Has Anybody Ever Heard of Bob Ezrin?

Those were the words that kicked of Kanye West’s most recent Twitter rant.

Well veteran record producer and keyboardist Bob Ezrin is best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, and Phish. He recently wrote a lengthy commentary on Kanye West for the Lefsetz Letter … and he didn’t hold back.

Yes, he acknowledges Ye’s talent, but legend … no dice.

“Sure, he made some great music for himself and others. But in spite of what the aspirationally-cool media keeps saying about him, unlike other creators in his genre like Jay-Z, Tupac, Biggie or even M.C. Hammer for that matter, it’s unlikely that we’ll be quoting too many of Kanye’s songs 20 years from now,” Ezrin wrote. “He didn’t open up new avenues of public discourse like NWA, or introduce the world to a new art form like Grandmaster Flash, or even meaningfully and memorably address social issues through his music like Marshall, Macklemore and Kendrick.”

Ezrin went on to say Kanye’s songwriting is “sophomoric at best” and his production skills pale in comparison to the likes of Timbaland and Rick Rubin (Yikes… but kudos to Timbo and Rick for the S/O).

“Instead Kanye’s greatest achievements have been in the form of excessive behavior, egomaniacal tantrums and tasteless grandstanding,” Ezrin continued. “What he is a true artist at is living his life out loud – and shoving it down the throats of the rest of us whether we give a shit or not. He’s like that flasher who interrupts a critical game by running naked across the field. Is that art???”

Welp, clearly that wasn’t going to fly. Kanye caught wind pretty quickly. Let the Twitter rant begin …

https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/702352351118696448

https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/702352437697507328

https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/702352830917648384

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