Bob Ezrin is a Canadian-born music producer, widely renowned in the industry for the vast array of works he has contributed to since the '70s. He's also known for his endeavors in philanthropy, having co-founded a music production school in Canada, and using music to start charities for disaster-affected areas like Haiti and New Orleans. In addition, you'll find his name in the liner notes on a variety of albums including the CD/DVD for Taylor Swift's "Speak Now World Tour" (2011), Phish's "Fuego" (2014), KISS's "Destroyer" (1976), Nine Inch Nails' "The Fragile" (1999), Thirty Seconds to Mars self-titled release (2002) and most notably, Pink Floyd's "The Wall" (1979), just to name a few.

In case I'm not getting through here -- the man has had an extensive career in music production and has worked with such a variety of innovative talent as well as contributed a lot to helping people in need. While many people recognize the bands themselves, the public seldom praises the producer, "the man behind the curtain", who makes all the magic happen. So If you have any friends who do Production/Tech, now is the time to give them a hug.

At this point you're probably beginning to wonder, "Ok, so why is this guy a big deal? How is this related to Kanye West?" -- Kanye West would probably reply with, "How is this not related to me?"

Because there's a very good reason why these two are being talked about.

On February 22nd, Ezrin posted an opinion piece to The Lefsetz Letter, a music industry blog where producers and those who work in the industry can weigh in on issues in the world of music, like the recent court case that sadly hasn't allowed Kesha to terminate her contract with Dr. Luke.

Ezrin wrote a scathing article about his feelings regarding Kanye West's popularity and the way the media seems to perpetuate his fame after The New York Times' Jon Caramanica whipped up a review praising Kanye releasing what he himself deemed to be "the best album of all time", without it even being finished, and publicly editing it while touring to promote its release.

"Kanye in the NYT? WTF???

I feel like opening with “What kind of crazy, fucked up world is it where this guy is considered to be culturally important!!???” But that’s your line.

Sure, he made some great music for himself and others. But in spite of what the aspirationally-cool media keeps saying about him, unlike other creators in his genre like Jay-Z, Tupac, Biggie or even M.C. Hammer for that matter, it’s unlikely that we’ll be quoting too many of Kanye’s songs 20 years from now. He didn’t open up new avenues of public discourse like NWA, or introduce the world to a new art form like Grandmaster Flash, or even meaningfully and memorably address social issues through his music like Marshall, Macklemore and Kendrick. In my opinion, his productions are his best work – and I admit I’m jealous of several of them – but I don’t think he’s on quite the same level as Timbaland and Rick Rubin among several others. His songwriting – meaning the stuff with melodies – is sophomoric at best. I was embarrassed for Sir Paul – one of the greatest Artists of our era – by their collaboration, though it was pointed out to me that this got him his highest chart position in decades. So I guess he didn’t mind. But I kind of did!

Instead Kanye’s greatest achievements have been in the form of excessive behavior, egomaniacal tantrums and tasteless grandstanding. What he is a true artist at is living his life out loud – and shoving it down the throats of the rest of us whether we give a shit or not. He’s like that flasher who interrupts a critical game by running naked across the field. Is that art??? Maybe it is. Maybe as Caramanica says, life as “an unending data stream” is a new art form. But should it be, honestly? Hell, Forbes named this guy one of the 100 most influential people IN THE WORLD in 2005 and 2015!! Seriously??? Influencing WHAT exactly?

In the review of the endless new album, Caramanica wonders if “being slightly finished is the new finished.” And that just makes my blood boil. The great musicians, writers, poets, rappers, performers, dancers, players, conductors, directors and producers work all their lives for that one moment of complete perfection – that one brilliant performance, that one perfect song, that one enduring and life-altering work. 10,000 hours is peanuts in comparison to the real amount of time spent by true artists in their lifelong pursuit of excellence. But no one else that I have seen is this happy to have the audience watching all along the way. They are working to the culmination of something; to the exquisite feeling of completion that comes from working and reworking until that moment when their creation, or their performance, is as good as it could possibly be. This guy is just feeding the media machine and I’m not even certain to what end. Maybe he JUST needs the attention, like that flasher, and isn’t happy unless he’s the center of it.

What galls me the most though is the thought that he and others – especially the media – might actually BELIEVE that he’s an artist. With a capital “A.” That what he’s doing is of any real consequence besides for the sheer train wreck gawker value of it.

I don’t even know why I’m so angry about this. Except maybe I lament for a world where being truly, world-shakingly excellent at anything – at least in the field of popular music if not elsewhere – is no longer absolutely necessary. You can be a star today just by creating a public life that people pay attention to. That’s it. All you have to do is be interesting or likable or shocking enough and you can have your 15 minutes of fame…even if that means that no one will remember you or what you’ve done in just a few years. Line ‘em up. How many “popular artists” have come and gone in just the last decades. In my mind (which is a pretty busy as often too judgmental place, I will admit) real artists make stuff that changes the world and LASTS.

I haven’t heard it yet. Is that what The Life of Pablo is? If so, then I take it all back.

I just needed to rant to someone.

Cheers,

B"

Kanye's publicizing of an unfinished product and editing it as he goes along could be seen as the equivalent of mocking the process every other artist uses -- write, revise, write, revise, write, revise, until the moment of finality when you then decide to publish.

Contrarily, Caramanica ends his review by saying, "Thanks to Mr. West’s living, breathing creative process, the album is no longer just a snapshot, but an unending data stream." His praise of Kanye's disregard for the conventional creative process seems like a smack in the face to a veteran of the music industry.

Being that we live in the technological age, this doesn't seem like a convention that wouldn't have occurred at some point, but it definitely goes against the creative process we seem to have been following for as long as music's been around. From a personal standpoint I really have to agree with Ezrin here, as I find there's a certain level of integrity you need to have in your work. Releasing a demo is one thing, but releasing unfinished tracks under the guise of a finished project, and then openly editing them and releasing different versions unto the public just seems totally unprofessional and even sloppy. To me it doesn't at all seem to innovate or inspire in ways comparable to Jay-Z, N.W.A., Grandmaster Flash, Public Enemy, or even Kendrick Lamar and Macklemore.

There definitely are some perks to having "The Life of Pablo" being this "unending data stream", where it keeps getting revised and edited and the public can follow Kanye through the process, but that doesn't go far in terms of "artistic value", as it just seems to stroke Kanye's enormous ego to no end; and again -- I'm an old school kinda guy -- so as Ezrin expressed, every artist strives for that moment of total glory when you're able to release the final, finished product that you've spent hours pouring your heart and soul into. No one's ever been happy having the public witness the toil and strife that comes with the writing portion of the creative process, because that's when you pour out all the demons and pain that makes the final product whole.

Kanye's hastiness to release something that's not finished and continuing to work as the masses watch may prove to create a legacy for him, but at what cost? Is it truly something "progressive" or "innovative"? Or does it just present Mr. West as an unprofessional jerk?

You may be wondering why I threw in "jerk", and you'll soon see why...

Kanye was quick to lash out against Ezrin on Twitter only two days later, even bringing Ezrin's family into things.

Kanye's other Tweets included,

"Your kids are ashamed of their dad... Sorry for speaking about kids... but could you imagine if you were Bob Ezrin's kids... I'm so sorry for them... I will send them free Yeezys to make up for the embarrassment that you have caused your family!"

"Bro you said Macklemore was more important musically than me... no offense to Macklemore, he's a nice human being!"

"Bob please never speak in public again... you are everything that is wrong with the old guard... It's guys like you that run companies and don't invest in Ye even if I'm your kid's idol!!!"

"Ezrin I truly feel sorry for your friends and family that they have had to suffer an idiot like you for so many years... God bless the fools... all positive vibes!"

Sticks and stones, Mr. West... Sticks and stones...

Ezrin's daughter, Sarah, was brave enough to respond to Kanye's nasty tweets with a message of peace.

Relating to a topic brought up in my piece last week regarding Phil Anselmo (ex-Pantera, Down) and his "white power" incident, artists carry a lot of weight in their communities because so many people follow them. Kanye is certainly no stranger to lashing out against others and going off on extravagant and ego-fueled rants, but it very strongly begs the question of "Why is he famous if not as an "artist"?"

If you're someone like myself, who doesn't exactly enjoy Kanye's music, but still recognizes his power in the music industry, it's interesting to ponder how Kanye garners such a following even though he proves time and time again that he's basically a giant pain in the ass, similar to his wife's family and the way they've conducted themselves in the public eye for years now. Why does the media continue to shove these people in our faces, and why do we care about them so deeply? These are some big questions that I myself can't find the answers to, and might move on to the great mosh pit in the sky before I ever do.

By the way -- I'm expecting ninjas to pop in through my window right about now and practically sentence me to death for talking poorly about the people everyone seems to idolize for doing absolutely nothing. But that's just my opinion, you may love Kanye and the Kardashians, and you're entitled to liking what you like, but my shtick here is that I want you to start considering why you love these people so much, when they've contributed nothing to society. Kanye's been in the Hip-Hop game for a while, but how much of his legacy is really his music? How much of it is just his public reputation? -- Consider Justin Bieber as the antithesis to Kanye. Biebs had some rough teen years, stirring up trouble and singing Pop tunes for adolescent girls, but now he's dropping songs that even I love and he's actively trying to be a more responsible adult. Meanwhile Kanye has two kids, is $53 Mil in debt, and is throwing public temper tantrums on Saturday Night Live.

You also may be thinking I'm just up here on my high horse and my soapbox preaching nonsense because I don't like Kanye's music. Well if that's what you want to tell yourself -- go ahead. Close this article and go back to scrolling through Facebook. But Metal has its own share of jerks and people who aren't exactly loved for their opinions. We've got Gene Simmons, Axl Rose, Kerry King, Dave Mustaine, Phil Anselmo, and the list goes on, and I'd be happy to criticize them too if they deserved it half as much as Kanye seems to want it. I'm just doling out my opinions where they seem to be needed.

But now I've just gone off on a terrible tangent -- and you're welcome.

Bringing things back to the topic at hand, does "The Life of Pablo" really present some kind of innovation with it's "unfinished but released" style, or does it just say that Kanye is too hasty to put out albums because they get him more attention and he's an incredible narcissist?

I mean, imagine if other artists started doing this. -- Imagine if all artists starting doing this.

We may as well be with them when they sit on the toilet writing lyrics on their phones. Or, rather, the people of 17th century may as well have watched Beethoven compose Symphony No. 5 while he was on the can.

That just sort of takes all the suspense and excitement out of waiting for the finished album. I've got about six or seven albums I'm waiting to see released in the spring. Seeing 15 seconds of a riff on Instagram every week is enough to hold me over, but I wouldn't want a whole demo version of the album way before it's supposed to be done. I saw maybe a week ago that Gojira have finished recording for their new album and it's currently being mixed and mastered. That has me on the edge of my seat because I know that now, when it comes out, every single aspect of that album is going to be something the artist is pleased with and I'm going to love as well.

If they decided to put out a bunch of demos that weren't mixed, and sounded awful, they probably wouldn't be too happy about that. The only reason you would do that is to gain some attention. Which is what the industry thrives on, sadly enough. As you can plainly see with the Grammy Awards, it's all about how popular an artist is, and how much money they generate, not what people thought of the work itself. The music industry has lost its sense of integrity and artists taking responsibility for their own work and their actions in public.

It feels like a lot of musicians nowadays aren't even "musicians", but rather all reality stars. All we seem to care about is what food they ate yesterday, what they order at Starbucks, what kind of car they drive and who they ran over the other day. It's not even about what they write and who they are as an artist, and social media may be to blame for that. Are we too involved in the lives of our favorite artists? Is it too easy for them to address their fans? It's quite possible that artists don't realize how their public presence affects their careers, as well as influences their following.

Maybe Yeezy really is just under too much stress between his "new album", his clothing line, and his tour, and maybe he isn't cut out to handle the stress of a modern musician. Then what does he have to fall back on, with his massive debt? If anything, over the course of writing this article, I've come to realize that I'm no longer upset with Kanye for his constant attention-grabbing outbursts, but actually, I kinda feel bad for him. The media's coverage of him may be helping and at the same time hurting the situation, which really does call into question social media's role in music.

So with all of these ideas in mind, again -- please think about the target questions here. Who's really in the wrong? -- The man who produced albums people still listen to almost 50 years later, or the man who puts out an album that he hasn't finished working on? Why are certain people famous? What role does the media play in how much attention we give them? How does social media affect artists?

We may live in an age where technology makes our lives easier, but have we already reached a point where it dictates how we percieve the world?