Russian Oligarchs Hate Kanye West as Much as Hippies Do
What do you get when you mix the potent trends of Russian oligarchs buying pop stars for private concerts and Kanye West getting booed? The funnest New Year's Eve story of awful 2008!
This also incorporates the overarching trends of the decline of the music business, globalization, the wavering hegemony of American pop culture, the death of hip hop, the endurance of 'Kazakhstan' as a punchline in the post-Borat age, and the comically poor taste of Russian oligarchs.
Kanye reportedly got $1.5 million to fly his whole freaking entourage out to Kazakhstan (ha!) to play a New Year's Eve show for 25 (dang!) oligarchs. He was opening (burn!) for a "Russian dance band called Fast Food." Ha, okay, go Russia!:
After flying in on his private jet with a twelve-man posse, the rapper-producer was onstage for a total of 15 minutes. And this was already too long for the wealthy Kazakh partygoers, who didn’t seem to “get” Kanye’s music, and responded with meager applause.
But don’t take it from us. Here’s Fast Food member Raya Ratatouille:
“When Kanye was performing, a deathly silence filled the hall. From the bored faces of the rich people, it was clear Kanye West was not hitting the right note with them, plain and simple.”
