Why Does Kanye West Wanna Hump Taylor Swift So Badly?!
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Why Does Kanye West Wanna Hump Taylor Swift So Badly?!

Written by Matt Craven on February 13, 2016
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Kanye West has a new album out, The Life of Pablo. Despite numerous delays and countless name-changes, the album was supposed to be a triumphant return from one of our most envelope-pushing mega-stars.

West’s new album cover for The Life of Pablo

West was even audacious enough to debut the album at a Tidal-sponsored, Madison Square Garden gig. But any praise for his new project was quickly obscured by an instantly infamous line about Taylor Swift in new song, “Famous.”

The incriminating line goes, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous.” Unsurprisingly, the lyric immediately caused a firestorm of controversy. And it has once again deeply entwined these two artists into an ugly, unnecessary spat.

West and Swift, of course, have a history of bad blood; who could forget when he notoriously stormed the stage during her acceptance speech at the 2009 Video Music Awards?

“I’ma let you finish, but…” That infamous VMA moment, in 2009

That moment perfectly crystallized two separate notions that had been gaining momentum: 1) that West, despite his musical brilliance, was an asshole; and that 2) Swift was America’s sweetheart. West’s award-show-temper-tantrums had previously been tossed aside as inglorious boasting, but this time he had crossed a line; even President Obama weighed in, calling West a “jackass.”

From that point on, West’s and Swift’s stories were forever interwoven. Swift, for her part, has seemed to put the incident behind her, even going so far as to present West with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2015 Video Music Awards. But West can’t seem to let go, and this new diss has reopened old wounds.

Exacerbating the controversy is West’s half-assed excuses-as-explanations.  He should have stuck to his guns and defended his art; he attempted this with his first responsive tweet to the brouhaha, stating, “First thing is I’m an artist and as an artist I will express how I feel with no censorship.” But the effect was diluted with subsequent tweets that either put the blame on Swift (saying she gave her blessing to the lyric) or tried to turn the controversy into a semantics game (explaining that “Bitch is an endearing term in hip hop like the word Nigga”).

Both justifications are flimsy (could you imagine West’s reaction if Swift had called him a bitch in one of her songs?!). And Swift’s camp has fired back, labeling the lyric as “misogynistic.” The whole thing reeks of desperation on West’s part.

Kanye West misogyny Taylor Swift
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