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The Schmooze

Kanye West Aims Twitter Rant at Jewish Producer

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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.

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Kanye West Aims Twitter Rant at Jewish Producer

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