In 2009, as most know by now, an incident that set off a Capulet versus Montague-level “bad blood” feud occurred (in truth, maybe that was the real inspiration for the 2014 track of the same name rather than Katy Perry). In case one was struck with swine flu at the time, Kanye West jumped on the stage at the MTV VMAs (which the Grammys last night somehow rendered even more irrelevant because it suddenly decided to “get with it” by loosening the reins of control) to monopolize Taylor Swift’s speech time.
It was a time she was meant to have in its entirety as she took the stage to accept the award for Best Female Video for “You Belong With Me” (arguably still one of her most referenced videos in the memeverse). Indeed, this was back in her country days that now seemed to be a precursor to what folklore and evermore would adopt from.
Meanwhile, Beyoncé’s then highly oversaturated song, “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” (ruined irrevocably by Liza Minnelli performing it in Sex and the City 2) was also in the running and, obviously, lost–prompting West to bum rush the stage to declare, “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!”
Beyoncé looks more flattered than she should by Kanye’s sudden outburst, but later did her best to rectify the damage by calling Taylor on stage to finish her speech when she accepted her own award, saying, “I’d like for Taylor to come up and have her moment.” Taylor, it’s safe to say, has had “her moment” many times over since that instant. And so has Beyoncé.
For both women last night, it came yet again in the form of record-breaking achievements in relation to Grammy wins. With Yoncé winning four awards to make her the artist with the most Grammys (right up there with Quincy Jones, whose fresh out of fucks forever)–a total of twenty-eight–Swift also entered a new echelon by becoming the first female artist to win Album of the Year three times (joining Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder–needless to say, the Recording Academy has some real “easy listening” taste). And so it would appear as though West’s diabolical plot to drive a wedge between two women and two races failed miserably (in addition to his attempt at marriage with Kim Kardashian, another permutation linking him inextricably to Taylor).
For fear not, dear listener, there has always been “room at the table” for both uber corporate pop powerhouses (yes, Beyoncé counts as pop, just as Swift now apparently counts as “indie”). Where Kanye now fits in with his own current brand of less “palatable” music is, in contrast, rather murky.
