Just when you couldn't think things would get more bizarre, there's a man peeing on a Grammy. That's where the latest tweet spree from Kanye West has taken us — a graphic turn in his crusade against the music industry an attempts to be freed from his contract with Universal Music Group.
West posted the video, which you can find here if you're inclined to watch, as part of his ongoing, multi-day diatribe against the exploitive nature of recording contracts. Just minutes prior, he had finished tweeting out the entirety of his Universal contract, one page at a time for a total of more than 100 tweets. He's also called for Drake, Bono, Paul McCartney, and even Taylor Swift to support his message of artist freedom.
Amongst the madness, there is a point —
West is hardly the first artist to speak out against the industry standard of musicians not owning their recording rights (i.e. masters). Prince did it while he was alive, Jay-Z routinely discusses it in his music, and Taylor Swift had a very public battle over her own material leading to plans to re-record her entire catalog to reclaim ownership.
The difference is that an understandable desire to own your own work doesn't usually look this unhinged. Since beginning to tweet about the issue on Monday, West has tweeted several text conversations with his team, insinuated that the media was responsible for Michael Jackson's death, and called doxxed Randall Forbes of Forbes magazine while calling him a white supremacist. (Twitter has removed that latter tweet.)
It's been a lot to follow, and there'll almost certainly be more developments requiring an update. For the time being, it's just strange to see West urinate on an award when one of his most infamous moments involved defending Beyoncé's honor at the VMAs.
