Add another name to Kanye West’s growing list of feuds: Bob Ezrin.
Who’s Bob Ezrin, you ask? That’s what West wanted to know, too.
“Has anybody ever heard of Bob Ezrin???” he tweeted.
Well, yes. Bob Ezrin is best known as the producer of such albums as Pink Floyd’s “The Wall,” Alice Cooper’s “Billion Dollar Babies” and Kiss’ “Destroyer.” And he doesn’t think much of Kanye West.
“Sure, he made some great music for himself and others,” Ezrin wrote in an essay for the music industry blog The Lefsetz Letter. “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.”
After a few unfavorable comparisons, Ezrin added, “Kanye’s greatest achievements have been in the form of excessive behavior, egomaniacal tantrums and tasteless grandstanding.”
Ezrin’s post got a rise out of West — not to mention many others, since some attempts to access the Lefsetz Letter resulted in “connection timed out” messages Wednesday afternoon.
“Bob please never speak in public again… you are everything that is wrong with the old guard …” West said as part of his series of tweets.
Rap artist Young Platinum had some fun at West’s expense, posing as Ezrin in a series of tweets.
All this attention comes at a busy time for West. He’s gotten in a Twitter spat with Young Jeezy, offended Taylor Swift, let loose on “Saturday NIght Live,” proclaimed that he was $53 million in debt and issued multiple versions of his new album, “The Life of Pablo.”
His public outbursts have become as much a focus as his music, though at least one person believes it’s all as calculated as the activities of his in-laws, the Kardashians.
“You can’t be wrong that many times in a row unless you’re working at it,” Dr. Phil told James Corden on Corden’s talk show Monday night. “He just gets up, says something and so here we are talking about it, so it’s working.”
Whether West’s chatter is calculated or not, there appears to be more coming down the pike. As of Wednesday afternoon, he was unhappy with the Grammys.
After noting that he disagreed with the choice of one award, he told Recording Academy head Neil Portnow to get in touch. (Portnow responded via the official Grammy account: “Let’s have that sit down.”)
And, he added, the public should get used to his tweets, dozens of which have appeared in recent weeks.
“I’m happy and free and proud and confident,” he tweeted. “I’m not crazy. I’m free.”
And, oh, yeah: He said he has a new album coming this summer.