Kanye West’s VMA acceptance speech, translated
Kanye’s stream of consciousness commenced a candid and important dialogue.
MTV’s Video Music Awards were back Sunday night to provide an annual dose of provocative entertainment, complete with some Bieber tears and a Nicki vs. Miley onstage showdown (cue: bad_blood.mp3). In terms of moments loaded with emotion, Kanye West returned to the stage with a pretty evocative speech when accepting his Video Vanguard Award.
Though the speech seemed rambling at times, he made a lot of important, heartfelt points. Unfortunately for MTV, he more or less bit the hand that fed him, but he inaugurated a conversation on culture that people will continue to talk about, though, probably not as long as his Taylor Swift award-hijack of 2009.
Ahead, we deciphered the complete, long-winded dialogue, so you don’t have to:
Bro. Bro. Listen to the kids.
Translation: Don’t ignore the millennials, bro.
First of all, thank you Taylor for being so gracious and giving me this award this evening. I often think back to the first day I met you, also. I think about when I’m in the grocery store with my daughter and I have a really great conversation about fresh juice and at the end, they say, “Oh, you’re not that bad after all.’’ It crosses my mind a little bit when I go to a baseball game and 60,000 people boo me; crosses my mind a little bit.
Translation: Though taking the mic from Taylor at the 2009 VMA’s painted Kanye a villian, he will sometimes have nice conversations about juice and those people don’t think he’s that bad. On the other hand, a stadium full of 60,000 people still hates him. Also, shout out to Taylor’s publicist for orchestrating this masterful reconcilation.
If I had to do it all again, what would I have done? Would I have worn a leather shirt? Would I have drank a half a bottle of Hennessy and gave the rest of it to the audience? Y’all know you drank that bottle too. If I had a daughter at that time, would I have went onstage and grabbed the mic from someone else?
Translation: Would Kanye have done anything differently if he had North, gracious baby royalty, at the time? A great question, one without a clear answer.
This arena, tomorrow, is going to be a completely different setup. This stage will be gone. After that night, the stage was gone, but the effect that it had on people remained. The problem was the contradiction; I do fight for artists, but in that fight, I somehow was disrespectful to artists. I didn’t know how to say the right, perfect thing.
Translation: Kanye constantly feels like he’s fighting for artists, and in doing so, he’s disrespected them. It’s a contradiction hindering him from saying the thing that’ll please everyone.
I sat at the Grammys and saw Justin Timberlake and Cee Lo lose; Gnarls Barkley and the FutureSex/LoveSounds album. I ain’t trying to put you on blast, but I saw that man in tears. He deserved to win Album of the Year. And this small box that we are as the entertainers of the evening, how could you explain that? All this shit they run about beef and all that, sometimes I feel like that I died for artists to be able to have an opinion after they were successful.
Translation: Kanye saw Justin Timberlake lose Album of the Year at the Grammys in 2007. He wasn’t trying to embarrass him, but Kanye saw JT in tears. He deserved to win. The media runs stories on feuds, but Kanye feels like he sacrificed his reputation to to allow other artists to have opinions, too.
I’m not no politician, bruh. And look at that [points to screen]. You know how many times MTV ran that footage again? Because it got them more ratings. You know how many times they announced Taylor was going to give me the award. Because it got them more ratings. Listen to the kids, bruh!
Translation: MTV gave Kanye this award only so he would show up to this thing. They ran endless promos. Kanye being there gets them ratings.
I still don’t understand award shows. I don’t understand how they get five people who work their entire life, won, sell records, sell concert tickets, to come, stand on a carpet and for the first time in their life, be judged on the chopping block and have the opportunity to be considered a loser. I don’t understand it, bro!
Translation:Kanye doesn’t understand award shows. Why do artists work their butts off only to be judged among their peers, recieving the opportunity to be a loser? He doesn’t get it!
I’ve been conflicted. I just wanted people to like me more. But fuck that, bro! 2015. I will die for the art—for what I believe in—and the art ain’t always gonna be polite.
Translation: Kanye is an art martyr. Sorry not sorry.
Y’all might be thinking, “I wonder. Did he smoke something before he came out here?’’ The answer is, “Yes, I rolled up a little something. I knocked the edge off.’’ I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight; I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. But all I can say to my fellow artists: just worry about how you feel at the time, man.
Translation: You all might be thinking Kanye is rambling because he’s high, and the truth is, you’re right! Kanye doesn’t know what’s going to happen going forward, but his advice to other artists: say how you feel. #DGAF #YOLO
I’m confident. I believe in myself. We the millennials, bruh. This is a new mentality. We not going to control our kids with brands. We not going to teach low self-esteem and hate to our kids. We going to teach our kids that they can be something. We can teach our kids that they can stand up for themselves. We going to teach our kids to believe in themselves. If my grandfather was here right now, he would not let me back down.
Translation: At 38, Kanye believes we’re all millennials. It’s not a generation, it’s a concept of living. If we can do that, we can understand the kids, be empathetic. We can teach them to dream, to support each other. Also, Kanye’s grandfather sounds like a badass.
I don’t know I’m fittin’ to lose after this. It don’t matter though, cuz it ain’t about me. It’s about ideas, bro. New ideas. People with ideas. People who believe in truth. And yes, as you probably could have guessed by this moment, I have decided in 2020 to run for president.
Translation: This is all bigger than Kanye, and award shows, and losing. He believes the future is about ideas. And to come full circle, here’s Kanye with a brilliant idea to run for president.
Watch Kanye’s speech here:
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Photos: Famous Boston celebs
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