by Christopher Beckwith
MTV has always been known for shock value but I don’t think even they were ready for the events of this year’s VMA awards.
The show began with Madonna’s emotional tribute to Michael Jackson. Her heart-warming sentiments were followed by a montage of Michael’s dance moves in a gravity-defying number that ended with a precise recant by Janet Jackson of the landmark video ‘Scream’.
Scream still holds the record for most expensive music video ever at $7 million. It’s also my all-time favorite music video so they definitely had my attention. That’s when the show went sour. After a few more unmemorable moments in the show, Kanye sprang into action.
By now, everyone has heard about the blatant and disrespectful antics of our beloved Kanye West. For those who may have been in a vacuum for the past twenty-four hours, Taylor Swift was awarded ‘Best Female Video’ for the song ‘You Belong With Me’. During her acceptance speech, Kanye rushed on stage in protest of Swift’s win, grabbed the mic and barked, “Yo, Taylor, I’m happy for ya. I’m gonna let you finish but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time!”
Kanye has since apologized but the majority of public outcry is currently stating, “…too little, too late!”
I found myself completely speechless at the untimely and totally unforgivable interruption. Now I’m a big Kanye West fan. I own all of his CD’s and I’ve even seen him in concert a couple of times. That’s why I’m so concerned.
Granted, Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’ video is hot! The video is a take on ‘J-setting’ which was created by dance teams at HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) across the country and has become commonplace at gay clubs, ballroom pageants and Black Gay PRIDE celebrations where J-sette teams challenge each other in dance battles to the death!
I have always gotten a kick out of watching J-setters battle it out and have been known to sit and watch them go at it for hours. I also shamelessly admit that I too have spent countless hours studying Bey’s video trying to nail those moves, all in fun of course. But even a Beyonce fan such as myself would be hard-pressed to categorize the ‘Single Ladies’ video as ‘one of the best videos of all time’.
I was curious to see what the backlash from the Country music arena would be like so I visited the CMA website to see what people were saying and sure enough, I got an eyeful. Most of the comments were along the lines of what I read on other sites and blogs, that Kanye acted in a tasteless manner and should be ashamed for stepping on a proud moment of a young girl accepting her first VMA win. I totally agree.
What didn’t surprise me, and I’m sad to say that, were the racial slurs directed not only at Kanye, but the African-American community as a whole. The saving grace were the many posts condemning the few people who resorted to using this as an opportunity to spew their racial epithets at an entire community, many of who also appreciate Country music and have denounced Kanye’s actions.
The scariest part of this whole ordeal is that Kanye may have bitten off more than he can chew. It’s no secret that Taylor Swift is the new sweetheart of Country music. It also goes without saying that Country music is the music of choice of a lot of ‘dangerous’ people who might not be so forgiving. Given the history of racism in America, I’m praying that the worst that will come of this fiasco will simply be a case of ‘career suicide’ for the self-proclaimed Mr. West.
Remember, in the African-American community, we pray for our lost ones; and this brother definitely needs prayer.
Christopher Beckwith is the author of the ground-breaking debut novel What’s In It For Me?
