Monday, February 9, 2015

"...Kanye's Meglomania Notwithstanding, It's Not Everyboy Who Has Their Very Own Beatle...."

Dear Sir Paul.....

I gave it my best shot.

Two or three, actually.

But I came up with the same feeling every time.

Having grown up with your music, my instinct, and ambition, was to applaud this performance as a wonderful bridging of the generations.

And I assume that's the spirit with which you entered into it.

But no matter how many times I watch the performance, I'm left with the same impression.

Maybe it's because the quality of your work and presentation through the decades so surpasses as lot of the contemporary banality.

Maybe it's because it's because the line between cool and creepy is so hair fine.

(Like when your very hip granny shows style by coming with you to the concert but makes you think twice as she bounces around bra-less in her Adam Lambert T shirt...)

Maybe it's because while I can appreciate what Rhianna brings to the culture, I can't get past hearing, and/or seeing, Kanye as anything other than a pretentious douche.

Or maybe it's nothing more complicated than the microphone mix that all but eliminated the sound of your voice from this "collaboration".

Resulting in what I saw and heard.

Not a collaboration at all.

But the musical equivalent of LBJ attending a Kennedy family picnic.

Sarah Palin speaking at a Hillary Clinton rally.

A cute poodle peeking out of Rihanna's purse.

Another lame attempt by Kanye to validate his faux cultural omnipotence.

With faux, token and Auto Tuned props to your musical stature.

Making you, if not his bitch, then certainly his musical trophy wife,

Yeah, I'm gonna go with the pretentious douche theory.

And look forward to the next "event" really being just that.

While, due respect, offering that, having grown up with your music, I'm pretty sure that John would have never let you live this one down.