Kanye West imitated his infamous 2009 interruption of Taylor Swift last night at the Grammys. As Beck stepped up to collect his award for Album Of The Year, awarded for last year’s Morning Phase LP, Kanye jumped on stage in a mock repeat of the notorious moment at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Though this time his effort seemed harmless, Kanye spoke out at E!’s after-Grammys show to clarify his actions. Talking to E! News, he explained that Beck should “respect artistry” by giving his award to Beyoncé for last year’s self-titled LP, adding “you all knew what it meant when ‘Ye stepped on that stage”. Read that in full below.
“I don’t even know what (Beck) said. I just know that, the Grammys, if they want real artists to keep coming back, they need to stop playing with us. We aren’t going to play with them no more. ‘Flawless.’ Beyoncé’s video. And Beck needs to respect artistry, he should have given his award to Beyoncé. At this point, we tired of it. 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.”
“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 a different place. And then they do this promotional event, and they’ll run the music over somebody’s speech, the artist, because they want commercial advertising. We aren’t playing with them anymore. And by the way, I got my wife, my daughter, and I got my clothing line, so I’m not going to do nothing that would put my daughter at risk, but I am here to fight for creativity. That’s why I didn’t say anything tonight, but you all knew what it meant when ‘Ye stepped on that stage.”
You can watch that moment and Jay Z and Beyoncé looking on horrified below.
