Dear Mr. West,

Earlier this week, I read your response to the criticism you've been receiving with regards to this year's Bonnaroo, and I'd like to take this opportunity to say: Dude, wtf?

Prior to this incident, I was fairly certain that I couldn't possibly like your persona less. But you've somehow managed to surprise me and even surpass my expectations for your behavior. That's quite an accomplishment!

Please don't misinterpret this as merely a hate letter, however. I do have respect for your work and the different dimensions you've fearlessly added to the hip-hop realm. I really loved The College Dropout, and I own The College Graduate and Graduation. But I must admit that soon after the release of your second album, the mere mention of your name began to leave a sour taste in my mouth. You suddenly exploded in the media, and I was perpetually left wondering why you felt the need to behave like a bratty, self-absorbed 5-year-old douchebag.

Continue reading An Open Letter to Kanye West

I'd been doing just fine ignoring any so-called news about you, but then you had to go and ruin it with this Bonnaroo debacle. Accounts of your behavior began appearing on music blogs everywhere, and I couldn't help myself. I had to read them.

By the time I saw your response on your blog, you'd already firmly landed yourself a spot on my list of artists I wouldn't pay to see. But you might have managed to move yourself up several positions.

It's incomprehensible that you would refer to Bonnaroo's production crew as "FUCKING IDIOTS WHO DIDN'T REALLY HAVE THE CAPACITY TO REALLY PUT ON THIS SHOW PROPERLY." They didn't seem to have any major problems with anyone else's stage set up this year or in years past. (Nice use of caps and the word 'really,' though. That repetition really helps add some really strong emphasis.)

Have you considered for a moment, Mr. West, that the problem originated with your determination to use your complex stage set? After all, this was a music festival, not just The Kanye West Show. Festivals are meant to focus on and celebrate music, not all the flash that distracts from it. Are there glitz-and-glitter elements present at festivals? Absolutely. But have you ever heard of, say, The Flaming Lips throwing a hissy fit with regards to others' ineptitude erecting their stage set? Good thing you didn't try rolling over the crowd in a hamster ball a là Wayne Coyne. You might have been dropped on your bum knees by the few festival-goers who stuck around for your show.

My point is: if you can't put on a worthwhile show without all the gimmicks, why perform live at all? If you truly were having all those issues with the stage specs a month prior to the festival, why didn't you scale back your set? Why do you need to rely so heavily on pyrotechnics and a screen called Jane in the first place? It's preposterous that you would expect the festival to let you unload all of your equipment 24 hours before your scheduled set. You might not have been aware, but other acts performed before you. And, Mr. West? It's not as if you were a headliner.

Beyond all that, would it have been so hard to deviate from your script just a little and apologize for the delay? Those fans stuck around through the rain and missed acts like Ghostland Observatory and Talib Kweli just to see your show. Whether you perceived the problem to be your fault or not, the least you could have done was apologize and thank them for waiting.

Instead you offered up a half-assed "I'M SORRY" at the end of an half-baked, all-caps rant, and then went on to whine about icing your knees. I'm not sure you garnered any sympathy by declaring that your knees hurt when you walk through the airport. Really? No, really?! Is that the most strenuous walking that your egocentric life involves?

And, for the record, I'm quite disappointed that you didn't actually break your MacBook Air while typing that garbage entry. Perhaps the next time you're limping through an airport, your aching knees will give out and you'll fall on your MacBook, finishing the job. Until then, my fingers are crossed.

Sincerely yours,
Cereal