Kanye West Apologia

At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Taylor Swift received Best Female Video of the Year Award. In the midst of her acceptance speech, Kanye West walked on stage, asked the country star for the microphone and stated, “Beyonce' has the best video of all time” Swift stood there in disbelief as the hip hop star made a spectacle of himself. Moments after, Beyonce was awarded Best Video of The Year. As she stood on stage to give her acceptance speech, she called on Miss. Swift and asked her to continue her speech that was previously interrupted (VMA’s, 2009) The support from Beyonce, along with fellow musicians and fans showed that the response to the actions of Kanye West were going to cause a negative media storm to emerge.

The VMA’s are a live, televised broadcast. The night of the 2009 awards, a record setting number of people tuned in and witnessed the shocking display of disrespect. This wasn’t the first time West was involved in an act of public slander. One could wonder if he has learned from his mistakes, and question the value of his apology.

 Kanye West quickly responded to his outburst. Less than 24 hours later, the rap star appeared on the Jay Leno show asking to take a moment to apologize to the world for his actions.

Mr. West used to the strategy of mortification by stating, “ I immediately knew in this situation that it was wrong. It wasn’t a spectacle-it’s actually someone’s emotions, you know, that I stepped on and it was very rude. I would like to apologize in person”

(Jay Leno, 2009)

            Even though West never denied that he made a mistake, he was very quick to use provocation throughout the apologia in its entirety. The rapper blamed his erratic behavior on the lack of time to grieve for the loss of his mother while presenting his apology, West was asked, “What would your mother have to say (VMA outburst), if she were here to witness last night” (Jay Leno, 2009). . A man, suddenly of very little words. the rapper responded with silence. Eventually, Mr. West went on to communicate that he would need to take time off to improve himself  “I deal with hurt, and you know, I just music after music, tour after tour, and I am just ashamed that my hurt, you know caused someone else’s hurt” (Jay Leno, 2009)

Claiming that the actions were out of character, by enhancing the state of grief he was in, Kanye West stated that he was unaware of what he was doing, until it was too late.  For the purpose of the apologia, the time not given to West to grieve could prove as an advantage.

Noting the outburst as a downfall, Kanye West combined transcendence and compensation to conclude the apology. Stating that he would like to utilize his time off to become a better person, and live the life he has been given in a way that would make his late mother proud. This, along with the extended invitation to help Taylor Swift with her career will prove as an advantage. The use of these strategies brings a softer side of the musician to the forefront, leaving the  “Bad Boy” image that the musician has created for himself, behind.

According to a poll conducted by Soda Head Surveys, many people didn’t believe the straightforward apology from Kanye West was sincere. The majority of individuals responded that it was nothing new for the ignorance of West to surface.  Nevertheless it is inevitable that his actions from previous events would weigh heavy on the credibility of this apology and his image.  At the telethon for relief of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, a very angry Kanye West stated, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” (shockroc1, 2006). Then again in 2006,West interrupted an acceptance speech at the MTV Europe Music Awards. Justice and Simien beat out West for Best Video of the Year. The rapper walked up on stage, demanded the microphone and announced that he should have won the award because his video for, “ Touch the Sky” he proclaimed that, “it cost millions of dollars and featured Pamela Anderson” Before leaving the stage Kanye West said, “If I don’t win, then this award show loses it’s credibility” (Associated Press, 2006)

Each of the offensive displays of slander created barrier and reinforced the tough image that is seen as Kanye West. The persona that is Kanye West will prove to be a barrier. Depending on how the audience views it, this could be an advantage. The audience of 8.97 million people, who witnessed it, may be desensitized to his offensiveness making it less of a headliner than the previous burst of outrage. (LAtimes, 2009)

All and all, for the purposes of the rhetoric, this apologia should be viewed as a success. The use of mortification proves that, at no point did West try to shift the blame for his actions on the night of the MTV VMA’s. Also, even if it was without intention, the state of mind that the rapper was in due to the lack of time allowed processing the death of his mother. Along with proclaiming that he was unaware of the his actions until it was too late made it seem out of character or unintentional for the outburst to occur succeeds through the usage to defeasibility and provocation.

Even though the barriers are strong in this apologia, they can be shifted with the facts that prove the success of the rapper against all odds. The bad boy image, as previously stated may desensitize the audience. The desensitization would allow the rapper to do things that others may not. Along with his persona, the emotions displayed while reinforcing the fact that after the mistakes made, Mr. West deepest passion is to live a life that his mother would be proud of makes the offer extended to assist Taylor Swift with her career seem tangible and sincere. The last major barrier presented was that the actions were not popular, which would cause the fans of the hip-hop star to lose interest. However, that night of the VMA’s made headlines and as they say, “All publicity is good publicity” to emphasize, if you didn’t know who Kanye West was before the award show, there was no doubt that you did after that night of the VMA’s. Kanye West

One way or another, each barrier has twisted into an advantage for the celebrity. These advantages and “barriers” build on to the foundation that boosts this hip hop star further and further up on the totem pole. The apologia used all necessary strategies to create a successful delivery.

Works Cited

Do you agree? (09, 12 03). Retrieved from http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/do-you-agree-that-kanye-west-is-a-question-3146327/

Associated Press. (2006, 03 11). Kanye west a sore loser at MTV Europe Awards. . Retrieved from http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/15536834/ns/today-entertainment/t/kanye-west-sore-loser-mtv-europe-awards/

 Duke, A. (2009, 10 12). CNN Entertainment. Retrieved from http://articles.cnn.com/2009-10-01/entertainment/kanye.west.tour.canceled_1_mtv-awards-live-nation-taylor-swift? _s=PM:SHOWBIZ

  Newman, J. (10, 11 09). Kanye west slams Taylor swift. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.popeater.com/2010/11/24/kanye-west-concert-taylor-swift/

Dionne, Z. (2010, 10 3). George bush reflects on kanye west comment. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.popeater.com/2010/11/03/george-bush-memoir-kanye-west-racist-comment/

Associated Press. (09, 05). Kanye west bio. Encyclopedia of World Biographies. Retrieved from http://www.notablebiographies.com/news/Sh-Z/West-Kanye.htm