Kanye West: ‘I’m Scared of the Grammys’
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.
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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.
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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]