Chicagoist: Kanye West Doesn't Care About Festival-Goers

Marcus Gilmer

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:13:10 -0600

A mea culpa: "These people" = the people booing. Again, this is not a defense of Kanye being atrociously late. And yes, I've been to plenty of hip hop shows over the years and, more often than not, you're in for some waiting. And I'm actually a fan of Bonnaroo: besides being close to my hometown, it has boasted the best lineup of the mega-fests over the last several years.

mattz

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:01:07 -0600

I agree with jmagic (nice pic, Brainfreeze is classic). Hip hop is not new to Bonnaroo or the fest-goers. Aesop Rock, El-P, Jurassic 5, Girl Talk, Cut Chemist, Sage Francis, Mr, Lif with Galactic has played among others in previous years. I think it is arrogant to paint people who attend what is stereo-typed as a hippie-centric fest as not being exposed to a hip hop show. Just the big name/ mainstream hasn't made their way there until now. Saying they haven't seen a hip hop show shows me that person hasn't seen too much hip hop themselves. As for Kanye, he was late coming on and complained about the sound at lola two summers ago and still put on a hell of a show (I went in as a doubter and was pleasantly surprised). He just has the knack to rub people the wrong way...consistently.

jmagic

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:49:59 -0600

plenty of "these people" have seen a hip hop show ... Kanye's over-inflated ego and over rated act is tiresome and now loathsome. yeah, he did a swell job remixing Daft Punk and he tries his best to be just like Jay-Z. All that said, that sorry ass couldn't muster enough courtesy to make an apology for his tardiness and his piss poor show? Pearl Jam got off the stage in plenty of time for Kanye to get up there and do something "we people" paid to see him do -- perform. Fuckin clown.

arubens1

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:19:26 -0600

Not that I have any particular love of Kanye, but this treatment is a bit unfair given that Pearl Jam played over an hour past their scheduled time, preventing their team from being able to take down the stage and Kanye's from setting up. While he was delayed more than an hour, it seems that Eddie Vedder and company owe the Louis Vuitton Don an apology.

Spav1

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:43:50 -0600

"these people" is always a dangerous term to unload... if you are implying that the types of people who go to Bonaroo aren't also the most probable to have gone to a hip-hop show...then I think that is reasonably accurate. But as written, it makes the people you are writing about seem sort of hippish and close-minded.