“Kanye, you are not…not the greatest living rockstar of all time,” says a far from frightening (without gory mask) Corey Taylor of Slipknot fame, presumably not intending the double negative. The heavy metal head, who was the front man of the once shocking band, goes on to say, “The fact that you had to tell people that, kinda says it all. You remind me of the guy who brags about pussy. They never get as much as they brag about. Stop it ![slaps own hand] Stop it!”
Whilst Kanye might not be the greatest living rockstar, Taylor seems to be missing the point. Firstly, Yeezy is here to brag, be it on radio shows, in magazine interviews, on Twitter or on the main stage at Glastonbury. It’s part of the brand, the charm, the relentless need to prove himself. And secondly, the rant recalls Noel Gallagher’s fuddy-duddy criticism of Glastonbury for booking Jay-Z back in 2008 because he wasn’t “rock’n’roll” enough. Kanye’s comments clearly don’t reference rock in the literal sense, but rockstar as superstar, regardless of guitar chords. We thought we’d moved on, but looks like Slipknot haven’t.