Kanye West is to be the recipient of this year’s Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards this Sunday (August 30th).
According to a statement from MTV, ‘Ye is being honoured with the award on account of his “career-spanning groundbreaking videos, legendary VMA performances and continued impact on music, art, fashion and culture.”
Kanye West performing at Glastonbury 2015
The award is the VMAs’ equivalent of a lifetime achievement acknowledgment, and in the past has been given to artists like Michael Jackson (obviously), Madonna, David Bowie and The Beatles. 2014’s winner was Beyonce – who was presented the award by her husband Jay Z and daughter Blue Ivy – and recent winners include Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears.
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MTV’s announcement cited West’s “years of releasing groundbreaking music and accompanying videos that have always pushed the envelope. From ‘Through The Wire,’ to ‘Runaway’ and ‘Bound 2’, his creative depths have never ceased to amaze us, and some could argue that his videos are complete masterpieces in their own right.”
Kanye has performed seven times at the VMAs over the years, including a 2004 medley of ‘Jesus Walks / All Falls Down / Through The Wire’ – all tracks from his debut The College Dropout – a duet with Jay Z on ‘Otis’ from their collaboration album Watch The Throne, and a heart-stopping run through ‘Blood On The Leaves’ from Yeezus in 2013.
Famously, it was at the VMAs in 2009 that Kanye gave his arguably his most controversial moment, when he interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech after she had beaten Beyonce to the Best Female Video award. “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’mma let you finish, but Beyonce has one of the best videos of all time,” he said to a startled Swifty.
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