Quincy Jones Clarifies Kanye West Views

Producer "Not dissing Kanye"

Quincy Jones has clarified his views on Kanye West after a number of controversial interviews.

How do you compare periods in pop music? The music world changes on a near daily basis, making today’s stars likely to end up as a curiosity in tomorrow’s ‘where are they now?’ columns.

Quincy Jones was asked about Kanye West by US Magazine and refused to take on the comparison. Let him achieve what I have, seemed to be the message, before making any comparison.

The comments raised eyebrows, and when Quincy Jones repeated the claims to Rolling Stone the producer came in for criticism. Sure, Kanye West may not have dealt with acoustic instruments, the argument went, but his singular reinvention of hip hop as a near stadium force was undoubtedly impressive.

Backtracking slightly, Quincy Jones has released a statement on his website to clarify his views. “I’d appreciate it if people didn’t take my comments about Kanye West or anyone else for that matter out of context to contrive a story” he said.

“I have nothing but respect for my little brother Kanye and what he has achieved in his young career and I look forward to watching his evolution as an artist. There is a reason why we put him on the new We Are The World 25 for Haiti – he’s a great rapper” the revered producer explained.

“But having been in the music business for more than 60 years and having been fortunate to accomplish what I have over that time, it’s not unreasonable to put a comparison of Kanye at this time in his career and myself into the proper perspective. This is not dissing Kanye, this is simply trying to express that I’m not a rapper! I don’t need to take anyone else’s props away from them. Let’s all just try and keep the record straight.”

Read the entire statement HERE.

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