What is there to say about Kanye West that hasn't been said before? The guy is an artist, a designer, a father, a doctor — look it up! — a friend of Beyoncé, and, often, one of the most highly-anticipated performers at award shows. At the 2015 Billboard Music Awards, Kanye West's performance was no different. This is going to be one of the most talked about performances Kanye has ever done. It was the most Kanye-tastic, bizarre, out of this world performance that got bleeped and censored so much that it was essentially four minutes of pure silence and sparks. Update: When asked to comment on the performance's censorship, ABC said: "Kanye West is an incredible performer and one of today's most influential artists, however he did not make his performance available for review prior to air resulting in an edited appearance in tonight's live broadcast."
This is Kanye's first performance at the Billboard Music Awards, but he is no stranger to taking the stage. The rapper is a five-time winner at the BBMAs and has earned many high-ranking positions on the Billboard charts for his songs over the years. It only makes sense that he would take to the stage to amp fans up for his upcoming album, Swish.
Yeezus was set to close out the awards, naturally. Whether that was per his request, or Billboard's way of keeping the audience's attention during the three-hour broadcast, it worked, because how could you watch the entire show and miss Kanye's performance? 'Ye took to the stage in the final moments of the BBMAs to perform "All Day" and "Black Skinhead." And we really need to talk about that performance.
WHAT THE YEEZUS JUST HAPPENED. Did I just have a stroke? Am I going deaf? Is my TV not working? No. No. And.... No.
First, I questioned if it was even Kanye performing because he was so tucked into the flames and sparks and smoke. He was so mysterious, you literally didn't see him until the very end of the performance. Was it even Kanye? I mean, yes, of course it was Kanye. Who else would do this?
Then there's the bleeps. The censorship on this performance was out of this world, Katy Perry's "E.T. feat. Kanye West" style. "All Day" needs a lot of censorship, so I wasn't really that surprised, but it got to a point where it was so bleeped that there was seconds of silence at once. I'm talking five plus seconds at a time! I even suspect there was censorship on words that didn't need a bleep, because Kanye is pretty unpredictable (see: life) and you never really know what's going to come out of his mouth.
But I also can't help but think this is all a part of his grand plan. Is this is way of saying screw censorship once and for all? If the Billboard Music Awards want Kanye, you'll get Kanye... But there's no guarantee you'll be able to air any of Kanye.
Dr. West, you've done it again. You've left me speechless. But I actually have no words, it's not the censors.
