LINK NEW YORK (AP) -- Kanye West, with a crown of thorns atop his head, poses as Jesus Christ on the cover of the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone. The outspoken rapper defends his brash attitude inside the magazine's pages, on newsstands Friday. He is also pictured posing as Muhammad Ali. "In America, they want you to accomplish these great feats, to pull off these David Copperfield-type stunts," he says. "You want me to be great, but you don't ever want me to say I'm great?" West also says his hit song "Gold Digger" was the best song last year and that it should have been nominated for the Grammy's best rap song category: "That's a gimme Grammy." Nevertheless, the 27-year-old is nominated for eight awards, including album of the year for his sophomore album, "Late Registration." The Grammys will be presented February 8. West has always been forthright in saying what he feels, most famously when he said "George Bush doesn't care about black people" during a telethon for Hurricane Katrina victims. "If I was more complacent and I let things slide, my life would be easier, but you all wouldn't be as entertained," he says. "My misery is your pleasure." The strangest tangent of the Rolling Stone story, however, is when West says he's addicted to p*rnography. He remembers first seeing his father's Playboy magazine when he was 5 years old. "Right then," West says, laughing, "it was like, 'Houston, we have a problem.' "
I don't remember asking or expecting anything of this man... Why doesn't he just make himself the center of the universe?
The sooner this idiot goes away, the better. Did anyone see him "freestyle" in front of Barbara Walters? He's got, literally, no talent.
I don't know, I think he's one hell of a producer and I do like his lyrics, not as much thought into them as say Talib or some if the even more under ground rappers like Dead Prez, but still better than any one else in the top 40.
I disagree. Dude produced some of music's biggest hits in the last 8 years or so including many songs on Jay-Z's albums, Alicia Keyes', DMX, Common, and John Legend, just to name a few. In the last 2 years he resurrected Common's career and produced one of the best Hip hop/rap albums of the year in "BE", and one of the best R&B albums in a long time in J. Legend's "Get Lifted". On top of that, he has put out two great hip hop/rap albums in the last 3 years. Both his albums were critically aclaimed by both "black" and "white" music critics. You know you are great when Vibe & Source give you high marks, and Rollingstones and Billboard Magazines praise you even higher! He's a breath of fresh air compared to the fake untalented thugs in hip/hop like 50 pennies and ja rule. I know he is arrogant but i look at it more like he's extremely self confident. I am against that magazine cover b/c no one should pose as a Prophet from God whether it be Moses, Jesus or Muhammad b/c that is purely disrespectful to try and represent someone sent from God as a human charicature.
You get on him for that and not some of the lyrics he spits in his songs? The guy lives on controversy very few people are good and controversial, Kanye West is no Ozzy Osborne..
I can't stand this guy because of how full of himself he is. But I will continue to download some of his songs for FREE.
He's a great talent and a great producer, those saying he isn't don't know what the heck they're talking about. I, too, dislike him as a person, but he's no doubt one of the most talented people in the music industry, period!
Spit some terrible lyrics that Kanye has said. His flows are great b/c he uses clever analogies and most his songs tell a story unlike most rappers who run their lips and say things to rhyme but have no meaning at all. Yeah he isn't the cleanest person in terms of lyrics but what music is clean these days besides gospel or classical music? You take the good with the bad. Osborne is good? hahaha...an overaged coke addict who allows his kids to be druggies on display for the world on a reality show. People who dislike Kanye, mainly white (i am half white and half iranian), mostly do so b/c of his critical comments about george bush. I never heard so much haterate towards Kanye until those comments. Hey, when you have success, haters will come out the closet in droves. It happens to most successful people. Hate him or love him, you can't seriously say he is not talented (i Hate Kobe with a passion but i acknowledge he is a great athelete and basketball player; I can put my personal opinion against him aside and rationally say he is a great player).
Talented? PLEASE find a transcript of his Barbara Walters interview. I can't find it, but Kanye was talking about his "mad rapping skills" and that he could freestyle any time he wanted to. So Barbara asked him to. His response was something like I'm here with Barbara Walters She doesn't falter she's a baller and more talentless crap like that. If you watch him do this, "talent" will be the last thing you say about Kanye's "mad rapping skills."
I couldn't tell you one song of his and somehow I feel I haven't missed anything. Old school rap like Run-DMC, KRS-One, Eric B. & Rakim as well as Tupac and A Tribe Called Quest is about the only rap music I would listen to.
