All of the lights

I generally don't mind if a person is a dick. Or arrogant. Or perpetually angry. I take issue when the person pretends that they're not. If being a dick is who you are, then go ahead. Free world and all. Just accept who you are, embrace that shit and be as big a dick as you want. Just don't pretend that you're not. 

So, while some people may have issue with a dude who's so fricking ballsy and egotistic that he named his latest record, "Yeezus," and says stuff like, "You know, if Michael Jordan can scream at the refs, me as Kanye West, as the Michael Jordan of music, can go and say, 'This is wrong,'" or "I knew when I wrote the line "light-skinned friend look like Michael Jackson" I was going to be a big star...I knew I was going to make it this far; I knew that this was going to happen," or "I think what Kanye West is going to mean is something similar to what Steve Jobs means. I am undoubtedly, you know, Steve of internet, downtown, fashion, culture. Period. By a long jump." 

Me as Nick Khaw loves this. 

Kanye West is so egotistic but it's cool cos he bloody well embraces it. We always tell people to be who they are and to be genuine. If this is who Kanye West really genuinely is, then good for him. People who say, "You shouldn't be so arrogant" also probably shouldn't ever give the advice, "Just be who you are." 

Anyway, this was all from this interview by the New York Times. I'd encourage reading all 5 pages for it. It is brilliant. As is to be expected, in all fairness, from a dude who named himself (or is it Himself) Yeezus. 

Besides the whole Kanyeezy-ness of the whole interview - which I thought was fricking fantastic - I also really liked a point he made towards the end of the interview. He said that (paraphrased so that the meaning becomes clear) he only really wants to be involved in things that can be Christmas presents, meaning making "something that's so emotionally connected to people." I thought that was profound. Well, he is Yeezus.

I mean, if you really think about it, and you really tap into the spirit of giving - probably most prevalent during Christmas - then you always want to give something that means something to somebody. It could be anything, really; except that it must mean something. I mean, I could give somebody a Hermes tie, but if the person doesn't really put any value into a Hermes tie versus, say, Rosebud (damn right I referenced Citizen Kane), a used old sled, then there's not much meaning in the Hermes tie. It is also true that one person's trash is another person's treasure, but the point is, the things we produce, the things we give, must be Christmas gift-able. I think that's a nice principle to adopt. 

And you know, maybe we could do things better or just make the world a less ugly place, if only slightly, if we only associate ourselves with things that can be Christmas gifts. I'd be happy with Yeezus' latest album, "Yeezus." Just sayin'.