Kanye West's 'taking offense' with Pop & Hiss writer 'Kriss Lee'

 

On Monday, at a Hollywood screening of his short film “Runaway,” Kanye West mused in characteristically magniloquent terms about his creative output. He and pop diva Rihanna are “blue bloods,” West said from the stage, explaining that their “ideas turn red when they hit the air.”

But less than 24 hours later, the firebrand rapper-producer was apparently seeing red after reading an appraisal of “Runaway” written by your humble correspondent.

West took to his well-trafficked Twitter account to vent about a Times reporter’s blog post error concerning his new album, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.”  Specifically, it was my omission, since corrected, of the word “Beautiful” from that title in two out of three citations on the post that seemed to yank his chain.

Judging from West’s tweet output, though, he took the omission as a deliberate and personal attack.

The performer’s Twitter postings -– with their seemingly deliberate misspelling of this author’s name -- follow in their entirety after the jump:

“I would've taking offense 2 the LA Times review of the movie but the extremely condescending writer accidentally complimented my suit! Thx,” he tweeted Tuesday evening.

“I believe the writer’s name was Kriss Lee who so bent on giving a soulless description of my work that he decided to call the album…

“…not even by the right name… ironically but I feel more strategically removing the word 'Beautiful' from the title! Woooooooooooow!

“I assumed a respected media source like the Los Angeles Times would send a writer that would at least have the respect to call the album..

“by it's proper title. It's called "MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY" Kriss... Even if your goal was to perpetuate non-positive...

“...thought association. You see what happens when you write with a negative agenda. You have the entire Los Angeles Time's coming off..

“... like a non credible news source that can't even fact check a well publicized album title.

“How can anyone believe anything you ever write again? I feel sorry for the LA Times more than anything for missing the opportunity...”

Having expressed his feelings, however, the Louis Vuitton Don apparently thought better of the tweets and deleted them, prompting the blog bossip.com to wonder: “Publicist Move or Kanye Thought Twice About Giving the LA Times Some Shine?" (The deleted tweets are still viewable to anyone who accesses West’s account while not logged in to twitter.com.)

And as to allegations that a reporter “strategically” removed the word “Beautiful” from the title, “tried to perpetuate non-positive thought association” or “wrote with a negative agenda” in regard to West, that's simply not true.

At yesterday's thought association meeting on perpetuating negativity, West's name didn't come up once.

-- Chris “Kriss” Lee

Photo: Kanye West. Credit: Andrew H. Walker / Getty Images

Comments

[swag don]

kriss you got nothing on yeezy

[Joe B.]

“Publicist Move or Kanye Thought Twice About Giving the LA Times Some Shine?"

Kanye thought twice? Not a chance in the world.

[kurt]

West is an idiot. Who cares?

[bob in iowa]

who really cares? Kanye totally sucks ass... I can't believe anyone is paying attention to this clown anymore

[david was]

Kriss,

By commission or omission, props for raising the internal temperature of the Donald Chump of hiphop, a guy who actually seems to believe that he could walk on the surface of his beloved Chandon!! For my money -- especially based on his last, Liberace-like SNL performance -- the man needs SFX and pitch-helper to pull off a performance at all -- he's kind of like the Ashlee Simpson of rap in that sense. Somebody stick a pin in this overinflated piñata asap! His album title could subsist on the two accurate words in its title: My Fantasy! This Grand Egotist lives in a world of his own making, one which I am proud, like Groucho Marx, to not be a member of.....

[Devin]

How would this be a publicity stunt? Yeah, Kanye talking about some random article is going to give him the greatest sales boost ever.

[Bryce]

You are an idiot, Kriss Lee. Why don't you just apologize to Kanye instead of trying to be all witty in this response. You effed up in your frickin review; thus, man up and do what's right: apologize.

[Jessica]

i was actually at work, when i read Kanye's tweets. I work for an LA Radio Station, and am a HUGE fan of the reviews written by the writers of the LA Times. Never have i read, a negative statement about any artist. I thought it was so unnecessary, and i really was surprised he went in on twitter. Weather he likes it or not, he has many artist (writers, singers, rappers) who follow him, this is a slap in the face to some, and shows that what your opinion is shouldn't count.

[Vee]

Eh.

[Napolean Bonaparte]

Kriss

How would you feel is somebody forgot to spell your name correctly...

I, as Napolean The Emperor, decree that you apologize to Mr West for you mistake and not try to justify your actions.

Yours truely

Napolean

SIDEBAR: Ceasar and I are watching you...

[NC]

Oh Kanye, paranoid much??

"At yesterday's thought association meeting on perpetuating negativity, West's name didn't come up once."

LOL!

[zap]

good call, "napolean."

btw, you misspelled the names of both napoleon and caesar.

[Adam]

"At yesterday's thought association meeting on perpetuating negativity, West's name didn't come up once."

lmao

[josh]

Why would this even be a publicity stunt? In no way does this help Kanye gain anymore fame than he already has. If anything, I'd say this article is a publicity stunt for YOU. I mean come on, your trying to get Mr. West infuriated so he can mention YOUR name again. Minus 1 for the LA Times.

[Dave]

I gotta side with Kanye on this one. yeah, it shouldn't be a big deal but clearly he's a bit raw and sensitive about his vilification in the media and if he said he contemplated suicide, well cut him some slack. Behind every egotistical person is an insecure one

[Pops 24]

Kanye West is one of the most prolific and influential artists in MUSIC today, a certain level of respect is deserved by Mr. West, especially from a critic for the LA Times. The least you can do is spell the man's album correctly, or at least apologize for the mistake rather than responding with condescending remarks. Of course he overreacted but that's what most great artists do... they're usually the most emotionally stable of sorts. We've always excused a degree of wreckless behavior from our favorite rockstars so why demonize Kanye? Keith Richards has been more of an ass than West has ever been yet he's the moron? There seems to be double standards regarding Hp-Hop artists' behavior in public.

[patroklos]

We who read the LA Times music section have learned over the years that Kanye West is God. He is genius of the highest caliber, whose music shames the likes of Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, and Bob Dylan, and destroys peons like Dr. Dre. His videos display choreography that would have been the envy of George Balanchine. He is a writer of twitter posts that would make an English professor weep with joy and gasp with awe. And now Kriss Kross Lee has the temerity to insult our God? I am as sickened as Kanye is. Have you no shame, Kriss Kross? Have you NO shame?

[Michelle B.]

You are a music review writer. How could you miss a word in the title of an album, a word that contextualizes everything. Did you apologize? I was disturbed by this post, then I read your article on Die Antwoord. Again, no contextualization, and no knowledge of culture or how music and the music industry work. Los Angeles deserves better.

[Max in California]

Bob in Iowa is just jealous that Kanye West is one the biggest names in music production today. Bob in Iowa is sitting on his porch in Iowa thinking about how he can make his pitiful existence in Iowa better.

Shut up, you bumbling fool. Go listen to folk and get off the internet. Your taste and affiliation with today's world is obviously despairingly obsolete and decrepit.

The release of Kanye's album will draw millions of comments of admiration and praise which will trash the small group of you who show great disdain for the hip-hop artist and producer.

Regardless of the pithy comments from the lackluster group of "haters" below,
I completely agree with Michelle B. below. You're a dick, Chris. You're leeching off of Kanye's fame to conjure some name for yourself while simultaneously adding discredit to the LA Times itself. I'm surprised you're not fired yet. Or was this your final article?

[Jeff]

Haha, Brilliant Chris. The boy needs his head checked. I long for those thought association meetings where one would construct a mindmap and a fleet of writers link the entire universe from the center orb that is Kanye. That would be a jolly good time indeed.