Max Bickley – General Assignment Reporter
There is no man on the music industry quite like Kanye West. His name is known around the world and his music is one of the staples of the generation. Beyond the stardom and craze of his music and his fashion line, Kanye West is a family man with a loving wife and children.
However, recently Kanye has been caught in varying situations which can be dubbed nothing if not “outrageous.” One of the most notable is his storming the stage during the 2009 MTV Music Video Awards and taking the microphone from Taylor Swift to talk about his love of Beyoncé’s music videos which should have won. Kanye West has once again been put under the spotlight after his wife, Kim Kardashian, caught him and posted a picture on Instagram which showed Kanye West on infamous pirating site “Piratebay” illegally downloading his own album.
The picture shows West at his own laptop in the process of downloading his latest released album “The Life of Pablo,” and recoiling in shock to his wife taking the photo. West, who in previous years has been vocal about piracy in the music industry has been caught red-handed in the process himself.
The photo, a MCM or “man crush Monday” photo taken by people to show their affection towards the man in their life, was published on Instagram by West’s wife with the caption, “Caught my MCM downloading T.L.O.P, love this man so much LOL.” With word of this faux pas, millions have reached out to West in either laughter or confusion as to why the famed Music artist would do such a thing. West, in his defense, did so due to his circumstances financially and in part of how the album was released. The album, “The Life of Pablo”, was released exclusively on the new Tidal streaming application and can only mainly be accessed through there unless otherwise downloaded illegally.
In his defense, West stated that the reason for his actions were due to the fact that he could not find his phone which held his reserved copy of the album. While he would search for it, or be in the process of getting a new phone, he needed to listen to the album to find a “flow” for new tracks to be added.
This being the only comment by West has opened a can of worms in regards to the boundaries of acceptability of music piracy. While many have been pirating music since elementary school, the image of a celebrity pirating music has increased the traffic of sites such as “Piratebay” exponentially. At the same time, with the death of the “Leonardo DiCaprio Oscar” meme, this latest stunt by West has prompted the “Caught Kanye” meme to spread across the internet.
Though the ramifications towards West seem minimal, societal impacts on acceptance of piracy will be tested, and this seems likely to be another Kanye West moment which many will fail to forget.
Photo Credit: Jason Persse
This article was apart of the Spoof April Fool’s Series. Story information and sources presented are fictional.