Ah, The Good Life

I was all stressed out and depressed after last week's general awfulness and looking for something to cheer me up, when I came across rapper Kanye West's official fan site plugging his latest album. Now I have to tell you, I have had a soft spot for Kanye ever since he appeared with Mike Myers during the US telethon for Katrina victims and denounced the media for perpetuating racial stereotypes and angrily going on to proclaim "George Bush doesn't care about black people" (if you've never seen it, treat yourself and look here).

Watching it live, I just about fell out of my chair for two reasons: 1) up until that point, nobody famous had ever been quite so blunt about a very obvious fact - although to be completely fair, he should have said "George Bush doesn't care about anybody he's not related to and/or friends with" and 2) the panic stricken look on Mike Myers face as he realizes that he's standing next to an extremely pissed-off black man who is not reading the script. King of the improv my ass, more like deer in headlights, hahaha.

The media fire-storm that followed might have put a lesser person into a tailspin, but not our Kanye. Instead of apologizing, he decided to pose as Jesus for a Rolling Stone cover. You gotta hand it to him, that took muy grande cojones. Or a complete lack of self-awareness. Either way, take that haters!

Most recently he was in the news for having a hissy fit meltdown at the MTV awards because the producers opted to let Britney open the show instead of him and then he didn't win anything. The drama! The swearing! It's all on tape of course! (although I think we can all agree he had a point about the whole Britney fiasco.)

Poor Kanye ...he made headlines again for being a big crybaby but...here's the thing that makes me like him. Every time he acts a fool he soon afterwards pokes fun at himself. He appeared on the Emmy's, "losing" a rap-off to the whitest white man ever, Rainn Wilson, and then went on to totally take the piss out of himself and his tantrums on Saturday Night Live. He either has a really good sense of humor or an awesome PR person who has him under their thumb, take your pick.

But wait a minute, I hear you ask, what's so fantastic about his website? Well, it showcases his music and stuff, but the real gem of it is his blog. I guess you can call it a blog, although a more accurate description would be that it's just a long list of wonderful products you will never ever be able to afford and pictures of him with beautiful people you will never ever meet. It's shallow and vacuous, so of course I love it. Go check it out - it's soooooo worth it just to find out what his fans think of oh, I don't know, the new Damien Hirst installation at the NY Met, which he plugs.

Along with thoughtful comments about the value of Hirst as an artist, there are those who feel moved to say "that's ill as s*it!!!", "Hirst is mad dope!" and my personal fave, "i wish i had a shark in my crib". I'm feeling ya dawg.

I leave you with my new favorite song of the moment, The Good Life. It's an upbeat song - let's go on a living spree, indeed - and the production values are awesome. Enjoy! ***I realize this video kinda breaks my page if you're using Firefox, sorry***