Kanye storms Grammys stage, rants against Beck
Four4Four: It’s 2009 and Taylor Swift all over again
Rapper Kanye West reprised his infamous stunt at Sunday night's Grammy awards, unexpectedly taking the Staples Center stage as Beck was accepting the Album of the Year award.
The singer-songwriter's win was the unquestioned shock of the night, as his "Morning Phase" album beat out both the night's top winner, Sam Smith, and the category's expected winner, Beyoncé.
Smith, however, didn't go home empty-handed. He won four Grammys, including Best New Artist and Record of the Year.
Beck, who also won Best Rock Album, seemed as surprised as the rest of the audience when he won the award and appeared to be looking around for help.
VIDEO: Watch Kanye storm the stage
That's when West popped up on stage and moved toward Beck as if he was about to take the trophy. Instead, West turned away and quickly jumped down, but not before getting laughs from Beyoncé and her husband, Jay-Z.
However, West wasn't laughing after the show, ranting that Beyoncé should have taken the gong for her self-titled album.
Appearing on the E! network's aftershow, West said, "I just know that the Grammys, if they want real artists to keep coming back, they need to stop playing with us. We ain't gonna play with them no more. And Beck needs to respect artistry and he should've given his award to Beyoncé.
"Because when you keep on diminishing art and not respecting the craft and smacking people in their face after they deliver monumental feats of music, you're disrespectful to inspiration," West continued. "And we as musicians have to inspire people who go to work every day, and they listen to that Beyoncé album and they feel like it takes them to another place."
Solidifying his place as perhaps the most laid back dude in pop music, Beck said he agreed with Kanye.
"Absolutely I thought [Beyonce] was going to win," he told reporters at an after party. Not only that, Beck then went on to lavish praise on his detractor.
"You can't please everybody. I still love him and think he's genius," Beck said of West. "I aspire to what he does. How many great records has he put out in the last five years, right?"
The incident was an echo of the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, when West accosted Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech after Swift's "You Belong With Me" beat Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" for Female Video of the Year.
"Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish," West said after taking the microphone at Radio City Music Hall, "but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!"
West was roundly criticized for his action and was even called a "jackass" by President Obama.
Recording academy president Neil Portnow said Kanye's moment was part of the excitement of a live television show.
"It's unpredictable," he said. "You don't know what's going to happen ... That turned out to be a fun moment at the end of the day."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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