“I’ll go out and meet with everyone in San Fran and they’ll dis the f-ck outta me!”
— Kanye West, Feb. 11, 2016
Oooooohhhhhhh you don’t know the half of it, Kanye.
I mean, sure, any grand premiere by you is sure to leave viewers shellshocked by inanity — so much that whatever tatters of your once-thriving musical genius remain are, like, buried completely. But today’s Yeezy Season 3 at Madison Square Garden, debuting a new collection of torn sweaters and an aggressively mediocre new album, called — I’m serious — The Life of Pablo?! I know you love your outsized id on majestic display, but come on, how much more scattered, crass, hypocritical and exhausting can you get from here?
![A model wearing Kanye West's new collection at Yeezy Season 3, Madison Square Garden, Feb. 11, 2016.](http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/02/KanyeFashion1-800x555.jpg)
Look, you’ve got 20,000 paid fans in the building. You’re livestreaming all over the world. You’ve got dozens of models dressed in your burlap whatever-the-hell-it-is. ALL THESE PEOPLE ARE PUTTING IN TIME AND SWEAT AND ADHERING TO YOUR DEMANDS. And you waltz in the room playing second fiddle to a pile of tittering cotton balls and a scripted Made-for-TV-E!-Online-TMZ-Perez-Hilton-Every-Stupid-Tabloid-Ever moment walking Lamar Odom up to his seat with Khloe? And you open a laptop to play an album that seems like it was finished 10 minutes before showtime? You rehearse nothing, because hey, I’M KANYE, I JUST GO FOR IT?
This wouldn’t hurt so much if it weren’t for your past glories. Your most recent was your most glorious. Even your lack of filter was once a great thing. You issued uncensored the thoughts that most of us were too scared to say; you said things we found especially refreshing for a celebrity to say. But “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” eventually gave way to “I made it so we could wear tight jeans” which gave way to, a-f’ing-hem, “BILL COSBY INNOCENT !!!!!” And you’re calling this a gospel album.