A toast for the douchebags

If you take Kanye West's "Runaway" at face value, it's a song about the narrator's emotional cheating and flaws and how they are destroying a romantic relationship. But the context of "Runaway"'s world premiere suggested that this was no simple love song for us to behold. It came during the moment we were all supposedly waiting for, saved till the end of last night's MTV Video Music Awards and teased throughout the show. At long last, Kanye was returning to the VMAs after interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech (never mind that his would-be comeback took place just one show later, meaning he spent no time away in VMAs time). Adding to the necessity of his voice was that by the time he hit the stage, Swift already had commented on the controversy in a performance that attempted to paint her as a Christlike boon of wisdom: "You're still an innocent" was her forgiving, condescending message to Kanye, who is 33-years-old, not that innocent and at any rate, doesn't need a 20-year-old telling him about himself. He would reveal in his performance that he's plenty self-conscious as it is.

After all that, how could we read the admission of wrongdoing in "Runaway" as anything but a metaphor of his last, least enthusiastically received public act of wrongdoing? And so, when Kanye told the world, which he knew was tuned in, that we should collectively, "Run away from me baby," it was disingenuous. He didn't actually want us to do so, and he knew that we wouldn't, at any rate. Not when there was water-cooler juiciness to be had. Not when it was anchored to a gentle-but-firm beat tailored for the hip-hop heads and more delicate listeners, alike (it recalls the downtempo '90s just before Primitive Radio Gods showed moms just how nice breaks could be). Not with that that ear-worm melody, which Rob Sheffield smartly compared to Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" on Twitter. Not with that consciously arty, undeniably beautiful and entertainingly silly background of lights and fabrics and ballet dancers he performed in front of. He put the ball in our court, making "Runaway" as much about as as it is him.

Renouncing the hidden-under-the-security-blanket-of-Autotune aesthetic of Kanye's last album, 808s & Heartbreaks, he sang "Runaway" without adornment (until the insanely filtered final chorus). He was consciously vulnerable (or at least, he would have liked us to believe as much) as he suggested, "Let’s have a toast for the douchebags / Let’s have a toast for the assholes / Let’s have a toast for the scumbags / Every one of them that I know / Let’s have a toast for the jerk-offs / That’d never take work off..." Not that we need his suggestion to do so -- not with the cast of Jersey Shore around. It applies very much to Kanye, as well, as celebrating his persona before and since I'mmaletyoufinishgate '09 has often amounted to toasting a douchebag, as people have repeatedly forgiven his outbursts and tantrums immediately (we are Swiftlike!) and continue to chuckle at the indulgence of his I-can't-believe-it's-not-self-parody Twitter. It makes sense, too: as we become increasingly fascinated by ourselves as a culture, arrogance loses its stigma. Self-investment is just the way it is. It's why people think nothing of showing up in the pop culture sphere with no applicable or even apparent talent to offer or retweeting praise they've received or posting consciously gratuitous pictures of themselves or sharing their opinion in a public space. It's why we accept it these things in other people, if we can even bother to tear ourselves away from ourselves to do so.

We tore ourselves away for Kanye, only to discover that "Runaway" is not an apology. This is not the closure that it was supposed to be coming at the end of a show that was all about Kanye anyway thanks to Kanye making last year's show all about Kanye. Instead, it's a snapshot of the way things are. It's a handy guide to how the man's fame functions and what makes his persona so fascinating. It's self-awareness not as a means to improvement, but as an end. We should all be so lucky to have something so articulate to show for our introspection.

The VMAs were otherwise so boring this year that I did not feel like writing my usual recap of them. If you're interested in what I had to say in real time and enjoy reading things in reverse chronology, you can check out my Twitter.

Comments

[Michael]

"And so, when Kanye told the world, which he knew was tuned in, that we should collectively, "Run away from me baby," it was disingenuous. He didn't actually want us to do so, and he knew that we wouldn't, at any rate."

I did. I switched off to something else, not that the VMA's were worth watching at all anyway. However, I've never cared for Kanye's persona, and last year didn't really add anything to the pot, once a self-absorbed baby, always a self-absorbed baby. Not to mention I have no interest in hearing his auto-tuned "singing" - which still sounds painful and off-key.

Of course Taylor Swift's song and especially that video intro.. GAG.

The main reason I watched was to see my girl Robyn, who sadly got about 30 seconds in - and who's LIVE vocals and performance was better than anything else I saw last night. The girl can perform - if you haven't seen her in concert, go.

Oh and you just know Cher was thinking "Get this crazy bitch away from me, I'm Cher!" when Lady Gaga won that award.

[Robert]

No blog comments on Nikki Nikki? But you promised...never mind. I see you covered that appropriately on Twitter. And no, live vocals do not work with her.

After hearing her "Barbie Girl" sampling song for the first time, I understand why so many people hate her.

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ok...Kanye is an idiot and nobody can argue that point. The guy thinks he deserves an award because he wakes up in the morning. Last year it was because he lost to BEP, this year he comments...give a black man a chance? um...wait...i grew up in the era where Herbie Hancock got his start and unless a LOT has changed...um...hes black Kanye..and a HELL of a lot more talented than your bitchin ass. Wonder what he would do if he was grouped with Snoop, Ice-T, and 50...and lost...maybe then he would realize...ok race has nothing to do with it...nah prolly not, it would be because the man voted for them because he was scared! Jimi Hendrix..now theres talent...listen to it Kanye. and do it with a sock in your mouth.

[Reese]

Post-racial America strikes again!

[Vanessa M]

It's hard to conceive of now but there was a time when I taped the VMA's and then watched at least part of them over (can I just say: Pearl Jam and Neil Young performing "Rockin in the Free World" together begged to be re-viewed.) It's hard to imagine that now. Or pulling out a videotape to record something. Or actually watching the show instead of heading to YouTube later to catch the highlights.

Is Kanye's extended apology tour just a symptom of the post-Napster era? With the demise of labels, you have generate your PR somehow.

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But that doesn’t mean I have to flounder in an endless sea of anonymous faces for the next three months. It doesn’t mean that the local politics are completely beyond me or that I’m nothing but an observer.

[Senator Ray]

I agree with Mr. Four Four. The rest of these assholes have no idea what they're talking about and haven't been actively involved in pop culture, let alone hip-hop, in the last 5 years to have any relative perspective.

Kanye West is one of the greatest performers to come from hip-hop! Only those whom are closed to him will not like him. The more who hate, the more I love him.

LONG LIVE KANYE WEST!

[Tina]

His performance (and Florence+ The Machine) were the only two performances I watched again and again.

[Mcfrugal632]

Great, glad we covered this. World really needed this written on.

[bijan]

I didn't like kanye until This performance. I still consider him a gayfish though .
I only watched Taylor and kanye.

[jessica]

I didn't see the Kanye part. I tuned in just in time to see the beginning of Taylor Swift's performance, gag, and change the channel again.

If the VMA's are airing and nobody's watching, does it really exist?

My attitude toward the show and everything related to it can be summed up with - 'Who cares?'

[bevskid1]

I'm too tired to sigh about wasting precious irretrievable moments on the VMAs.

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I think I have to agree with what others have said. Wanna take up a cause? Help the 25,000 people across the world who DIE from starvation every DAY. Help the children and families who have been ripped apart by Cancer. Help the War Veterens who are now homeless and sick.

No, you'll help gays in the army who are tough enough and strong enough to fend for themselves, because it's your target demographic and will sell records.

[Jenny Lava]

I watched with one intention and that was to see how on earth Florance and The Machine would not seem completely out of place and freakishly more talented then most others on the show. She's from another plane of amazing, so no shock that she did seem so out of place.

I think it's because I'm 34 so I've grown up while the VMA's stayed a teenager. Except that they're a "me" generation teen anger and that's just kind of scary. I've never even heard of that centor assed Nikki Malage (is that even right?) Gawd, I sound like my mother!

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I don't really get involved in the politics of all this, I just enjoy the music. Kanye's attitude at the VMA's was rather deplorable, but it's not the first time a celebrity has acted like a jerk and it won't be the last.

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