Culture

Kanye West Will Never Be Elvis Presley

by Jarrett Martineau | November 28, 2008 at 09:25 am

371 views | 2 Recommendations | 4 comments

If Elvis were alive today, would he be snatching mics and awards out of other peoples' hands, blogging about his latest sequined stage outfit, or recording albums with every vocal filtered through a vocoder? No, he wouldn't.

Somebody call me once Kanye West has taken over Celine Dion's permanent Las Vegas show. Then we can start talking about Elvis comparisons.

But despite his delusions of grandeur, the fact remains that Kanye will never be The King.

As you may have heard, Kanye West announced at the American Music Awards that he wants to be the next Elvis. Then West had to take it even further.

"When I said the statement, 'I want to be Elvis,' I really should have thought that out more because that statement was actually really incorrect," West told E! News' Ryan Seacrest Tuesday. "Actually, the true statement was 'I want to be better than Elvis.' "

So does West have what it takes to get anywhere near Elvis' stratosphere? We talked to some industry insiders to find out...

"Kanye is one of the biggest hip-hop stars in the world right now," says Emil Wilbekin, editor-in-chief of urban lifestyle magazine Giant. "But I do believe he has delusions of grandeur."

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Concerned (not verified)

at 10:27 on November 28th, 2008

Elvis stole just about every piece of good music he ever sang from people of color. He was not original and he plain out sucked. Elvis was never Rock and Roll. Rock and Roll was being played in jook joints in the inner cities of America long before white people ever knew what it was. This is all empirical fact, not fiction like Elvis.

fax (not verified)

at 10:10 on December 1st, 2008

Better check your facts.

Blanket statements like this always make you look stupid.

Blue Crush

at 18:08 on November 28th, 2008

Normal 0 Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt. - Abraham Lincoln

Carlos Campos (not verified)

at 13:40 on July 21st, 2009

Why do Blacks always say that Elvis and White people stole music from black people? could it be that Elvis, as well as Whites, were greatly influenced by Black musicians? (Elvis always statated this fact), he just raised that the level by bringing Country-Western music into Rock & Roll.

Can some one imagine the uproar that the Black community would have if Whites were to say that basketball was stolen by Blacks?........Well I guess you can be racist and bigot so long as you're Black......by the way I'm Mexican not White.