.

Kanye West: 'I'm Scared of the Grammys'

At NYC concert with Lupe Fiasco, West says he won't appear at next year's awards show

February 28, 2011 10:25 AM ET
Kanye West: 'I'm Scared of the Grammys'
Noel Vasquez/Getty

Kanye West, Mos Def and Lupe Fiasco dropped in as guests at the Robert Glasper Experiment show at the Blue Note jazz club in Manhattan on Saturday night. The gig had been announced with Fiasco as a special guest; the appearances by West and Mos Def were surprises.

Photos: Kanye West's Career Highs — and Lows


Kanye and Mos Def at The Blue Note Ft. Robert Glasper Experiment

In this recording from the show provided by the blog CiscoNYC, West and Mos Def freestyle over a beat laid down by Glasper's band. During West's verse, the rapper gave a shout out to Steve Stoute and echoed the sentiment of the music mogul's full-page ad in the New York Times last week calling out the Grammy Awards for snubbing major rap acts and using big stars to draw ratings without guaranteeing them awards in return.

50 Cent and Kanye West: The Rolling Stone Cover Shoot


Around the 4:30 mark in this recording, West raps "now I'm scared of the Grammys / 'cause everybody know that Dark Fantasy / was the highest rated album in history, get me?" He then raps "so I just avoid it / not to be exploited / not be recorded," which sounds a lot like he's saying that he will decline any invitation to appear at next year's Grammy Awards when his most recent album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is eligible for awards. While it's just an off-the-cuff aside in a freestyle, it's nevertheless a bold position for such a prominent artist.

Kanye & Mos Def Freestyle @ Blue Note Jazz Club [Nah Right]

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

prev
Music Main Next

blog comments powered by Disqus
Daily Newsletter

Get the latest RS news in your inbox.

Sign up to receive the Rolling Stone newsletter and special offers from RS and its
marketing partners.

X

We may use your e-mail address to send you the newsletter and offers that may interest you, on behalf of Rolling Stone and its partners. For more information please read our Privacy Policy.

Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »