Kanye West Bashes Thom Yorke, Defends Chris Brown

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Man, Kanye West's episode of VH1's "Storytellers" is going to be so awesome. When you combine this guy's passion for eye-popping stagecraft with his tendency to say insane things, you end up with some real appointment viewing. We've already seen the version of "Stronger" that'll air, and it wrecks. And we still have high hopes, even though Reuters has reported on some amazing stuff that won't make it to the air. According to Reuters, VH1 has cut a couple of classic Kanye tirades: One dissing Radiohead and another defending Chris Brown. (Via Stereogum.)

One of Kanye's anecdotes concerned Thom Yorke, who West loves. As a Radiohead fan, West puts half the Pitchfork staff to shame. On the mixtape track "Us Placers", Kanye, alongside Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell, rapped over a sample of Yorke's solo track "The Eraser". And when he talked to The Fader last fall, Kanye described the sound of "Love Lockdown" as "Thom Yorke in the strip club," a truly hilarious image. But according to Reuters, "West was aggrieved that Radiohead singer Thom Yorke had allegedly snubbed him backstage at the Grammys five days earlier. That hurt, West told the audience, because he idolizes the British band, and considers it one of his few creative rivals." Kanye told the "Storytellers" crowd, "So when he performed at the Grammys, I sat the fuck down."

Another of West's rants revolved around the subject of publicly maligned celebrities, most notably newly minted public pariah Chris Brown: "Can't we give Chris a break? ... I know I make mistakes in life." Um, right.

Also, on O.J. Simpson: "O.J. Simpson, amazing. Is he not? What he did, when he did, what he did. Was he not amazing though?"

And on Michael Jackson and Michael Phelps, the latter of whom probably isn't thrilled at being included in this company: "Michael Jackson, amazing. Michael Phelps, amazing ... He's a real fuckin' person; he makes mistakes."

Incredible. According to Reuters, VH1 has actually left that second rant relatively intact, even if the network has "cleaned up those comments a bit."

Kanye taped his "Storytellers" episode on February 13, and it'll air on Saturday, February 28. I cannot wait.

• Video: Kanye West: Stronger [live on VH1's "Storytellers"]