Making sense of the mess: The 2012 MTV Video Music Awards

Before I even begin my attempt to decipher and predict what will happen at the MTV Video Music Awards, I'm going to give you some time to think to yourself any "MTV doesn't even play music videos" jokes you can come up with. Go on, see what you can come up with. This post will be here waiting for you when you're done.

All better? Good. The point of that was simple: the entire premise of these Video Music Awards is flawed. Not because the music video isn't a valuable form of entertainment (every year we get about a dozen or so videos that convince me to keep enduring the awful ones), but because they are being aired on a network that has exactly 0 hours per week dedicated to playing music videos (they do, however, have at least two shows that glorify people who willingly give themselves nicknames like "JWoww," "The Situation," and "Snooki"). Throw in the fact that Youtube has basically ended the era of the music video as a revenue stream for an artist, and you begin to understand the the VMAs are essentially a glorified press event for the "in" artists of the year. Still, there's something very endearing about an artist that can craft a music video that captures a person's full, undivided attention, especially in this day and age. With that, let's take a look at what we're working with this year.

Most "Share-Worthy" Video
One Direction- "What Makes You Beautiful"
Justin Bieber- "Boyfriend"
Beyonce- "Countdown"
Carly Rae Jepson- "Call Me Maybe"
Gotye- "Somebody that I Used to Know"




The Story: Honestly, I have no idea what this award is for. Apparently, the video in this category that gets the most "shares" (tweets, Facebook statuses, etc.) will be the winner. Though fan voting decides most of the awards, it seems this one is the award that will be almost completely decided by the fans of the artists. One Direction are this year's big teen sensation, but there's always Bieber's Beliebers, and it cannot be overstated how big a hit "Call Me Maybe" was.
The Winner: I'll take the heartthrobs in a landslide. They're winning as of my writing this, and the margin seems to be growing. And just like that, One Direction have won more VMAs than fellow boy band The Wanted.
Best Pop Video
fun.- "We are Young (feat. Janelle Monae)"
Justin Bieber- "Boyfriend"
Maroon 5- "Payphone (feat. Wiz Khalifa)"
One Direction- "What Makes You Beautiful"
Rihanna- "We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris)"




The Story: Hey, look at that: another Bieber nomination! While I've despised him for what feels like a decade (it's probably just jealousy), I will admit Bieber's done some serious maturing over the last 18 months or so. So much, in fact, that I wouldn't mind seeing him sweep the awards this year. But my heart belongs to fun., and the unexpected breakout they scored with "We are Young" and its raucous video in slow-motion was one of the best this year.
The Winner: Nate Ruess: 1, Justin Bieber: 0. "We are Young" takes home Best Pop Video.
Best Rock Video

The Black Keys- "Lonely Boy"
Coldplay- "Paradise"
Imagine Dragons- "It's Time"
Jack White- "Sixteen Saltines"
Linkin Park- "Burn it Down"


The Story: There was a time where a mere nomination in the Best Rock Video category would guarantee a Linkin Park victory. That time has long since passed. The same can be said for Jack White and Coldplay, whose releases last year were largely overlooked despite past success in the Top 40. That leaves the latest band to inherent the "Last Hope for Rock and Roll" title, and one of the worst band names I've ever heard. I'll let you figure out which is which.
The Winner: The Black Keys. Seriously, what were the band names Imagine Dragons didn't pick when they were starting out? Did they come up with worse names that that? Is that even possible? Anyway, the "Lonely Boy" video was a viral smash, and the best video rock music has to offer this year. (Side note: I have no idea why fun. wasn't nominated in this category, they would have won it easily if  "We are Young" or "Some Nights" was nominated.)
Best Hip-Hop Video
Childish Gambino- "Heartbeat"
Drake- "HYFR (feat. Lil Wayne)"
Kanye West- "Mercy (feat. Big Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz)"
Nicki Minaj- "Beez in the Trap (feat. 2 Chainz)"
The Throne- "Paris"

The Story: 2 Chainz is a ridiculous human being, but he must be doing something right. Thanks to Kanye West adding him to the GOOD Music roster, he's now the hottest up-and-coming rapper in the game and, along with West, has a 40% chance to win a VMA for a song he's featured on. Drake and Childish Gambino somehow found their way onto this list, but they won't be factors. "Mercy" has the distinct advantage of being released earlier this summer, and may be fresh enough in the minds of voters to steal the award. Nicki Minaj has also had a big year, and it may be her time after losing the Best New Artist award last year.
The Winner: There are a lot of rappers looking to get to the top, but unfortunately for them, The Throne is occupied, and "Paris" was a cultural phenomenon this year. The video, which features a trippy presentation of Kanye and Jay-Z performing the song live, is innovative and loud, and none of the other videos in this category come close to doing that.
Best Female Video
Beyonce- "Love on Top"
Katy Perry- "Part of Me"
Nicki Minaj- "Starships"
Rihanna- "We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris)"
Selena Gomez and the Scene- "Love You Like a Love Song"



The Story: It was really nice of MTV to give Bieber's girlfriend Selena Gomez a throwaway nomination so people can stop asking "What song does she sing?" when they show her next to Justin on-air. She won't win, but it's a cute gesture. Beyonce's second video to be nominated this year was overshadowed by the birth of her daughter Blue Ivy, and her lack of a Moonman (seriously, that's what the award is) will reflect that. Nicki Minaj went from hip-hop buzz artist to bonifide pop star in 2012, and "Starships" is her assertion of that, and one of the anthems of this past summer. You can never count out Katy Perry, who led the field in Moonmen last year, either.
The Winner: I want to pick "We Found Love" here, because it's the only Rihanna song I've liked since "Umbrella" (yes, it's been that long since she's done a song that sounded different from all her others), but I think this is where Nicki breaks through and wins. "Starships" is nothing more than a straight-up pop banger, and the video reflects that. Simple, flashy, and loud, the video is actually a great reflection of the artist who sings it.

Best Male Video
Chris Brown- "Turn up the Music"
Drake- "Take Care (feat. Rihanna)"
Frank Ocean- "Swim Good"
Justin Bieber- "Boyfriend"
Usher- "Climax"



The Story: Well, this is awkward. Chris Brown was arrested for his violence against Rihanna, and now that he's on the road to forgiveness, he can't even escape her in the Best Male Video category. What's worse, Rihanna's teamed up with Drake, the man Brown apparently fought (and lost) with at a night club over, you guessed it, Rihanna. It's still an uphill battle you're fighting, Breezy. Bieber's nominated again, which makes him the odds-on favorite, which is a little awkward considering he's going up against his mentor, Usher. Frank Ocean's there, too, but if he wins an award Thursday night, it won't be this one.
The Winner: It's a copout pick, but I'm taking the Biebs. It's too difficult to pick against him at these things, and I've already done it twice, so it'd be wise to take him here and hopefully cut my losses.
Best Electronic Dance Music Video
Avicii- "Levels"
Calvin Harris- "Feel so Close"
Duck Sauce- "Big Bad Wolf"
Martin Solvieg- "The Night Out"
Skrillex- "First of the Year (Equinox)"


The Story: This is what it's come to. The EDM movement is now so inavoidable, it has its own VMA category. The heavy hitters here are Avicii and Sonny Moore, former lead singer of From First to Last (that never gets old). Martin Solvieg scored a big hit last year with "Hello," but "The Night Out" wasn't anywhere near as successful, so he's a non-factor. Calvin Harris is a dark horse, and Duck Sauce is too, I guess, but in the end, there's only one way this can go.
The Winner: "Levels" is too massive a hit to not be recognized by at least one award show. You can argue that Avicii's smash is what brought the EDM movement to the forefront of music this year, for better or worse, so it's time that he get his due. Plus, it's hard for me to pick Skrillex when this video exists. Yep, that's Skrillex singing those lyrics. Scary monsters, indeed.
Best Video with a Message
Demi Lovato- "Skyscraper"
Gym Class Heroes- "The Fighter (feat. Ryan Tedder)"
Kelly Clarkson- "Dark Side"
K'Naan- "Is Anybody Out There? (feat. Nelly Furtado)"
Lil Wayne- "How to Love"
Rise Against- "Ballad of Hollis Brown"


The Story: At this point, MTV needs to just call this the Rise Against Award. This is the second year that the Best Video with a Message category has existed, and Rise Against has had a video nominated both years (last year was for their monumental effort in conjunction with the It Gets Better campaign for their song "Make It Stop (September's Children)"). This year features a few songs from artists that have almost no message to their music at all, namely Lil Wayne and Gym Class Heroes. K'Naan's entry is a peculiar but welcome one, and Kelly Clarkson's entry is interesting as well, and the presence of all these stars puts Rise Against off the map for an award they should have won last year (but lost to Lady Gaga).
The Winner: After battling self-harm, anorexia, and countless other issues, no one deserves this award more than Demi Lovato. "Skyscraper" was her most important song of her career, and she should be rewarded for her courage and perseverance.
Best New Artist



Carly Rae Jepsen- "Call Me Maybe"
Frank Ocean- "Swim Good"
fun.- "We are Young (feat. Janelle Monae)"
One Direction- "What Makes You Beautiful"
The Wanted- "Glad You Came"

The Story: If you're as big a fan of Some Nights as we are at Keep Calm, you're pulling hard for fun. to take home as many awards as they can, including the always interesting Best New Artist award. That being said, the band have their work cut out for them here. The Wanted and One Direction seem to be the new generation's band boy craze, and those kinds of fans are the kind that can tilt the voting scale. Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" is the one song that may have been bigger than "We are Young" this year, and stands a great chance. Plus, Frank Ocean's very public reveal of his sexuality has made him a lightningrod for conversation this year, and after fellow Odd Future member Tyler, the Creator stole Best New Artist last year, can OF go back-to-back years causing chaos at the polls?
The Winner: I'm going to let personal bias take over here and go with fun. in a close race over Carly Rae, which would break their tie with the field and make them the leading Moonman winners thus far.

Video of the Year
Drake- "Take Care (feat. Rihanna)"
Gotye- "Somebody that I Used to Know (feat. Kimbra)"
Katy Perry- "Wide Awake"
MIA- "Bad Girls"
Rihanna- "We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris)"

The Story: To make things even worse for Chris Brown this year (as if being convicted of domestic abuse can get any worse), Rihanna has a 2 in 5 chance to win Video of the Year. While "Take Care" and "We Found Love" didn't seem to have the kind of buzz you'd expect to have a Video of the Year, neither did MIA, who I'm honestly shocked to see on this list. Katy Perry's second song nominated is a lot like "Part of Me" in that they seem like they were both taken from her diary after Russell Brand filed for divorce from their marraige, and like I said earlier, it's hard to count her out of these things. This is another award I'm surprise fun. wasn't nominated for, but we'll have to make do with these five.
The Winner: Gotye should win this, and there isn't really an argument for any of the other videos he's up against. "Somebody that I Used to Know" is the odds-on favorite for the biggest surprise hit of the year in 2012, and the video's stunning simplicity (and nakedness!) make it a perfect compliment to the creative masterpiece that the song is. In a year where no one will dominate the awards, why can't Gotye rise above Drake, Katy, and Rihanna?






I know this seems trivial to do, but the VMAs are usually good for a few moments you can chat about with your friends over coffee the next morning, the performances are usually pretty good, and you never know what Kanye might do if he shows up. Plus, to quote fun.'s "Some Nights":

 "...you wouldn't believe, the most amazing things, they can come from some terrible nights." 

Happy watching, and feel free to criticize my picks in the comments!

Bold Predictions Likely to be Wrong: The 2010 MTV VMAs

Tomorrow night, MTV continues its long-running tradition of pretending to care about music videos, while the rest of America will pretend to care about the VMAs altogether. Over the last few years, the VMAs have become a stage for Kanye West to do crazy things while Tokio Hotel inexplicably receives an award other than "Least Talented Band Ever." The "It" stars of today will be running amock onstage, while Chelsea Handler's "comedy" will be opening what is sure to be at the very least an interesting night in Los Angeles on Sunday. While the likes of Ke$ha, Justin Beiber, Drake, and Eminem are slated to perform, let's take a look at who (I think) will be taking home the slightly coveted Moonman this year, one award at a time:
(NOTE: Each of the links will take you to the page for the corresponding category, where you can view the videos that are up for each award.)


Best Female Video
Beyonce feat. Lady GaGa- "Videophone"
Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg- "California Gurls"
Ke$ha- "Tik Tok"
Lady GaGa- "Bad Romance"
Taylor Swift- "Fifiteen"
The Storylines: The award that sparked the Kanye West outburst last year pits T-Swift and Beyonce against each other again, but it's likely that neither will factor into who wins. 2010 has belonged to K-Perr, Ke$ha and GaGa, and it seems the VMAs will decide who the current Queen of Pop is. The three will also be battling for Best Pop Video, and it seems likely that whoever wins Best Female will double down and win Best Pop as well.
Who Wins?: While Lady GaGa is by far the premiere pop artist right now, there's a case that can be made for "Tik Tok." It broke the record for most plays on the radio in one week (which was held by "Bad Romance"), and Ke$ha has ruled the airwaves ever since. "California Gurls" is a great song, but it gets disqualified because, to me, the Best Female Video should be an all-girl artist or group, and Snoop Dogg's presence ruins it for Katy (that, and the video has literally nothing to do with California). It comes down to GaGa and Ke$ha, and I'll roll with Ke$ha any day.

Best Male Video
B.o.B. feat. Hayley Williams- "Airplanes"
Drake- "Find Your Love"
Eminem- "Not Afraid"
Jason Derulo- "In My Head"
Usher feat. Will. i. am.- "OMG"
The Storylines: Best Male features one of B.o.B.'s five nominations, and his takeover could be eminent by the end of the night. Based on the reason "California Gurls" won't win Best Female, Hayley Williams's appearance on "Airplanes" means Bobby Ray won't win all five. Jason Derulo burst onto the scene this year, but with legends like Usher and Eminem and new superstar Drake up against him, he'll have to wait another year. To me, Eminem's comeback is the story of 2010, and it will be solidified if he can take it home. Usher made a bit of a comeback/reinvention this year as well, while Drake's video for "Find Your Love" is one of the better ones I've seen in a while.
Who Wins?: Eminem, plain and simple. It's definitely going to come down to one of the year's comebacks (Em and Usher), and Eminem's has produced two consecutive #1 Billboard singles ("Love the Way You Lie" is the other), putting him at a huge advantage. This may be one of the more obvious winners of the night.

Best Dance Video
Enrique Iglesias feat. Pitbull- "I Like It"
Cascada- "Evacuate the Dance Floor"
David Guetta feat. Akon- "Sexy Chick"
Lady GaGa- "Bad Romance"
Usher feat. Will.i.am- "OMG"
The Storylines: Two of these songs were hits in 2009 ("Evacuate" and "Sexy Chick"), so they won't factor into the decision. Lady GaGa may in fact dominate the night, and "Bad Romance" is one of the year's bonifide hits. "OMG" and "I Like It" are straight-up dance songs, which may give them some sort of an advantage with the voters.
Who Wins?: Going for a bit of an upset here: Enrique. Here's why. The video contains the cast of MTV's hit show Jersey Shore, and that gives MTV a chance to cross-advertise, while making the egos of the show's cast even bigger. Plus, the video shows the biggest dance craze out there right now: fist-pumping. Sounds like Enrique will be beating up the beat, and his competition, on Sunday night.

Best Hip Hop Video
Drake feat. Lil Wayne, Eminem & Kanye West- "Forever"
B.o.B. feat. Hayley Williams- "Airplanes"
Eminem- "Not Afraid"
Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz- "On to the Next One"
Kid Cudi feat. MGMT & Ratatat- "Pursuit of Happiness"
The Storylines: While Kid Cudi is well respected in the game, he doesn't have the fanbase yet to upset the juggernauts in this field: at any given time, three of the nominees were considered (or still are) the best rapper alive (Jay, Em, and Weezy). "On to the Next One" wasn't as big of a commercial success to win, and "Airplanes" feels more like a pop song, so that leaves us with two. Either way, Eminem takes home the award. The real question is: will he want to share it?
Who Wins?: "Forever" was by far one of the best songs to come out in the last few years, and when you have that kind of star power on one song, there's no use denying its greatness. If only Weezy wasn't in jail now, we could have seen them all perform it again (as they did earlier this year for the Grammys). Nevertheless, this hip hop neo-classic deserves the award, and as long as Eminem takes another award home, he'll be happy.

Best Rock Video
Paramore- "Ignorance"
30 Seconds to Mars- "Kings & Queens"
Florencce & the Machine- "Dog Days are Over"
MGMT "Flash Delerium"
Muse- "Uprising"
The Storylines: This category features two indie newcomers (Florence, MGMT) who will likely be outdone by two of the more prominent rock bands of the year, Muse and Paramore. 30STM makes a strong case for the Moonman with "Kings & Queens," but they haven't had the Top 40 success (and therefore, not enough of a fanbase) to contend. It will come down to Muse and Paramore, even though each band's video was release in 2009.
Who Wins?: It'd be nice to see Muse get some more well-deserved respect, but with the smash single "The Only Exception" getting massive radio play right now, Paramore is as hot as they've been since "Misery Business" first hit the airwaves, and they won't be outdone.

Best Pop Video
B.o.B. feat. Bruno Mars- "Nothin' on You"
Beyonce feat. Lady GaGa- "Videophone"
Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg- "California Gurls"
Ke$ha- "Tik Tok"
Lady GaGa- "Bad Romance"
The Storylines: B.o.B.'s second song nominated may be in over its head on this one. Too many divas line the card in the Best Pop category, and the upset may be too much to ask for. This will be the second clash of the Titans between GaGa, K-Perr and Ke$ha, and as I said before, whoever wins Best Female will likely win this one as well.
Who Wins?: I can't go against my own proclamation, so I'll go with "Tik Tok." Lady GaGa may have to take a page from Britney Spears's book and go home empty-handed this year, with Ke$ha aiming to steal all the headlines. Katy Perry and Snoop have a better chance than you may think with this one, as "California Gurls" was the song of the summer, but it's been about 9 months since "Tik Tok" went to radio, and we're still hearing it on a regular basis.

Best Collaboration
B.o.B. feat. Hayley Williams- "Airplanes"
3OH!3 feat. Ke$ha- "My First Kiss"
Beyonce feat. Lady GaGa- "Videophone"
Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys- "Empire State of Mind"
Lady GaGa feat. Beyonce- "Telephone"
The Storylines: If B.o.B. is going to win an award, it may be this one. However, the double-dose of Beyonce and Lady GaGa looks to be too much for anyone to overcome. 3OH!3 are in the middle of a sophomore slump, and "Empire State of Mind" is so old that it was performed last year. It'll come down to "Videophone" or "Telephone."
Who Wins?: "Telephone" is one of the funnier (and longer) videos of the year, and had its own controversy to boot. MTV reportedly refused to play it at first, but LG and B would not be denied, and the video was a Youtube smash. "Airplanes" could pull the upset, but it appears unlikely, given the amount of publicity "Telephone" continues to receive.

Best New Artist
Broken Bells- "The Ghost Inside"
Jason Derulo- "In My Head"
Justin Beiber feat. Ludacris- "Baby"
Ke$ha- "Tik Tok"
Nicki Minaj feat. Sean Garrett- "Massive Attack"
The Storylines: Despite Beiber Fever (which feels more like one of the 10 Plagues), it's hard to make a case for her when she employed the assistance of an already-established artist. Broken Bells are the underdog darlings, and they simply will not win. Nick Minaj and Jason Derulo are interesting choices, but "Massive Attack" didn't get much airplay and "In My Head" was completely forgotten once JD released "Ridin' Solo."
Who Wins?: If you didn't figure it out from the above paragraph, "Tik Tok" takes this one home as well. Ke$ha is one of the most interesting figures in pop music today, and fans seemingly can't get enough of her. She'll prove her worth on Sunday night, with her performance and (hopefully) a hat trick of awards.

Video of the Year
Lady GaGa- "Bad Romance"
Florence & the Machine- "Dog Days are Over"
30 Seconds to Mars- "Kings & Queens"
B.o.B. feat. Hayley Williams- "Airplanes"
Eminem- "Not Afraid"
Lady GaGa feat. Beyonce- "Telephone"
The Storylines: Florence & the Machine are slated to perform, which makes their nomination for Video of the Year a little more interesting. 30 Seconds to Mars are also an interesting choice, as they have one of the more devoted fanbases in modern rock. Eminem's return to glory would be cemented with a win here, but if I'm right about how the awards will go, he'll be satisfied with two. Lady GaGa's two entries are the biggest draw here, and she may do what Beyonce did with "Single Ladies" from last year: get a bunch of nominations, lose all of them, but take home the one that matters most: Video of the Year.
Who Wins?: I want to pick 30STM here, I really do. "Kings and Queens" is a visually stunning video, and they have the kind of fanbase who would band together and try to upend GaGa. But they won't. "Bad Romance" was all over the place this year. It's been the 2nd-most played song of the year (behind "Tik Tok," which wasn't nominated for Video of the Year"), and people look at it as the song that helped LG break through to superstardom. That status will be further established with a Video of the Year Moonman, and there's no reason to believe Lady GaGa will be denied.

If I'm right about this, the VMAs will produce quite a few storylines: the emergence of Ke$ha as the premiere pop princess, Eminem's return to untouchable status and the lack of appreciation for B.o.B.'s meteoric rise to the top of the rap game will be talked about for the next few days, and hopefully a few surprises and some great performances will give us something to look back on, at least for a few weeks. As far as the overall winners of the night? Nobody can really "win" at this award show until MTV makes a full effort to bring back the music video to its on-air schedule. Get a grip, MTV: The Hills isn't good TV.

Kanye West's (sort of) Apology on Twitter

It's amazing how Twitter has so quickly revolutionized the way celebrities communicate with their fans, groupies, etc. One of the newcomers to this illustrious form of social networking is hip-hop's resident jerk, Kanye West. We all know the story by now: Kanye's music has come to revolutionize hip hop over the last decade, but his antics at awards shows and on TV have come to define him as an immature loose cannon with no regard or respect for the thoughts and feelings of others. This depiction of Kanye was epitmized last year at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, with innocent little Taylor Swift in the crosshairs. For those of you who (thankfully) had more important things to do in life than watch that garbage of an award show (it's hard to take the VMAs seriously when MTV doesn't even play music videos anymore, sorry), it went a little like this: Swift won the award for Best Female Video, upsetting the likes of Lady GaGa and, to Kanye's dismay and disbelief, Beyonce (her video for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)" was also nominated). As she was accepting the award she clearly was not prepared to win, Taylor Swift began to be thrust into the spotlight in a way she never imagined (because she, for some reason, is still loosely considered a country artist). As her emotional acceptance speech drew on, West was seen storming the stage to take the mic from Swift and uttered these words, which shook the music world forever:

"Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'mma let you finish, but BEYONCE HAD ONE OF THE BEST VIDEOS OF ALL TIME! ONE OF THE BEST VIDEOS OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!!!"

West shrugged, walked off the stage, with the crowds boos serenading him away. West reportedly left the show afterward, even though he was nominated for a few awards later in the night. The crowd booed West at every chance they had for the remainder of the night, and many artists went to their phones to "tweet" about how mean Kanye was. This, unfortunately, was only the beginning. Kanye-bashing became the easiest form of flattery, as pictures surfaced on the internet of West with a half-empty bottle in his hand before the show had even started (many assume Kanye Started with a full bottle). This raised questions about Kanye being an alcoholic, and led to an emotional interview on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

West has apologized on numerous occasions, and news of a new album broke earlier this year. Kanye has also initiated his "Good Friday" campaign, in which he releases a new song for free, every Friday. Now that he is beginning to become more relevant, West took the next logical step and got himself a twitter account. His first order of business? Signing up for a Twitter account, of course! And his first attempt at tweeting, Kanye began one of the most heartfelt, bizarre, incredible things to happen to twitter since the Vuvuzela got its own account during the 2010 World Cup. Among the many great tweets this rant produced, here are a few personal favorites:
(Author's note: all tweets are copy-pasted from West's twitter ver batum, with the time of post in front. All posts were on 9/4/2010)


(8:55 AM) Man I love Twitter... I've always been at the mercy of the press but no more... The media tried to demonize me


(9:00 AM) Even now a lot of articles start there first 2 paragraphs about how much of an asshole I am


(9:04 AM) Even though the NBC telethon was widely praised yall didn't think they was just gone let me get away with that did yall???!!! (referring to the infamous "George Bush doesn't care about black people" outburst)


(9:09 AM) How deep is the scar... I bled hard.. cancelled tour with the number one pop star in the world ... closed the doors of my clothing office (now referencing the fallout of the Taylor Swift incident)


(9:12 AM) Remember in Anchor Man when Ron Burgandy cursed on air and the entire city turned on him? But this wasn't a joke. This was & is my real life


(9:24 AM) People tweeted that they wish I was dead... No listen. They wanted me to die people. I carry that. I smile and take pictures through that


(9:26 AM) I wrote a song for Taylor Swift that's so beautiful and I want her to have it. If she won't take it then I'll perform it for her


(9:35 AM) I'm ready to get out of my own way. The ego is overdone... it's like hoodies




(9:43 AM) I watched Justin Timberlake at the Grammies loose every televised award including album of the year which the Dixie Chicks won


(9:46 AM) I would have ran on stage for Justin that night because Sexy Back (in my mind) was that important... that impactful to our culture (I think this was intended to be grouped with the previous tweet)


(9:59 AM) Yes I was that guy. A 32 year old child.


(10:04 AM) These aren't regular tweets... this is stream of consciousness ... I want you guys to know and feel where my head is at...


(10:33 AM) I've hurt, I've bled, I've learned. I only want to do good. I am passionate I am human I am real. I wish I could meet every hater


(10:38) I'm sorry Taylor.


(The last tweet posted was also the last tweet in the rant.)


For every tweet posted above, there were about fifteen more. However, this begs the question: What do we take from this? This answer, like much of Kanye's legacy, is quite blurry. At times, he seems sincere and contrite, showing that there may be a new, improved Kanye. However, there are other tweets (like the hoodie one above, among others) where Kanye shows traces of pure insanity. It can also be argued that West's off-the-cuff approach shows his true colors, allowing fans to see his true emotion regarding the topic. However, what role did Twitter play in all of this? West has a regularly updated blog, in which he first expressed his regrets from that fateful night at the VMAs, why not just use that? Was he just "apologizing" to bring attention to his new Twitter account? The truth of the matter is, unfortunately, is that many of these questions will go unanswered. The mind is one of the most complex things on the planet, and Kanye's may take home the #1 slot. Whether we ever see the real Kanye or not is irrelevant, because at this point I don't even think Kanye himself knows who the real Kanye West is.