; to the exquisite feeling of completion that comes from working and reworking until that moment when their creation, or their performance, is as good as it could possibly be. This guy is just feeding the media machine and I’m not even certain to what end. Maybe he JUST needs the attention, like that flasher, and isn’t happy unless he’s the center of it."
He closes a letter with a sad lament. "I don’t even know why I’m so angry about this. Except maybe I lament for a world where being truly, world-shakingly excellent at anything – at least in the field of popular music if not elsewhere – is no longer absolutely necessary. You can be a star today just by creating a public life that people pay attention to. That’s it. All you have to do is be interesting or likable or shocking enough and you can have your 15 minutes of fame…even if that means that no one will remember you or what you’ve done in just a few years. Line ‘em up. How many “popular artists” have come and gone in just the last decades. In my mind (which is a pretty busy as often too judgmental place, I will admit) real artists make stuff that changes the world and LASTS."
Naturally, Kanye took to Twitter to reply.
Has anybody ever heard of Bob Ezrin???
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 24, 2016
I’m tired of old people that have no connection with anything trying to comment on music!
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 24, 2016
Do something relevant… Please don’t speak on me bro ever again!!!
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 24, 2016
Bob please never speak in public again… you are everything that is wrong with the old guard …
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 24, 2016
Ezrin I truly feel sorry for your friends and family that they have had to suffer an idiot like you for so many years…
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 24, 2016
This is an interesting feud that's developed. As Kanye points out, Bob Ezrin is a stalwart member of the "Old Guard," a man with a decades long career who's worked on cultural touchstones and yet has managed to stay relevant to the present day. Kanye West has shown himself to be a talented producer, a performer with aspirations to the higher levels of art and a public persona that is baffling in its complete lack of shame and nuance. The two couldn't be farther apart on notoriety scale, but knowing the attention Kanye's antics bring, Ezrin is about to have his profile raised considerably. Let the good times roll.
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