Someone’s going to blow up Twitter with angst when he gets wind of this.
Music legend Quincy Jones summarily straight-up dissed one of the most outsized egos the entertainment industry has ever seen when asked by a magazine about his parallels with rapper Kanye West. Jones said he doesn’t think any comparison can be made between his work and that of Kanye, and that being a producer for successful hip-hop joints doesn’t approach the complexity level of arranging music for orchestral performances:
Us: Kanye West is similar to you in that he’s the producer everybody wants to work with in the last decade….
QJ: How man? No way. Did he write for a symphony orchestra? Does he write for a jazz orchestra? Come on, man. He’s just a rapper. There’s no comparison. I’m not putting him down or making a judgement or anything, but we come from two different sides of the planet. I spent 28 years learning my first skill. I don’t rap. It’s not the same thing. A producer has to have some sort of skills that enable him to be a producer. It’s totally different to know what to do with 16 woodwinds you know from piccolos down to bass clarinet. It’s a whole different mindset. No comparison. None.
Jones then said that he doesn’t even really consider West’s work much at all and lumped him in with a bunch of “good rappers,” creating what may be a double burn for Kanyeezy:
Us: What do you think of him?
QJ: I don’t think about him much. He’s a great rapper, but there are a lot of good rappers. I just did The View with Ludacris, who’s one of my favorites. He’s a beautiful human being and college educated. I joke with him and say, ‘How did ‘Move Bitch Get Out The Way’ come out of you?’ But I was raised around the Mafia when I was a kid in Chicago in the 30s. Chicago’s rough. I’m from the streets, I know what’s up!
West has yet to comment on the remarks, but when he does, it will probably be epic.
