Saturday, July 02, 2005
Kanye West at Live8
Say what you will about the Live8 concerts, they are a way to raise awareness about legitimate issues in Africa. That is until you get Kanye West going on MTV/VH1 and saying that AIDS is a man-made disease that was placed in Africa, just as crack was placed in the black community to break-up the Black Panther Party. I don't see how he expects to tackle the problems of AIDS in Africa properly when he's spouting stupid conspiracy theories about the disease on national TV. All it's going to do is lead more people to question the wisdom of having celebrities confront real issues (see Tom Cruise on post-partum depression for example), which is sort of the whole point of Live8. So far his comments haven't brought any sort of response (they were only about 30mins. ago), but hopefully someone today will refocus him.
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5 comments:
Mark --
I am in England and so we have gotten full coverage of Live 8, including many opportunities to see all ofthe concerts, incl;uding the Philly show. Kanye West did not say that AIDS is a man-made disease. What he said might be wrong -- that in the past man-made diseases have been introduced to Africa-- but he did not say what you say that he said. After the second time we saw it I intentionally looked out for it. He simply did not say that.
dc
I admit that I wasn't paying too much attention to the television when he was talking (I'm not a fan, so I wasn't interested in what he was saying about his new album, etc.). It turns out that he didn't say exactly what I reported; instead, he attributed it to his "activist" parents. There was also some more context that I mostly missed. Apparently he cancelled some other commitments to appear in Philadelphia, and was at risk of being sued by the other promoters. So his comments were meant to demonstrate his commitment to the Live8 goals, even at the risk of legal action.But I wasn't too far off on what he actually said: "The concept of AIDS alone - my parents always told me, who are activists - that it's a man-made disease in the first place that was placed in Africa just like crack was placed in the black community to break up the Black Panther (black activists) party." ( KANYE RISKED LEGAL FIGHT TO PERFORM AT LIVE 8 ) Is repeating something your parents told you any better than saying it yourself? It seems to me that he did make the comments, and believes what he said. Also, this apparently isn't an isolated incident. A track on his latest album makes the same accusations towards the government regarding both AIDS and crack (there is also a track attacking blood diamonds from Sierra Leone, which seems to be based a bit more in reality). ( Kanye Previews New LP ) His commitment to Live 8 might be commendable, but it's still based partly on an illegitimate conspiracy theory, which doesn't help the Live8 efforts.
There has been other criticism of West that's started to appear: The Hollywood Reporter called his comments "twisted thoughts".( Live 8 ) I would expect more.
Mark --
I am not denying that West may have said other things at other times, including perhaps this weekend. All I was saying was that when he was onstage he did not actually say what you said that he had -- I certainly have no interest in efending kanye est if he did say something dumb or offensive. I think this was one of the risks of a series of shows like Live 8 -- dozens, probably hundreds, of acts in a politicized setting -- I am actually surprised that there was not more dopey grandstanding. I think that like the Oscars, they probably wrere given a pretty rigid time limit, and may even have ben told tio stay on point and that speechifying might do more harm than good. That is just idle speculation on my part, though.
dc
I think we misunderstood each other a little. West didn't make his comments onstage. They were in an interview with a VJ backstage beforehand. I didn't watch his performance, so I don't know what he said while up there. Maybe that makes the impact of what he said backstage less because it wasn't in the glaring spotlight, but it was still on MTV and VH1, the premiere music television channels in the world, which certainly gives it more attention than it deserves. It seems that most people have ignored or missed what he said, but we'll see if the message supposedly in his new album makes waves when it comes out later in the summer.
Mark --
Just form the record, the buzz surrounding his last album was enormous, so I got it -- unbelievable how mediocre it is. I have to admit, I was shocked that they still do skits on hip hop albums (talk about something that wa splayed that sucked even when it wa strendy) and that really turned me off, but even beyond that I was underwhelmed.
dc
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