Kanye West gives good Daft Punk!!

So, I stopped watching the Video Music Awards via MTV (perhaps the most misleading moniker in TV these days..but that's a post for another time). Anyway, I stopped watching the VMA's mainly due to the fact that most of the artists that are performing are not my cup of tea. But I happened by the show a few days ago, just in time to catch KANYE WEST's live performance of his new single, "Love Lockdown". Some thoughts about the performance and Mr. West himself:

1) It takes real guts to play a new song live on an awards show. There are a lot of things that can go wrong, so I have to applaud him for that. This was always my biggest complaint against THE CURE, who would religiously trot out "Just Like Heaven" for the umpteenth time rather than risk any sort of fan backlash.

2) You could tell the crowd wasn't feeling the song right away. There appeared (at least on TV) to be a bit of pause.

3) The song is a real change of pace for Kanye. He sings and the song has no real chorus. Two things that don't often spell hit.

4) This song is his "heat check" moment. For those who do not play basketball, a heat check is when someone who is playing especially well decides to just throw up a ridiculous shot to see just how hot they are. No matter how crazy or insane the shot, if one is hot it always goes in. This song is an experiment in how hot Kanye is. If it's a hit, then he might just release a polka single next.

5) My main point of this mini rant is this: How come no one is calling Kanye out for cribbing from DAFT PUNK? It was one thing to lift a sample for his hit "Stronger" (a song I actually like quite a bit), but now he's just writing songs that sound as if they were already created by the French techno band. Really, one of the remixes I heard sounds like it leapt right out of the setlist for DAFT PUNK'S last live disc. How come people will buy millions of copies of this, but will ignore the DAFT PUNK catalogue?

The truth is I actually like this song (and a few others of his as well). It pushes the boundaries of what most pop music is today and I am all for pushing boundaries. But kids, do yourself a favor and check out the Daft Punk song I'm posting here for your pleasure. Who knows, Kanye may decide to make this one his next single.

(mp3) Kanye West -- Love Lockdown (Chew Fu Small Room Remix) (Courtesy of The World Forgot)

(mp3) Daft Punk -- Television Rules The Nation / Crescendolls (Live)