Kanye West brought his Glow in the Dark Tour back to Madison Square Garden in NYC this week and ended up giving the audience an almost 5-minute exposition on tolerance. Kanye has previously spoken out against the use of discriminatory and homophobic words in rap music (and in rap culture overall) and used this latest opportunity to expound on those beliefs a little further. Here is a rough translation of Kanye‘s speech (provided by Andy Towle of Towleroad):
“Open your fucking minds. Open your minds. Be accepting of different people and let people be who they are. You know how many people came to me calling me gay cause I wear my jeans the fresh way? Or because I said hey, dude, how you gonna say ‘fag’ right in front of a gay dude’s face and act like that’s ok. That shit is disrespectful. Coming from Chicago, where if you saw somebody that was gay you were supposed to stay ten feet away. It should be time to break out of the intuitions that I was sayin’, the steretypes, or the fear, the backlash that I would get if you don’t believe in what I believe in, acceptin’ people for who they are…they’re very talented and if they do something special in the world and they’re discriminated. I’ve flown across the world y’all, and I’ve come back here to tell you — open your minds and live a happier life…”
I must say, I am very impressed with Kanye West and his stance against homophobia. Don’t get me wrong, I usually find the man overly cocky and far too full of himself but I am impressed with his devotion to standing up for beliefs that are, in all honesty, very unpopular in his music culture. He deffo gets my respect on this one. After the jump, watch the full video of his speech for yourselves …
The anti-homophobic portion starts at about 1:50 into the vid:
In this instance, Kanye West is deffo the man. Respect!
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Although I laud him for speaking his mind and standing up for gays, he does have a song called “Gold Digger” in which he disses money- chasing hoes, and calls other blacks “niggers”. Hypocrite, much?
Oh Kanye West! Remember the time the guy made a whole scene because he didn’t win best video at MTV europe video award? That’s also something you can call disrespectful. But since he is supposed to be some kind of god, maybe we need to open our minds and ignore the contradictions??
I think his message is universal. I don’t think it is just about homosexuals but can be applied to everyone. I think he was just using the gays as an example. PS. Gold Diggers should be discriminated against!!
Go Kanye! I think he is hilarious and I admire him for having the balls to stand up for stuff he believes in. He marches to his own beat and I dig that.
Wait, doesn’t he say “I’d do anything for a blonde dyke” in his song “Stronger” C’mon Kanye. Let’s get consistent.
i dont know his music so cant speak to hypocrisy in his art and in his speech, but i applaud him using a public forum to encourage tolerance. hurray for him!
We have to stay ten feet away from gay people here in Chicago? I must not have gotten that note.
Um please read the lyrics to any Kanye West song… he degrades others using stereotypical/ slang terms all the time. All Falls Down “I can’t even pronounce nothing, pass that versace! Then I spent 400 bucks on this just to be like n***** you ain’t up on this!”
Stronger “I’d do anything for a blonde dyke.”
Gold Digger “Now I ain’t sayin’ she a gold digger, but she ain’t messin’ wit no broke n*******.”
Jesus Walks “Where restless n****** might snatch your necklaceAnd next these n****** might jack your Lexus Somebody tell these n***** who Kanye West is.”
All that sounds pretty discriminatory and homophobic to me. Practice what you preach or keep your mouth shut silly “rapper.”
Kinda off subject – but, Is anyone else sick of those (for lack of a better term) sunglasses???
Those lyrics aren’t saying anything stereotypical.. He wasn’t even calling her a Gold digger.. see.. get it right ya’lls! I’m not a Gold digger but I’m not messin with no bum :D
kanye west just pisses me off in SO many ways. i was at bonnaroo, and well, i wont even go there. and yes, i am SO sick of those goddamn glasses.
Being a black man in an industry and a medium, namely hip-hop, where saying the “n” word is commonly NOT seen as being disrespectful or any of the other ways you guys are classifying it as. I laud him for his open mind, and speaking out about tolerence. Everyone should do it. And its not necessarily the most popular stance in his industry either. So, big up.
love his words!
I freakin LOVE Kanye! He has every right to be cocky! He is the bomb! I think it is so good that he is speaking out and trying to get his fans to be respectful for everyone! Saying the “N” word or “Gold Digger” is not bad and cant be compared to someone be homophobic! DONT HATE ON KANYE!! I love him!
Go Kanye! I think that’s great! I love his music. And yes, I definitely think some of his lyrics are sexist, but if he’s preaching about the importance of an open mind, that’s great. That would suggest he’s open to change. And especially speaking out against homophobia in the hip-hop community. Awesome.
yeah, the guy is arrogant but i like the fact that he speaks his mind. like, remember when he said “george bush doesn’t care about black people”? VERY unpopular, some would say inappropriate thing to say… but is it true? f*ck yes, it’s true! and it’s about time someone told the truth, you know? as for other things he’s said that are messed up- i can’t even argue about that bc i’m not really a fan- i’m not familiar with his work that much- but what i’ve seen of him is this: he’s honest, for better or worse, and i just want to see that so much in this world, you know?