Kanye West assured fans at his Saturday night concert that he wasn't "crazy" or "deranged" in an on-stage rant that ended up as an indictment of the media and the Grammy Awards.
The rapper -- who donned a white hood and a crystal mask at various points of the show in Atlantic City, N.J. -- slammed the press for publishing "bullshit" that suggested he had lost his mind. He also pledged to keep creating art, telling fans, "I'm not crazy. I'm just not satisfied."
He then turned his critical gaze to the Grammy awards:
"How many Grammys do we have? … Eighteen Grammys. All in the black categories, though. But nonetheless, 18. I love Maroon 5, but when I lost Best New Artist to Maroon 5 … you know what I mean? Or when 'Watch the Throne' and 'Dark Fantasy,' neither of them got nominated for Album of the Year, you know what I mean? Or when 'N----s in Paris' didn't get nominated for Record of the Year, you know what I mean? So don't expect to see me at the Grammys this year, you know what I mean?!"
The omission of "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" in the list of 2012 Album of the Year nominees was widely seen as a snub. In another on-stage speech at the time, West said he shouldn't have released the album in such close proximity to "Watch the Throne," his duet album with Jay-Z. West took home four Grammys last year.
Many in the hip-hop and rap communities have long criticized the Recording Academy's track record with the genre. Jay-Z, Steve Stoute, Jimmy Jam and 50 Cent have all spoken at length about the Academy's seeming inability (or lack of desire) to award rap in the big, overall categories. (The Grammys have umbrella categories such as Album, Song and Record of the Year, followed by categories for each genre, like Best Rap Album.)
An in-depth look at the Grammys' rap problem is available here.
West is up for six awards at the 2013 Grammys -- tying Mumford & Sons, fun., Frank Ocean, Jay-Z and the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach for the year's most nominations.
