Kanye Expresses His Opinions At NY Show
by on August 7th, 2008
The ever-vocal Kanye West, decided to air out opinions from Nas to Soulja Boy. during a recent show held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He closed the show out with a "speech" about negative stereotypes and the need for diversity in hip-hop.
He started it off by giving props to Nas. "Nas is the only MC of my generation — maybe Rakim, but he was the generation before me — Nas was the most respected MC in every genre of rap. N---a, he could do a song with Puffy or Wu-Tang."
Next up, he defended Soulja Boy and how he feels he should be more respected as a teen who not only makes his own beats but brings a "fun" element to hip-hop.
Kanye asked,"How is Soulja Boy killing hip-hop? He had one of the biggest songs of the summer. If anything, he's helping keep it alive. You don't have to be Lil Wayne in order for people to say your sh- - is fresh.
"Open y'all's f---in' minds," West continued. "Be accepting of different people. Let people be who they are. You know how many people came at me, calling me 'gay' cause I wear my jeans the fresh way?" he said to the audience. "Or 'cause I said, 'Hey, dude, how y'all gonna say 'fag' right in front of a gay dude's face and act like that's OK?' That sh- - is disrespectful."
"It took me time to break out of the mental prisons I was in," West added. "The stereotypes of the fear of the backlash that I would get for believing in what I believe in, for accepting people for who they are."
He finished up by thanking the crowd for listening to his thoughts. Thank y'all for listening to me, I had a few things to get off my chest. I want y'all to handle the rest. New York City, good night."




























BUT IF I HAD TO CHOOSE A SIDE IN THE BEEF iCE-T vs. SOULJA BOY…. I WOULD SAY SOULJA BOY…. CUZ WE ALL NO THAT THAT WAS JUST A PUBLICITY STUNT FROM ICE-T CUZ HIS MIXTAPE DROPPED A WEEK LATER
BUT THATS JUST MY OPINION
Exactly what he did is what we’re doing, stating our opinion on how Baby Soulja got Disney sing alongs for lyrcis and he is def. not saving hip-hop! He may have this generation of INFANTS as his fan base but to those who were born in the 70s & 80s and listened to hip-hop throughout that time into the 90s understand that Baby Soulja may be a different aspect of music but NOT HIP-HOP ONLY BECAUSE BILLBOARD OR ANY OTHER INDUSTRY, LABEL HIS MUSIC AS THAT. Our minds are open, as an artist he’s not accepted to most. As a person we really can’t criticize the boy.
I LIKE KAYNE BUT HE COULD SAY STUPID SHIT SOMETIME.
I’m SICK AND TIRED of people saying we “have to respect someone because they’re making money” or we “have to respect their hustle.” People were saying that about Cash $ when they got that $30 million. What people DIDN’T KNOW was that the deal was for over $100 million and Cash $ got RAPED… But of course, to the hood and to Cash $, $30 million was THE SHIT!!!
Listen, just ‘cause you THINK (again, we don’t know WHAT’S going on behind the scenes and how much “in-the-dark” people are getting paid off the top, i.e. lawyers, managers, producers, contracted fees, etc.) some1’s getting cake, you DO NOT have to “respect their hustle”.
FUCK SOULJA BOY’S HUSTLE.
Now, don’t get me wrong; I am NOT hating. I LOVE to see my own people succeed. I mean, I DID see the entire Philly Supermannin’ it at a stepshow in September, and I was AMAZED to see the ENTIRE Liacouras Center (Temple University’s home gym on Broad St. in Philly) doin’ that shit, and I hadn’t even HEARD of the young boy. Shorty I was with was like, “You don’t know this song? You never seen the video?” I’m like, “What the????”
Anyway, I look at Soulja Boy the same way I look at Cash $ (except Juvie), No Limit, Chingy, J-Kwon, D4L, DFB, and other dudes that I hated that were, quote gettin’ money… CORNY AS HELL.
So, I guess we gotta respect the Europeans hustle for how they raped Africa, too, right? Or, we gotta respect corporate america’s hustle for how they’re raping Hip-Hop? Or, we gotta respect the white man’s hustle for how he STILL dominates America, behind the scenes? Bill O’Reilly IS gettin’ money… am I to “respect his hustle”, too?
Y’all need to STOP sayin’ that cliche’ shit… we gotta “respect some1’s hustle” ‘cause they gettin’ $$… FUCK OUTTA HERE.
Everyone gives him pass after pass after fuckin’ pass saying he’s cool because he speaks his mind or that he’s real etc etc.
Fuck that. There’s a time and place for everything and this dude never knows when to say what. He’s feminine as hell to me. he acts like a fuckin’ female on her period.
I lost all respect for him a while back and re-confirmed it again when he stated that Nas and fuckin’ Soulja Boy were on the same level. Fuck outta here!
This dude’s always sayin’ some gay shit. And fuck his style…it’s GAY ALSO!
A fuckin’ grown ass man wearin’ FITTED JEANS!
Fuck outta here…. no wya u could justify that shit to me…PERIOD!
His music is still hott, I can’t take that away from him… but everything else about him is FAGGISH!
Now i’ll fuckin’ read everyone elses comments and respond accordingly!
~Be Eazy!
BROOKLYN STAND UP…BEDSTY, NOSTRAND IS DA AVE COME HOLLA
and as far as soulja boi goes? he’s whack. period. oh he makes his own beats? well i could hit 6 keys on a keyboard with a xylophone effect on and make the beat to that whack ass superman song. he’s corny, there isnt even a flow to that song he’s just basically talking over the beat. so sorry kanye, george bush may not care about black people but im sure i speak for most when i say none of us (black or white) care about soulja boi’s hustle.
This was the only thing I agreed with in the story. But I don’t spit no hate speech at all, including shit about homosexuals, whites, blacks, asians, hispanics, any race, any type of person.
Just because you don’t agree with them or their lifestyle, don’t mean you can degrade them and shit. And I don’t give a fuck if I get trashed for this, back in the day BLACK people couldn’t get married, now most the black community don’t want gays to get married. Sometimes I just wished some black people will pick up a fucking BOOK.
Hes right about Nas. NAS IS FUCKING DOPE!!!!!
* Nas – UNTITLED; NASSSSSSSSSTY – 1 of THE best rap albums I’ve ever heard in my life; 2008 Rap Album of the Year.
* Rising Down – The Roots: Hot album; real hip-hop heads seem to KNOW to put Chrisette on their singles, i.e. (Nas, Jay, Roots, Ghostface)!
* Brooklyn’s Don Diva – Foxy Brown; Not her best, but an aiight comeback.
* Hip-Hop Is Dead – Nas; 2006 Rap Album of the Year
* Kingdome Come – Jay-Z; if you wanna call it “good”.
* The Big Doe Rehab – Ghostface Killah; 2007 rap album of the year.
* B.A.R.S. The Barry Adrian Reese Story – Cassidy; Not bad @ all, though the lead single was GARBAGE!
* Rap-Murr-Phobia: The Fear of Real Hip-Hop – Keith Murray; QUALITY HIP-HOP ALBUM!
* Red Gone Wild – Redman; QUALITY HIP-HOP ALBUM!
* T.I. Vs. T.I.P. – T.I.; very good concept album w/hot collabos.
* Free At Last – Freeway; I could actually tolerate his voice for more than 1/2 of the album!
* American Gangster – Jay-Z; I just don’t get it… BUT true Jay fans LOVE IT!
* The Cool – Lupe Fiasco; you gotta be into his music, though he DOES have some bangers on there.
* The Solution – Beanie Sigel; I was letdown ‘cause I didn’t feel there was a Purple Rain caliber song… BUT it’s still an ok album.
* M.A.D.E. – Scarface; a couple tracks were hot.
* Undeniable – AZ; Pretty standard AZ album; 3 or 4 true BANGERS
* Super Gangster, Extraordinary Gentleman – Styles P; errrr…
* Finding Forever – Common; I only REALLY liked ONE track, heavy, but people were RIDIN’ this cd HARD.
* Eardrum – Talib Kweli; I only REALLY liked ONE track, heavy, BUT "".
* 8 Diagrams – Wu-Tang Clan; I need more Meth, Ghost, & Rae, and less of the rest.
* From Nothin’ to Somethin’ – Fabolous; better than I expected it to be.
These are the albums I actually PURCHASED from either Best Buy or Target or Circuit City, etc.
then he got signed to a label and he is definitely getting that paper…
so although i dont really like his stuff I still think he deserves credit where credit is due
Yes, Illmatic IS classic… but, IT WAS WRITTEN, is his greatest album…. PERIOD…. In fact, I think it may be like, THE greatest album of all time… He was tellin’ stories outta this world… at the time, people were sayin’ it was “commercial”… see, nowadays, people are sayin’ hip-hop is all “crunky, and snap and poppy”,
but the beef in the mid to late 90s was “shiny suits” and all artists talked about were “money, cash, clothes, cars, and hoes” and “ice”…. and that artists started off “hungry”, and after they got some clout, they went “commercial”… that was the “knock” on It Was Written AND Volume I… that’s just some hip-hop history for you. But now, looking back, I personally think It Was Written is Nas’ best album.
Nas’ CLASSICS:
ILLMATIC
IT WAS WRITTEN
STILLMATIC
HIP-HOP IS DEAD
UNTITLED
NEAR CLASSIC: I AM.
Take off a few dumb ass tracks off Nastradamus and God’s Son and reduce the size of Street’s Disciple and again, he’d have more classics.
Exactly what he did is what we’re doing, stating our opinion on how Baby Soulja got Disney sing alongs for lyrcis and he is def. not saving hip-hop! He may have this generation of INFANTS as his fan base but to those who were born in the 70s & 80s and listened to hip-hop throughout that time into the 90s understand that Baby Soulja may be a different aspect of music but NOT HIP-HOP ONLY BECAUSE BILLBOARD OR ANY OTHER INDUSTRY, LABEL HIS MUSIC AS THAT. Our minds are open, as an artist he’s not accepted to most. As a person we really can’t criticize the boy.
ReDef.
But, it’s a problem when SB does it? Why?
No one said the phrases “Killed Hip Hop/Hip Hop is Dead” till Nas said it.
It’s not just hip hop, music sales have sucked for years now.
U don’t see Garth Brooks telling McGraw killed country music or Ozzy telling Good Charlotte, etc.
Just reflect on when black music was called “Devil’s Music” when James Brown & Jackie Wilson were doing their thing. Or Luke/Ice-T vs. Congress.
Do like Kanye said, “Open your Minds!”
- I concur. (Even though, the South was kind of killing Hip-Hop when Nas said it. You gotta admit, there were a million groups and dudes who one-hit-wondered a quick, catchy hook/dance song and got a quick buck, if that.)
Also, NOBODY started talking about sales, nor ice, until Jay-Z did.
Also, NOBODY started saying Wayne was the best rapper alive until HE SAID IT…. And I still will never get that. Fuck, I’m the one who shot JFK… AND MLK…. Maybe people will believe that too, damn it.
Lastly, THERE’S NOTHING Kanye or anyone else can say about Soulja Boy to make me a believer. I THINK FOR MY FUCKIN’ SELF. Soulja Boy is AYASS CHEEKS… Please don’t ever throw Hammer or Kid-N-Play, or Diddy, for that matter in the same sentence as the aforementioned person. Why not?
MC Hammer is a hip-hop legend. In terms of sales, he did 30 million, plus off of 2 main albums… THAT’S CRAZY! Like it or not, he was a LEGENDARY ENTERTAINER, and took his stage show beyond what many couldn’t even dream of. Albeit, it contributed to his downfall, but he had the MUSIC INDUSTRY, not just hip-hop, on LOCK for about 3-4 years.
Kid-N-Play were about having fun and rockin’ parties, and that WAS hip-hop during their era (i.e. DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Chubb Rock, Steady B & Cool C, etc., etc.). They also have classic dances and hits, but lyrically they both were pretty good. Then, on top of that, they went on and expanded way beyond what anyone would have thought. These dudes even had a Saturday Morning cartoon, back when kids actually watched REAL Saturday Morning Cartoons (by the way, Hammer did too!). ON TOP OF THAT, they have @ least FOUR CLASSIC HOOD MOVIES: HOUSE PARTY I, II, III and Class Act… Kid-N-Play DID THE DAMN THING, so please DO NOT compare them to duke…
And, Diddy…. where do I even start? This dude rode an exercise bike for mad hours just to get a convo with Russell, so he’d hire him, as an intern, FOR FREE…. Working for FREE, he had to find ways to get back and forth DAILY from DC TO NY… Do you know how expensive that is???? Then he introduced the world to some of THE greatest MUSICAL/R&B/Hip-Hop acts of ALL-TIME: The Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige (a LOT of people don’t know that), and the rest of the Bad Boy Family… Bad Boy had RADIO ON LOCK FOR AT LEAST 5-6 years, and NO ONE can deny that: Faith Evans, the affiliated Lil’ Kim (who was signed to Undeas, but was always with Bad Boy), Jr. Mafia (Lil’ Ceas’), Total, Carl Thomas, Ma$e, Black Rob, Craig Mack, 112, The L.O.X. (even though he raped them), Shyne, Dream, G. Dep, and we ALL LOVED Chopper, E. Ness, and Babs Bunny’s wack ass Da Band… oh and the GOAT, Dylan, Dylan, and Dylan… Like it or not, Diddy is one of the richest men in America under 40.
Sorry, tkizzle, that I had to do it to you; I felt compelled.
Tkizzle, Q-Tip said HHID back in like 00’. Niggas in the east coast been said hip hop is dead. Nas just brought it to the fore-front. Nas was just saying what a lot of people already felt for years.
Charismatic…Hate to tell you, but Soulja Boy also has a cartoon @ the top of 2009, clothing line, shoe deal, fitted cap deal and movies as well… and none of the aforementioned things have anything to do w/ his lyrics. So comparing his genre of hip hop to those artists is relevant, you just forgot to mention that the youngin’ is accomplishing the same ventures as the early 90’s legends.
@ Charis >>>Even though, the South was kind of killing Hip-Hop when Nas said it
Music has sucked no matter the location of the country. If you haven’t noticed the South has only resurfaced to the top since it’s reign in the late 90’s when No Limit was selling the most records of any independent label. So the South has seen the top of the game before. Don’t pigeon hole the South w/ just snap music when half of the artists are killing the game.
People seem to forget that there are east coast artists w/ wack DANCE songs, southern production, southern collabos and “ringtone” records as well… maybe if they stop looking through their tunnel vision, it would be visible.
The more hate the artists get, the more their popularity increases.
~Be Eazy!
We 2 HYPE!!!
We all slept on Hammer’s lyrics back then because we were soo amazed at how smooth that muthafucka was on the dance floor!
Plus we were all trying to figure out where the fuck we could buy some baggy pants and steel tipped dress shoes! lol.
~Be Eazy!
CHARISMATIC – FUCK SOULJA BOY’S HUSTLE.
“Now, don’t get me wrong; I am NOT hating. I LOVE to see my own people succeed.”
From the sounds of it, you don’t.
I’m not a fan of his music either, but the dude owns 85% of his album w/ fruityloops ass beats, he obviously is doing something right.
And Cash Money did not get the $100 million contract until renegotiations after Juvie’s/Hot Boys success. The $30 mill put them on.
Stepshow? That’s whassup.. What’s your frat homie?
CRANK DAT SOULJA BOY
skeazalo: hey I’m a C.O. whats wrong with that?
DS: it’s not that he’s a C.O., it’s that he lied!
and then the next 50 comments say the same damn thing
“you cannot open the minds of others. You cannot tell people to open their minds just because you have opened yours. Most get offended or refuse to listen”
…..Thats real shit homie!
If there hot let em be hot.
And if there ass let them be ass.
Haha..
But on the serious note.
I truly don’t mind Soulja boy. He’s got into the game he’s making money. Good for him. More rich blacks the better.
My problem is…he’s gotten in the same game where it seems to lock out artists like Royce Da 5’9", or Joe Buddens. That even though they don’t bring tha “fun” aspect to Hip Hop, they are geinous when coming to expressing themselves through words. And I have a BIG problem with that.
I remember being young…and everybody complained about how violent the music was. Little did they know how educated the messages were.
So now… I guess the Delores Tucker, the Jesse Jacksons, and Oprah Winfreys got what they wanted.
Instead of seeing what was there instead of what wasn’t….instead of having fans that maybe agressive…may be violent. But overall were more aware of shit in the world.
We now have fans who enjoy trips to the “coffee shop” and “Superman’in hoes”
Truly sad, I’m 19…still young. Thank God I can see whats going on.
I’m all for fun. But I know kids who have problems passing there spelling tests. But they can Crank tha Superman with no problem.
The problem is where having TOO MUCH FUN.
How dumb do we look now.
Peace!
READ A BOOK.
I’m all for being yourself and setting trends instead of following.
But if you HAVE to say you where your jeans the “FRESH” then you certainly need to grow up. I personally don’t give a damn wether your gay or not. Or how your jeans look. But if you think it was just your jeans that made people suggest your gay…your outta your mind.
Don’t defend your gay allegations. And Rick Ross don’t defend not being a correctional officer.
True Hip Hop heads don’t care.
Your only obligated to make good music. Which your definately doing.
What’s quote unquote fresh today, may not be so fresh tomorrow.
Watch how you use that word…
Peace!
Come to think of it Kanye aint really shit neither as far as lyrics
So if you ask me hes part of this “Bling Bling” era trash and well as Wayne
We need REAL hip hop back
Which brings me to my next point: it has been proven that if YOU want different results that you MUST THINK AND DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY. You can’t try to use 80s or 90s hip hop to get to that euphoria that a lot of you cats are yearning for…
…this is where underground hip hop comes in, well at least some of it. Why are you depending on the mainstream to provide you with quality music? I could name off some of my favorite artists and whatnot, but I’ll let you decide whether to complain in the fire or get out of it.
No one is depending on “mainstream” to provide quality music. But at the same time why are YOU depending on the “underground” to put out quality music.
Why can’t we all just depend on Hip Hop PERIOD, to proivde quality music.
There’s ass rappers on both sides. Of course more so on the mainstream side….but still.
Hip Hop as a whole is sad right now. PERIOD.
Everybody included. Me, you, defsounds, Limewire, Fans, rappers, Record labels. we’re all in this together.
So please don’t divide us with “Mainstream” and “Underground”
We ain’t segregated!
Peace
CELEBRITIES-They think its dead b/c artists that used to sale 3m records are only selling 3 r 400,000 ex. Usher(its not just hip hop, its BLACK music as a whole)
FANS-They think its da souf b/c all dat snappin shit. Im 4rm da souf and I cant even show u how to Superman dat hoe.
We got other niggas dats been killin da game. T.I, Luda, Jeezy, Weezy, Outkast, UGK, etc. It aint just the souf dat got wack shit. Is it about lyrics r a niggas overall style.
Cuz to me 50 had good lyrics but he now he a whack mufucka.
He said he aint give a fuck bout sellin records cuz he had money anyway. Which is exactly y he been puttin out bullshit 4 a long time. Niggas saying SB single-handedly killed hip hop cuz dese niggas aint sellin records. Well start promotin urself. EX. LIL WAYNE He been promotin himself 4 da longest. He made himself hot with da mixtapes and features. He set his foundation so that wen his album dropped he would be good. His shit got bootlegged,leaked and all dat shit and he still sold 1.5 mil. Dont blame SB for killin hip hop wen damn near everbody sellin out for the money. AND all dem muthafuckers BLACK. and its not just hip hop. Its damn near everything black-oriented. Not to mention da nigga barely 18. Then like everybody else has been saying. He has a teeny bopper fanbase. Its not like da nigga 25 r sumthin. He makes music for kids. U think a fuckin 11 yr old understands the punchlines dat evrybody between 18-45 love to hear. HELL NAW. But if u tell him to snap, cross his legs and jump n shit he undertands dat tho.
So he aint killed hip hop t me but niggas entitled to their own opinion. Just have a convincing argument and stop
fuckin co-signin a nigga who co signed anotha nigga. Cuz none of dem niggas kno y they think hip hop is dead. But somebody they look uo tp said it. I think for my muthafuckin self. Can u niggas?
THAT’S SENIOR MAN SHYT !
NUFF RESPECT WEST !
just a tip…space it out or something
nah
check out this blog for a sparknotes version of the 2008 Olympics
http://hamexpress.net/2008/08/08/2008-olympics-beijing/
shit, is America dead?
Just my thoughts. Let me know if u agree or why u dont. PEACE
thx for the respond
i agree on you with some things because hip hop is a form of expression. If thats the way he wants to express himself then so be it. But the thing that got me mad is how hes a sell out. He said he could be making lyrical music but he chooses not to because it would lose him fans. And it makes me mad also how theres people who put there heart in thinking of lyrics and every minute goes into perfecting the beat. But will they ever see radio play. Probably not. Why? cause of faggots like solja boy thats why. Which open the doors to other faggots like VIC. We need more realness on the radio. Only that way we can get true people on the radio. Maybe change peoples views on things. Not just on Hip Hop but also how they look at the world.
And even though the industry is responsible for doing it too, I just remembered that it’s all art, and you CANNOT control “it”. One one side we have the people who would love to see the mainstream regain its past glory, then you had people like me who thought that the underground and indies were the only way to go…
Bottom line is neither is the way to go. Like Chaos96 said, it is what it is…“it”…no need to try to make “it” in our image, because “it” flows freely and knows no boundaries.
Kanye voicing his opinion is new!!! Really!!! Y’all serious?!