The G.O.O.D.S. Magazine Winter 2014 | Page 68

Art for Sale: Holy Warhol, Yeezus! By Dan Lawler “I’ll endorse with my name any of the following; clothing, AC/DC, cigarettes, small tapes, sound equipment, ROCK N’ ROLL RECORDS, anything, film, and film equipment, Food, Helium, Whips, MONEY!!” —Andy Warhol Although unapologetically brash, after the whips and pangs of criticism from the TMZ gossip gatherers, quote-outof-context collectors, and cheap music critics have settled, Kanye West deserves a closer look as one of the premiere artists of our time. Begrudgingly to snobby art critics, Kanye is perhaps the current day epitome of Pop-Art in the vein of Andy Warhol. It is all too easy to criticize Kanye based upon quotes and short sound bytes that would have us to believe that Mr. West is cocky, overconfident, arrogant, deranged, and most despicably, stupid. Disclaimer: As a hip-hop fan, I don’t absolutely love anything after Graduation with the exception of some of 808’s. Further, as a music fan, Yeezus is not particularly my cup of tea; but for what it’s worth, I’m not sure the piece was meant to be listened to over a cup of earl grey and a blueberry scone. It’s a purposefully offensive album; much to the liking of Andy Warhol friend and collaborator, Lou Reed. “Kanye West is a child of social networking and hip-hop. And he knows about all kinds of music and popular culture. The guy has a real wide palette to play with. That’s all over Yeezus. There are moments of supreme beauty and greatness on this record, and then some of it is the same old shit. But the guy really, really, really is talented. He’s really trying to raise the bar. No one’s near doing what he’s doing, it’s not even on the same planet.” —Lou Reed Reviews Yeezus on TheTalkHouse.com