Skip To Content
logo/forward/small
Open Search Field
Get our NewslettersShop our Store
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Support Our WorkSupport Us
The Schmooze

Kanye West Aims Twitter Rant at Jewish Producer

Image by Getty Images

By Maia Efrem February 24, 2016

Kanye has officially out-Kanyed himself.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that have gotten progressively unhinged. Over the last month, the rapper has asked Mark Zuckerberg for a billion dollar bailout, attacked former frenemy Taylor Swift and engaged in much criticized slut-shaming of his ex-girlfriend.

His latest victim is Canadian Jewish producer and musician Bob Ezrin.

Ezrin, who is best known for working with bands like Pink Floyd, Kiss and Lou Reed, wrote a scathing review of West’s new album “The Life of Pablo” in Bob Leftsetz’s newsletter. “Unlike other creators in his genre like Jay-Z, Tupac, Biggie or even M.C. Hammer for that matter, it’s unlikely that we’ll be quoting too many of Kanye’s songs 20 years from now,” Ezrin wrote. “He didn’t open up new avenues of public discourse like NWA, or introduce the world to a new art form like Grandmaster Flash, or even meaningfully and memorably address social issues through his music like Marshall, Macklemore and Kendrick.”

West did not take kindly to the review and went on an epic Twitter tirade on Tuesday night, making Bob Ezrin the most Googled name on the Internet.

West fans took to Ezrin’s Wikipedia page, updating it with some offensive and some just ridiculous fake Ezrin facts. As of this writing, the page was back to normal.

West’s trigger-happy Tweets came mere hours after he premiered his new song “Closest Thing to Einstein,” where he dubs himself this generation’s Albert Einstein. Sure, why not? You’ve already alluded to being our savior.

Who knows how deep this rabbit hole of ridiculousness West will go, but he summed himself up perfectly on Wednesday:


Yes, and that’s the problem.

Maia Efrem is the former research editor and assistant to the editor and was also responsible for the Forward’s annual Salary Survey. Previously she served as the editor of Blognik Beat, a blog written by students who emigrated from or have ties to the Former Soviet Union. Maia is a graduate of Hunter College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500
$120 $180 Other amount

Dive In

Explore

Most Popular

In Case You Missed It

Engage

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

Kanye West Aims Twitter Rant at Jewish Producer

Copied to clipboard
Copied to clipboard

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version