Kanye West Says Taylor Swift Wanted Him to Crash Grammys Stage
“This is the irony in my life," West said.
— -- Kanye West’s 2015 Grammys moment -- where he walked on stage after Beck won Album of the Year -- was immediately compared to his 2009 Taylor Swift interruption at the MTV VMAs.
But this time, West decided not to interrupt and walked back down. At the time when everyone thought West was joking, he said everyone loved it and was smiling and laughing when he got back to his seat, even Swift herself.
“Taylor Swift came up to me right afterwards, like literally afterwards and tells me I should have went on stage,” he told Ryan Seacrest today on his radio show. “This is the irony in my life.”
West ,37, said Swift, 25, actually wants to record with him now and that what's in the past is in the past.
"She wants to get in the studio and we’re definitely going to go in. Any artist with an amazing point of view, perspective, fan base, I’m down to get in the studio and work. I don’t discriminate," he said. “if I could be involved in giving people any type of energy, advice in the studio, whether you’re Beyonce, whether you’re Taylor Swift, whether you’re Jay Z, whether you’re Beck, whoever, and they can be reciprocal with that, I’d like to be involved with that.”
West said there was a great vibe after he came down from the stage but then after the show, he spoke to E! and had some harsh words about Beck’s win and the Grammys as an awards show.
"I sat there and I kind of let that [smolder] and I was asked my opinion and I was given a platform. And when given a platform, it’s very hard as we know ... but it’s very hard for Kanye West to not be very true and vocal to what he feels," he said. "You know, it’s like people take the Grammys for granted in a way because of the commercials, because a lot of the musicians are very rich and everything, but this is our Super Bowl. You know, and someone’s got to be mad that [Marshawn Lynch] didn’t get the ball."
He continued, "It’s not a black or white thing at all. It’s not me always standing up for a black artist. I feel that racism is a distraction to humanity. We are one race. We are the human race -- period."
He did follow up his remarks about Album of the Year winner Beck, calling the man whom he said should give his Grammy to Beyonce, one of the "most respected musicians in the game." He also explained that his first instinct was to mock himself and joke about what he's done in the past.
"So the voices in my head told me go and then I just walked up like halfway up the stage. You know, what I really wanted to do is just joke around about what had happened before, but I just really didn’t want to take away from Beck’s moment or the time he’s having to talk," he said. "So I just walked back down because you know, it was kind of a joke like the Grammys themselves."
About Beck, 44, West said he has all the respect in the world for the man.
"Beck is one of the nicest guys and one of the most respected musicians in the game. So, there’s nothing that I will want to do as a fellow musician to disrespect him in any way. And the weird thing is like, and I don’t feel like I have the right to take away from people’s moments, but the reality of it is — and case in point by who came up to me right afterwards -- is it’s almost like a chiropractor. You know, you just get a little crook out like, 'Wow, this crook has been there!' It’s just a little jolt of truth, right?" he added.
In fact, West said "everyone feels better after the fact, or everyone is way more famous after the fact, or everyone sells way more albums after the fact, and then Kanye just goes on being an a****** to everyone."
He also cleared up his comment that if Beck respected artistry, he should give his award to Beyonce.
"I think it came off the wrong way, and that was a mis-wording on my part because obviously Beck is one the most respected artists and respects artistry. But I felt — and this is my opinion and he’s his own man and he’s not wrong ... but I felt that even though the Grammys some times gives awards to people who you wouldn’t think should win in the category, as a respect to artists, we mention the other artist’s name in our speech. And that was the point I was making about it. There’s like many of times I gave other people my award, literally made them come up onstage. Maroon 5, when they won best new artist, [Adam Levine] mentioned me because it was the 'College Dropout' and [it had] 10 nominations and all that," he said.