I love Kanye. His music has made my life identifiably more enjoyable. The College Dropout will remain in the hip-hop lexicon forever for its originality, innovative production, and influence. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is a masterpiece. It was Kanye’s manic brain finally putting it all together into something perfect, twisted, and human. It was his reaction to the backlash that he both deservedly and undeservedly received and the vitriol and hatred that he never deserved. I compared Yeezus to Radiohead's Kid A - it's an album no one else could have made. He has been the most influential and relevant hip-hop artist of the past decade and no one else is close.

Any time I become exasperated with Kanye, I’ll listen to “Last Call,” his last track on his debut album to remind me that he is a guy like us, personable and real. The song provides his story up to that point in 2004 – his car crash, making beats, meeting Dame Dash, playing A&Rs “Jesus Walks” yet still not getting a record deal, and his struggles to make it in the industry. One of my favorite lines, "I can let these dream killers kill my self esteem / or use my arrogance as my steam to power my dreams." Kanye has always used his confidence and arrogance to get to where he is despite the naysayers. I've always respected that. When Kanye calls himself a genius, most people bristle. I think he's just being honest (and probably arrogant) with himself. Kanye also tells a story when he kept his thoughts to himself. It was the first time he met Jay-Z. Kanye made the beat for "This Can't Be Life" and got to the studio where Jay had just finished his verse. As Kanye hears Jay's verse, he says he thought, "I really wanted more like the simple type Jay-Z, I ain't want the more introspective, complicated" Jay-Z. So Jay asks him what he thinks. "That shit tight," he tells Jay. "What am I gonna tell him?" Kanye chuckles as he retells the story.

"Last Call" provides glimpses of these honest moments, giving the listener an unfiltered glimpse into Kanye's psyche, awash in doubts, normalcy, insecurities, and confidence. Listening to Kanye then, it's more difficult and maddening to have heard what he recently said. Like his first encounter with Jay-Z, this was a time he should have kept his thoughts to himself.

Take it away, Kanye:

“The Grammys, if they want real artists to keep coming back, they need to stop playing with us. We ain’t finna play with them no more. “Flawless” Beyoncé video. Beck needs to respect artistry and he should have given his award to Beyoncé. And at this point, we tired of it! Because what happens is, when you keep on diminishing art and not respecting the craft and smacking people in the face after they deliver monumental feats of music. You’re disrespectful to inspiration. And we as musicians have to inspire people who go to work every day, and they listen to that Beyoncé album and they feel like it takes them to another place. Then they do this whole promotional event, and they’ll run the music over somebody’s speech, the artist, because they want a commercial advertising. Like no, we not playing with them no more. And by the way, I got my wife, I got my daughter, and my clothing line, so I’m not finna do nothing to put my daughter at risk. But I am here to fight for creativity, that’s the reason why I didn’t say anything tonight, but y’all know what it meant when ’Ye walked on that stage.”

The only question from one of the thirty people from the E channel interviewing him obviously should have been (had they not been fired the next morning for questioning Kanye):

“Have you heard Morning Phase?”

Who knows what his answer would have been. If no, then how are you calling Beck out? If yes, then, “What were your thoughts on the album? What did you think of it? If you didn’t like it, why not?”

Instead, Khloe Kardashian said she was glad we got “Hennessy Ye” back.

I have a haunting (and obviously not substantiated) feeling that Kanye never listened to this album because if he had, he would have heard an album exquisitely crafted, paced, and original. It’s really a beautiful album by an even more incredible artist. (UPDATE: Kanye hadn't heard the album and after listening, "Man, this is kinda good.")

In the past two decades, who represented the respect of artistry in music more than Beck? He’s released amazing albums starting from 1996’s Odelay to Midnite Vultures to 2002’s Sea Change to Morning Phase and consistently changed his sound and expanded his abilities. He plays a ton of instruments and has never once really appeared to be interested in fame or money, but instead in the artistry of music and performance. He’s an original. He's an artist.

Which brings me back to Kanye. A guy who genuinely seems to be energized by talent and artists from different genres (Justin Vernon, Pusha T, Rick Rubin, Frank Ocean, Paul McCartney, etc., etc.,) to push the envelope and musically move into different territories (like a certain other artist). And I love most of the things he has to say because he's always honest and uncensored. But then he has this tirade that seems so uninformed and lacking any sense of respect or musical taste that I wonder if he’s beyond repair and not worth defending anymore. I understand that he’s very passionate about music and its effect on us and loves Beyonce, but I’m tired of him acting like an entitled child.

This kind of public behavior by someone is unacceptable. It's not "Kanye being Kanye," it's a human being publicly disrespecting another human being who has just been provided a huge accomplishment in his field which will now be overshadowed because of who you are and what you said. There's no defense of Kanye here. His opinion that Beyonce's album is better than Beck's is fine, that's his opinion, but to tell someone who is so well respected to respect artistry? That's offensive. Beck played it well and didn't pour gasoline on the fire, but what would Kanye have said had the roles been reversed? Would Kanye have been offended? Of course, we all would have been offended. Kanye is a genius. But so is Beck, he just does it in a bit more understated way. People are tired of Kanye acting like a little brat. It gets old very quick. He obviously didn't get a free pass for the Taylor Swift thing; however, this is worse not only because he walked on stage again but because his words weren't just about Beyonce but about another artist which was much more disrespectful. Enough is enough, man.

There’s only so much defending one can do. I imagine the number of Kanye defenders is steadily dwindling, and I’m on the edge.

I think I'll go listen to “Last Call.”