PacificCoastNewsKanye West attempted to clarify his controversial Grammys comments this morning during his chat with Ryan Seacrest, but as we come to except in interviews with the outspoken rapper, we were still left scratching our heads.
In case you haven't been on the Internet since Sunday, the remarks we're referring to are of course his viral Grammys rant at the E! After Party—during which he said that Beck "needs to respect artistry and he should have given his award to Beyoncé" following the musician's big win for Album of the Year.
"When I said that thing about respect artistry, I think it came off the wrong way, and that was a mis-wording on my part because obviously Beck is one the most respected artists and respects artistry," the 21-time Grammy-winner told Seacrest. "But I felt — and this is my opinion and he's his own man and he's not wrong and we'll still go play basketball and stuff [unless] he doesn't want to do it — but I felt that even though the Grammys some times gives awards to people who you wouldn't think should win in the category, as a respect to artists, we mention the other artist's name in our speech. And that was the point I was making about it.
"There's like many of times I gave other people my award, literally made them come up onstage," he added, "Maroon 5, when they won best new artist, [Adam Levine] mentioned me because it was the College Dropout and [it had] 10 nominations and all that" (to be fair, 'Ye has previously given away his own award to another artist).
Asked if he believes Beyoncé didn't win because she is "so commercial, popular, and successful" he replied, "I believe she didn't move and run to the stage because she's a respectful individual. But because she is so successful, a lot of times, success disables your ability to communicate exactly what the f--k you want to say!"
As those who tuned into the Grammys witnessed, the "Black Skinhead" rapper rushed the stage following Beck's win, mimicking his infamous 2009 incident at the MTV Video Music Awards when he interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech to alert the audience that Beyoncé should have won.
Unsurprisingly, the eyebrow-raising move has spurred a reaction from many in the music biz, including John Legend and Shirley Manson, who recently slammed the rapper in a Facebook post for "disrespecting artistry."
"You know, I felt like just the whole Grammys, right when that happened, everybody was looking at me and then people started screaming, "Kanye! Kanye! Go do it!" Ok, that didn't really happen, these were voices in my head," he confessed when asked why he decided to get out of his seat following the announcement of Beck's accolade. "So the voices in my head told me go and then I just walked up like halfway up the stage. You know, what I really wanted to do is just joke around about what had happened before, but I just really didn't want to take away from Beck's moment or the time he's having to talk because you know the Grammys, they play music really quick no matter who you are and everything. So I didn't want anything to take away from his screen time. So I just walked back down because you know, it was kind of a joke like the Grammys themselves."
As for whether he believes there was an issue "with perception versus intention"?
"Oh yes, definitely," Kim Kardashian's husband revealed. "But the road to hell has been paved with good intentions. You know, I'm at a point where it's ways to do things in a smoother way. And feel like at the Grammys — I don't know exactly what the press has been [saying] because I don't keep up with that — but at the Grammys when I did go up onstage and left off, there was a really good vibe about it, and everybody was laughing and smiling."
So, then why did he feel the need to rant during his after-party chat with E!?
"Well you know what happened? It's because I sat there and I kind of let that [smolder] and I was asked my opinion and I was given a platform," he explained. "And when given a platform, it's very hard as we know — and I'm going to talk in third person like I'm a crazy person — but it's very hard for Kanye West to not be very true and vocal to what he feels. You know, it's like people take the Grammys for granted in a way because of the commercials, because a lot of the musicians are very rich and everything, but this is our Super Bowl. You know, and someone's got to be mad that [Marshawn Lynch] didn't get the ball."
Surprisingly enough, Kanye's comments about the Grammys weren't the biggest bombshell he dropped during the interview—he also confirmed he's working with Taylor Swift (now that explains their smiley photo!).
"She wants to get in the studio and we're definitely going to go in," he shared of the 1989 beauty. "Any artist with an amazing point of view, perspective, fan base, I'm down to get in the studio and work. I don't discriminate, I don't have an elitism of music because of like how many Grammys or you know, the amount of ratings you get on an album. I that think everyone loves music whether they love hip-hop, alternative, country, and if I could be involved in giving people any type of energy, advice in the studio, whether you're Beyonce, whether you're Taylor Swift, whether you're Jay Z, whether you're Beck, whoever, and they can be reciprocal with that, I'd like to be involved with that."
Your move, Beck.