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Stargazing with Mr. West

MTV News has a completely geeky and awesome article up that ties together Kanye and the stars—but not the stars you might normally associate with the rapper. No, this article is literally about the stars, which are going to be looking rather nice tonight when the Leonid Meteor shower passes nearby the Earth.

The shower has been created by a passing comet, Tempel-Tuttle, which apparently creates 20 to 30 meteors per hour. You don’t need Carl Sagan to tell you how cool that is, and the article is all about what the best ways are to check out this incredible celestial display. And like all things trippy and deeply cosmic, the best thing that could accompany such a display…is music. MTV News recommends a number of different artists, from David Bowie, who’s “Space Oddity” is obligatory, to Pink Floyd and Deerhunter. But the one that stood out for us, of course, is Kanye West’s “Flashing Lights.” What song title could better describe what’s literally going down?

Anyway, hopefully Kanye’s shooting star goes back up. He’s been in hiding, but when he goes back on tour, get Kanye West tickets at StubHub.

AVC declared Kanye’s College Dropout second best album of the decade

The AV Club released their list of the decade’s best music today, and the big shocker was the Top 10, which included a lot of the standard indie-rock albums you would expect to see—but also included a steady helping of hip-hop. Kanye West actually came in with the second best record of the decade for The College Dropout. Number one was The White Stripes’ White Blood Cells (which is, you have to admit, a really great record).

They do mention that at the time, Kanye’s greatest could be embraced without his overwhelming ego, and praise seemed deserved: “That’s right, West was actually a down-to-earth guy back then—well, relatively down-to-earth for a superstar producer and soon-to-be-superstar MC, anyway. Now, West is the rapper we can all agree on in the negative sense—even fans were tiring of his uncontrollable megalomania before he made that nice white girl cry on the VMAs. But that shouldn’t obscure a discography that was the gold standard for hip-hop this decade.”

They’ve got a point that the ego has detracted (maybe distracted) from his talent. Let’s hope he gets it together, goes back on tour so that we soon see Kanye West tickets on StubHub.

John Mayer stands up for Kanye

After Kanye’s blow up at the MTV VMAs, there weren’t a whole lot of people who were willing to stand up for the MC. He had his defenders, of course—mostly Jay-Z, who even went as far as to say he agreed with his assessment of who deserved the award for best female music video—but few people were willing to take ‘Ye’s position. As a result, he kind of became a public whipping boy, with people taking out their hate on him both in print and online.

But John Mayer, speaking to Access Hollywood (and being quoted on Digital Spy.com), said that he doesn’t think the hate has been justified. “If you just woke up now and you looked at the backlash on Kanye you’d think that he actually firebombed the stage. It’s the MTV Video Music Awards, not the G8 summit. Kanye West got in more trouble than the guy who yelled, ‘You lie!’ to the president. [He] got like a two-day slap on the wrist and Kanye West - his entire career is in escrow because he jumped on stage at the Video Music Awards.”

That’s a pretty fair statement. Next time you need Kanye West tickets, go to StubHub.

Kanye has new music coming out

MTV News has a pretty cool little update about Kanye’s first public appearance since apologizing for the Taylor Swift debacle. The article focuses largely on his performance at Beyonce’s latest show, where he came out on stage to rap on “Ego”—an appropriately titled track.

“I got a big, hah-uh-ha, ego,” Kanye rapped. “She love my big, hah-uh-ha, ego/ So stroke my big, hah-uh-ha, ego/ I like to joke around a little bit but here we go/ Welcome to the wonderful world of gold-plated earl/ ‘Cause everything I throw up, blow up,” he raps on the song.

But the real news is buried at the end of the article. Apparently Kanye has new music coming out. Well, he appears in a song, anyway—Consequence’s “Whatever You Want,” which has been remixed and will feature ‘Ye, John Legend, Common, Kid Cudi and Big Sean. Sounds like it’ll be a hot track, in any case, so keep your ears to the radio and make sure you listen to it when you can.

When the guy finally gets out of the doghouse and goes back out on tour, get Kanye West tickets at StubHub.

Kanye returns to the stage

Shock! Awe! And plenty of applause, too. Apparently, Kanye West has emerged from his self-imposed exile from the public light (it must have been painful for him). Rolling Stone reports that at Beyonce’s recent London show at the O2 Arena, ‘Ye showed up to perform alongside her on “Crazy in Love,” the second song of her set. There were apparently no Taylor Swift fans in the crowd, because the roar was deafening as he took the stage for the song. But just as soon as he appeared and performed, he vanished off stage, suggesting he’s aware that moving back into the spotlight will take some time.

RS reminds us of Kanye’s bewildering relationship with the public spotlight since rudely interrupting Taylor Swift at the MTV VMAs: “West has kept a relatively low profile, surfacing only on The Jay Leno Show to apologize to Swift and perform ‘Run this Town’ with Jay-Z and Rihanna. West has since canceled his planned ‘Fame Kills’ tour with Lady Gaga and stayed out of the public eye. Even his ‘We Were Once A Fairytale’ short film with Spike Jonze had a confused release. Rumors had West escaping the scrutiny by going everywhere from rehab to India, but those claims remain unsubstantiated.”

Hopefully we’ll see Kanye West tickets back on sale at StubHub.

Kanye inspires victory for one writer

The AV Club has a pretty amusing feature up today, where a question was posed to all the staff members: What entertainment-based rituals do you perform each year? For most of them, it’s something akin to watching A Christmas Story or It’s a Wonderful Life around the holidays. Others have more unique rituals—including Nathan Rabin, who admits that when something really good happens to him, he turns to Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco’s “Touch the Sky” to feel triumphant. He used to have a different ritual, which he believed brought him good luck, but it wasn’t working: “I replaced it with a ritual where every time something really, really good happens to me, I listen to Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco’s ‘Touch The Sky’ on repeat on my iPod. When I sold my book, when Roger Ebert blurbed my book, when I made the front page of The New York Times, I celebrated by strutting around Chicago listening to Kanye West. It became my own personal theme music, the soundtrack to some of the best moments of my life. It’s not a bad tradition. I think I’ll keep it.”

That’s a pretty awesome ritual. Make your ritual getting Kanye West tickets at StubHub.

No one can resist a good Kanye impersonation

Wherever Kanye West is right now, he’s probably hoping that the memes finally stop. He may actually be hiding until that moment, as well. No one has seen him since, and the swirl of “I’mma let you finish” jokes is still spinning through the media. MTV News has a rundown of how the “interrupting Kanye” meme, which became so popular online in the days after ‘Ye’s now-infamous VMA Award presentation, has spread to other award shows. Apparently, even the Country Music Award show got in on the act.

Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley were in the middle of delivering some patter during the show when Little Jimmy Dickens—a man who holds some sway at the Grand Ole Opry—ran out and snagged the mic from them, saying that “I’ll let you finish later. I know you had a nice video and all, but Taylor Swift made the best video of all time. Of all time!”

Apparently a number of other artists have done this as well, including Katy Perry at the MTV Europe Music Awards. Let’s hope the dust settles soon, and Kanye West tickets return to StubHub.

Rhianna calls Kanye and Jay-Z her “brothers”

Pop singer Rihanna has become a major star since 2007, when “Umbrella” flooded the airwaves and became popular in all the clubs. Now, she’s regularly performing alongside the likes of Jay-Z, who she appeared with in the video for “Run This Town,” and even showed up on stage at some of his performances of the song.

Speaking with MTV News, she said that she considers both Kanye and Jay-Z brothers to her. “‘Especially Jay-Z. We’re really close.’ The singer also told Sway that ‘working with him was effortless but really enjoyable, and every time we perform the song it’s fun.’” But when asked about her other brother, ‘Ye, she said that she hadn’t actually seen him for a while, but that last time she did see him, “he was good.”

Where has Kanye disappeared to? No one is really sure. But there’s no shortage of speculation as to what he’s up to right now, from rumors that he’s gone to study spirituality in India to one that posits he’s working on material for a new record. In any case, next time he emerges from hiding, get Kanye West tickets at StubHub.

Does Kanye lip-synch?

ABC News has a great article up right now recounting the numerous pop musicians that have committed the most treasonous offense in pop: Lip-syncing. The story is largely about Britney Spears, the pop princess that has had a pretty rough time in front of the public eye these past few years. In Australia recently, she took another public hit when fans left her show in droves complaining that her poor performance was due to her lip-syncing. John Mayer, who was also in the country at the time, later Tweeted that “If you’re shocked that Britney was lip-syncing at her concert and want your money back, life may continue to be hard for you.”

But Kanye isn’t let off the hook, either. He’s lumped in with Ms. Spears as a star that’s relied on technology to get him through a show—specifically, his 808s and Heartbreak performance on Saturday Night Live last year. Some critics though it was just a technical glitch, while others thought he was lip-syncing and just doesn’t sing well.

It’s impossible to please everyone. But you can rest assured that you’ll be pleased if you get Kanye West tickets at StubHub.

Kanye’s picture book is coming out

The Chicago Tribune’s About Last Night blog has a post up about Kanye West’s upcoming picture book, which takes a number of his most personal hip-hop songs and lyrics and translates them into illustrations, as depicted by cult cartoonist Bill Plympton. It’s a great choice by Kanye—Plympton is known for his surreal animation and absurd humor, much of which seems to be at work in the two images on display on the Tribune’s blog. There’s a picture of Kanye in the hospital after being hit by a car, with leering doctors and nurses waiting near the door. They appear to be serving him pancakes through a straw.

There’s also an illustration of Kanye leading a marching band of some sort comprised of a nun, a model, a waiter and many, many other people. Here’s a few details from the blog: “Through the Wire: The Words and Lyrics of Kanye West is an 80-page graphic memoir that recreates 12 of West’s songs using illustrations by Bill Plympton. West chose some of his more autobiographical songs for the book, including ‘Through the Wire,’ ‘Heard Em’ Say,’ ‘Touch the Sky,’ ‘Gold Digger’ and ‘Jesus Walks.’”

Lookiing for Kanye West tickets? Find them at StubHub.