By Andres Tardio
Hollywood, California — By now, we know Kanye West isn’t scared to turn up.
Sure, Yeezy delivered a pretty calm speech about Teyana Taylor’s success at the start of the Harlem, New York singer’s VII album listening session, which was held Monday (October 20) in Hollywood. The Yeezus MC even joked that he wouldn’t show his usual passion because he’s been “controlled by the media.”
But just a few songs into the listening session, Kanye couldn’t help himself and grabbed the mic again to turn things up a notch.
“Sometimes, I be a little bit less expressive because mother——ers wanna Michael Jackson me to death and sh– and act like I don’t do nothing positive and attack me,” Kanye said to a crowd that featured Chris Brown, Karrueche Tran, Nelly, YG and Big Sean, among others.
“So, I be scared to turn up< ” he continued. “If you remember with Pusha T, I turned up and everybody thought I was crazy. Then he came out and did that buck-twenty and n—-s were like, ‘Aw, man. Maybe the sh– was good.’ But what I’m saying is Teyana provides something that’s so R&B, so black, so ‘hood, so missing and so necessary in the marketplace.”
At this point, Kanye, who was at the event with wife and birthday girl Kim Kardashian, was ready to let it all out when speaking about G.O.O.D. Music’s First Lady.
“I’ma just go ahead and say what I wanted to say in the first place,” he added. “Mother—-ers wanted to drop Big Sean, mother—-ers wanted to drop Teyana and mother——ers wanted to drop Pusha. Everybody always wanna be late or mother——in’ drop somebody and sh– and not believe in somebody all the way through. Now, I’m just gonna go ahead and be ‘Ye and they’re gonna put this sh– on ‘E! News’ and try to say I’m a crazy mother—-er and sh–. But, you know what? This is about artistry and fighting for artists to get their visions out, like it says in the name of the label, Getting Out Our Dreams. It’s a collective of mother—-ers who believe in real music and there’s never been someone on the label that has had to take something into her hands quite as much as this girl has had to do. So, I really want y’all to give her her credit for fighting against an entire system…I’m just really proud to see her tonight, dropping her album. We had to fight for this.”
But Kanye had interesting things to say during his initial speech, also.
“This is a real craft that we focus on,” Kanye said during his introductory statements. “We take the idea of G.O.O.D. Music very seriously. We feel like it’s a bonus when we make it onto the radio. We feel like it’s a necessity when we make it into your hearts. Just like when people talk about Pusha T possibly having the best Rap album last year – I say possibly because my album came out, too. I’m not gonna turn up to that level now because I’ve been controlled by the media…I’m really proud of all the artists on this label and how far they’ve taken it. There’s been so many moments where people doubted a lot of the choices made and I love it when an artist can turn around and have a #1 single like Teyana has and make me look really smart. I just believe in the energy and vision and allowing artists to be free and create exactly what they want to create without any control or manipulation.”
Taylor echoed some of Kanye’s statements when she got her chance to speak at the event. “It’s been a long time coming,” she said, reflecting on her journey.
And while Teyana is quick to thank Kanye for his “understanding” and for his help on VII, Taylor is also aware that there were others who played important roles in this project, also, including No I.D. and her mom. “Thank you so much,” she said, kneeling in front of her mother at the event. “I love you so much. Thank you for everything. This woman, I put her through so much, 72 hours of labor and some more.”
Others also contributed to the project, of course, including Fabolous and Pusha T, who are featured guests.
Taylor’s VII is set to be released November 4 and it’s worth the wait.
For now, at least we can still sit back and enjoy Teyana’s recent video for “Maybe.”
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