Kanye West dissed Radiohead and said the public should give Chris Brown "a break" during a recent VH1 Storytellers. But don't expect to see these segments - they've been edited out.
A Storytellers spokesperson who requested anonymity told MusicRadar, "A lot of thought went into what to leave in and what to take out. Between Kanye's song performances and anecdotes, the taping went on for over three hours.
"As it is, we're expanding the running time for the Kanye West Storytellers to 90 minutes instead of the standard one hour. Lots of bits had to go - those were just two of them."
According to Reuters, during the taping, which took place 13 February at the Sony Studios in Los Angeles, West was still smarting over Radiohead singer Thom Yorke's alleged snubbing of him backstage at the Grammys five days earlier.
That stung, West told the audience, because he worships the British band and considers them one of his few creative rivals. "So when [Yorke] performed at the Grammys, I sat the fuck down," West said.
West backs Brown
West then moved on to the matter of singer Chris Brown, who is accused of assaulting his girlfriend, singer Rihanna. "Can't we give Chris a break?" West told the crowd. "I know I make mistakes in life."
(It should be pointed out that the taping occurred before the photo of a battered Rihanna leaked out.)
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"Amazing...amazing...amazing..."
Chris Brown wasn't the only celebrity to receive West's big-time props. He earned loud applause when he said, "Michael Jackson, amazing. Michael Phelps, amazing. He's a real fuckin' person; he makes mistakes." (The last comment was inreference to the champion swimmer's recent bong pipe brouhaha.)
Drawing less applause were West's comments on convicted felon and ex-football star OJ Simpson: "O.J. Simpson, amazing. Is he not? What he did, when he did, what he did. Was he not amazing though?"
In-between his commentary, West somehow found time to perform 14 songs, some of which - Go Hard and Street Lights - won't make the final episode. But expect older tunes like Touch The Sky and Stronger, along with newer cuts such as Amazing and See You In My Nightmares.
Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar World, Guitar Player, MusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.
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