Kanye on SNL: What the Hell?

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


kanye-west.gif

For weeks I’ve been hearing how great Kanye West’s new CD is, so I was chomping at the bit to see his performance on Saturday Night Live’s season opener this weekend. His first song? Awesome. But by the time his second song had ended, I was scratching my head trying to figure out what the hell happened.

His first , a “Stronger/Good Life” medley, was a seamless performance. He was high energy (almost too high), he had an all-female (under-utilized) backup orchestra, solid backup vocalists, a tight live band, and stage lighting brighter and flashier than I remember seeing anyone under on the SNL stage. So far, so good.

Then came his second song, “Champion.” Once again, high energy coming from everyone on stage. Then Kanye tells the band to break it down, and he goes “off the dome” (what came across as an improvised, off the top of his head freestyle) without any backup from the band. A risky move indeed, considering he didn’t really have much to say. There were several lines about him being on top of his game, being number one, and being “the Don,” but unfortunately his freestyle meandered toward a complete anti-climax of him saying “I keep going, going, going going…” Well, yeah, that’s what he did alright, for way too long (about six minutes).

He recognized the flubs of the performance by mixing “I meant to mess up” into one line. I give him a lot of credit for improvising on live television; that’s a bold move. But in this case, I’m thinking he should have stuck to the script.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate