The Ethnography Of Communication Kanye Analysis
Tierney McDonald
Michaela Winchatz
INTC 333
27 February 2015
The Ethnography of Communication:
Kanye Interrupting Beck Through a Social Drama Lens
By definition, a social drama is “a moment (or series of moments) in a community when someone is called publicly to account for his or her violation of a cultural expectation. Subsequently, there is a process of response(s) to the challenge, acceptance or rejection of the response(s), and either reintegration of the transgressor or social schism” (Coutu 392). But a social drama can also provide further insight into how we communicate. For example, it is a phenomenon that provides evidence of speech codes, which in turn reveal patterns in our speech. A social drama also aids in interpreting …show more content…
and decoding events that happen on a daily basis, which in turn provides an understanding of how people speak and may even predict how they will say it. In the world of communications, identifying what type of event one is analyzing (e.g., a social drama) can “deepen this interpretation and thus make it fuller, more complete, and make the speech more meaningful” (Philipsen 53). Scholar Sally Hastings believes that a social drama is also “of great potential interest because it invites examination of both stability and change in cultural identity” (Hastings 311). And these are but a few of the reasons why studying a social drama can be highly beneficial. A recent example of a social drama happened after Kanye West jumped on stage during the 2015 Grammys. At first it was thought to be a harmless joke, a parody of an earlier social drama involving his storming of the stage at 2009 VMAs when Taylor Swift was accepting an award, also “stolen” from Beyoncé. But it soon turned into a full-blown social drama during an interview after the Grammys. Kanye West follows the pattern of a social drama through his offense, challenge, justification, and eventual reintegration and evidence of moral dissensus.
Scholar Zohar Kampf states, “social dramas begin with an act (the breach stage) that is identified as the transgression of a norm or value” (Kampf 73). Kanye West’s social drama in 2009 began unmistakably with the transgression of storming the stage to question the integrity of awarding Taylor Swift her best female vocalist award. But that did not appear to be his transgression at the 2015 Grammys. It did not seem offensive when he stormed the stage as Beck was accepting his award for album of the year, because it appeared as self-deprecating humor. The offense or breach happened after the award Grammys on the red carpet during an E! News interview. Kanye stated, “Beck needs to respect artistry and he should have given his award to Beyoncé” (addendum lines 6-7). This clearly broke the “rules of society” by questioning the nominating committee’s judgment and by not respecting the artistry of Beck himself. But it also suggested that Kanye’s earlier interruption of Beck at the award ceremony was not so innocent after all; it was indeed the original transgression once again, which violated societal the norms regarding professional accolades. This was the main offense and first step in Kanye’s 2015 social drama.
The second step of a social drama is a challenge. This is when people challenge the transgressor about “behavior that they deem to be incorrect, immoral, etc.” (Winchatz). The media was the primary source of challenge to Kanye. Beck himself didn’t respond with a challenge but instead countered with a humble acknowledgment of what was said. Beck was quoted saying, “ You can't please everybody, man. I still love [West] and think he's genius. I aspire to do what he does” (Reed). There were, however, many responses among the media. Some came to Kanye’s defense and others harbored negative feelings about what he said and did. Football player Brandon Browner tweeted “Don't be afraid of people's opinions, real music is what people want to hear” (addendum lines 60-61). He continued with another tweet saying, “If only I could've been Beck for one night. Kanye would be rapping thru the wire” (addendum lines 56-58). This is clearly a challenge to what Kanye said on the E! interview because he is threatening Kanye for his actions and calling him out for his wrong doings, even though it is aggressive. Also, almost every news source in the United States eventually released some form of an article or video talking about Kanye’s offensive interview with E! news. They were provocative, pervasive, and ultimately unqualified challenges to Kanye’s social offense.
In stage three of a social drama, there are three different forms of repair that can happen. They are an apology, a redoing, and an excuse. An apology is an “I’m sorry” (Winchatz). A redoing is “an attempt to redo the behavior that was challenged in a new, more ‘correct’ way” (Winchatz). And finally, an excuse is “providing a reason for having done the wrongdoing” (Winchatz). What all three of these forms of repair have in common is that the offending party admits that they did something wrong.
In the case of Kanye, there was never an admission of wrongdoing therefore there can be no repair. Scholar Carbaugh, stated that this phase is “crucially important, for it is in this phase, through cultural communicative forms, that attempts are made to repair the violation and bring contesting factions and interests together” (Carbaugh 159). If Kanye were to respond with some form of a repair, the outcomes of this situation may have been drastically different. Ignoring this crucial step, Kanye caused himself to receive many more negative reactions and as later discussed, evidence of moral dissensus. (Oddly, it appeared that his original act of rushing the stage was intended to be a form of repair for his 2009 transgression.) Also in stage three, there is a justification. It is very similar to an excuse in that “there is a reason given for the behavior in question,” but there is no admission of wrongdoing (Winchatz). This is the part of stage three of a social drama that Kanye chose to enact. He first started by blaming the voices in his head for his actions, stating, “You know, I felt like just the whole Grammys, right when that happened, everybody was looking at me and then people started screaming, 'Kanye! Kanye! Go do it!' And okay, that didn't really happen, these were voices in my head” in an interview with Ryan Seacrest (addendum lines 98-101). He continued by saying that “it was kinda like a joke, like the Grammys themselves” (addendum lines 111-112). This completely dismissed his actions, as if what he said didn’t really matter and no one should be upset at him for it. He then doubled down, saying, “And if the Grammys are capitalizing off the amount of views that Beyoncé gets for them. And still not laying that brick of truth and being respectful towards” (addendum lines 170-172). This is his main reason for interrupting Beck and then saying that Beck should hand his award over to Beyoncé. He was primarily upset because Beyoncé does so much for the music industry, but they aren’t dong anything for her. This is a justification because he never admitted any wrongdoing. Later in that interview, in lines 175-179, Kanye goes on praise Beck for his musical talent and says that there are no hard feelings between them. He also said that the only reason he reacted in the interview was because he was “given a platform” and that the public misunderstood what he was attempting to say. The public misunderstanding of him was his way of placing the blame on those who challenged him, not on himself. The last part of stage three in a social drama is the counterchallenge. A counterchallenge is when “person/group A turns the tables on person/group B and challenges their own behaviors” (Winchatz). This happens subtly in the case of Kanye and Beck because Kanye never directly addresses the media for responding negatively towards him. Instead, Kanye says in his interview with Seacrest, “ I don’t know exactly what the press has said because I don’t keep up with that, but at the Grammys when I did go up on stage and left off there was a really good vibe about it and everyone was laughing and smiling” (addendum lines 148-152). This shows how Kanye employs passive-aggressive means to attack those who challenged him. He pretends he didn’t even read or watch the media and feigns his belief that people are still supporting him. Through this tactic Kanye attempts to manage and manipulate the final stage of the social drama he created. He understands that he doesn’t need to blatantly put down those who challenge him given his power and status in the music world; he knows he will always be respected. This is precisely how he handled the 2009 social drama involving Taylor Swift. Kanye West “neither acknowledged the validity of the challengers’ challenge to his rule-based justification nor did he present a counterchallenge to the challengers’ counterargument to his defense” (2000 Philipsen 251). This is why one of the outcomes of this more recent social drama is like the prior outcome: reintegration into society. In the forth stage of a social drama, there are two different outcomes.
They are reintegration and evidence of moral dissenus. In Kayne’s instance both of these outcomes occurred. Reintegration is when the offender is “embraced by the community and brought back into the fold” (Winchatz). Artist John Legend posted to Instagram with his thoughts about Kanye. He stated, “First of all, Kanye is my friend. He believed in me years ago when very few did, and I wouldn't be here without his support. That doesn't mean we'll agree on everything, but it does mean that I am grateful to him” (addendum lines 64-67). John Legend says that he will always like Kanye even if he disagrees with his statements. He goes on to say, “These voters are all creators who love music and have dedicated their lives to it, and the plurality of them chose Beck as the Album of the Year. I respect their decision and congratulate Beck on this outstanding accomplishment” (addendum lines 85-88). This is an example on how Kanye was reintegrated into the music community. Even though people disagreed with him he again became welcomed and respected. In addition, many people agreed with Kanye because they thought the national voting committee ‘could be’ racist. Journalist Mercy Soriano states that, “there appears to be a trend in the Grammy's of black artists, who are expected to win awards, who find themselves losing to white artists, who are also surprised that they won”
(Soriano). On the other hand, there is also evidence of continuing moral dissensus with regard to his behavior. The social drama happened just this past month, and its effects are still being played out. Recently, there have been rumors that Beyoncé is angered by Kanye’s uncontrolled outburst and doesn’t want to be associated with it. Besides that, there are a large number of Beck fans that will not be accepting of Kanye’s conduct any time soon. A company called PNYC in New York was so angered by Kanye, that they hung up big letters spelling the word “BECK” in the windows of their office space. The office space looked onto a venue where Kanye was preforming a free concert. The owners of the company were quoted as saying, “don’t f— with Beck” (New York Post). An article was also published in the Los Angeles Times about how Kanye’s actions were indecorous. Author Randall Roberts stated, “West was mistaken, but not because Beck’s “Morning Phase” is demonstrably better than Beyoncé’s “Beyoncé.” Rather, West directed his rage at Beck when he should have called out the Recording Academy” (Randall). Many people find Kanye’s repetition of the same social drama to be unprofessional and misdirected. Kanye West’s offense at the 2015 Grammys was highly aggressive and rude to Beck and his artistry, crossing social boundaries that surround professional recognition. What may have started out as a form of repair for his nearly identical 2009 transgression ultimately transformed into a new social drama that became more serious in its repetition. This was then challenged by many famous people, media, and news sources, which provoked a response. Kanye responded with a justification of why he said on live TV that Beck should give his award to Beyoncé. He said that voices in his head told him to and that he thinks our capitalistic society is talking advantage of Beyoncé. During his justification he was very clear in saying that he didn’t think Beck is a bad artist and that it’s not that Beck didn’t deserve the award; it’s just that Beyoncé deserved it more. Though Kanye’s outcome is still changing daily since the event is so recent, there currently is both reintegration and evidence of moral dissensus. Kanye is being accepted back to the music community while at the same time being shamed and lampooned by prominent media for his aggressive and unnecessary outburst.
If there were more time to analyze this unfolding social drama, it would be interesting to look at the effect of Kanye’s power and status on his ability to be reintegrated into society a second time without any form of repair. Most social dramas need the transgressor to admit wrongdoing for them to be reintegrated completely. Scholar Hastings states that, “The use of social drama is a means for making sure that cultural changes occurring do not proceed unchecked and that some sense of cultural order is maintained” (Hastings 332). The social drama lens helps us understand why an event escalates into confrontation and what communicative processes are most likely to resolve it.
Works cited:
Carbaugh, D. Situating selves: The communication of social identities in American scenes. Albany: State University of New York Press. (1996). Print.
Coutu, Lisa M. Contested Social Identity and Communication in Text and Talk About the Vietnam War, Research on Language and Social Interaction. 41:4. (2008): 387-407. Print.
Hastings, Sally O. Social Drama as a Site for the Communal Construction and Management of Asian Indian "Stranger" Identity, Research on Language and Social Interaction, 34:3. (2001): 309-335. Print.
Kanye West Disses Beck, 2015 Grammy Awards and Defends True Artists. Perf. TheAMPNetwork. YouTube, 2015. Film.
"Kanye Explains Grammy Controversy, Reveals Plans to Record With Taylor Swift." Ryan Seacrest. 11 Feb. 2015. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.
Kamph, Zohar. “Journalists as Actors in Social Dramas of Apology.” Journalism 12.1 (2011): 71-87. Communication Abstract. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
Legend, John. "John on Instagram:." Instagram. Web. 25 Feb. 2015. <https://instagram.com/p/y8GYsvESov/>.
Philipsen Gerry. Permission to Speak the Discourse of Difference: A Case Study, Research on Language and Social Interaction. 33:2. (2000): 213-234. Print.
Philipsen, Gerry. Speaking Culturally: Explorations in Social Communication. New York: SUNY Albany Press, 1992.
Reed, Ryan. "Beck Responds to Kanye Grammy Diss: 'I Thought Beyonce Was Going to Win'"Rolling Stones 9 Feb. 2015. Web.
Roberts, Randall. "Kanye West Hit Wrong Note in Latest Grammy Diatribe." LA Times 10 Feb. 2015. Web.
Sieczkowski, Cevan. "Patriots Player Brandon Browner Slams Kanye West For Grammys Stunt." The Huffington Post 11 Feb. 2015. Web.
Soriano, Mercy. "Kanye West on Beck and Beyonce for Grammy Award Win: Did West Raise a Valid Point?" The Christian Times 22 Feb. 2015. Web.
Steinbuch, Yaron. "Kanye’s Free NYC Concert Gets ‘BECK’d’." New York Post 13 Feb. 2015. Web.
Whoopi Goldberg Reacts to Kanye West Questioning Beck's Grammy. Perf. The View on ABC. YouTube, 2015. Film.
Winchatz, Michaela. "Social Drama." INTC333. Arts and Letters 306, Chicago. Lecture.
Michaela Winchatz
INTC 333
27 February 2015
The Ethnography of Communication:
Kanye Interrupting Beck Through a Social Drama Lens
By definition, a social drama is “a moment (or series of moments) in a community when someone is called publicly to account for his or her violation of a cultural expectation. Subsequently, there is a process of response(s) to the challenge, acceptance or rejection of the response(s), and either reintegration of the transgressor or social schism” (Coutu 392). But a social drama can also provide further insight into how we communicate. For example, it is a phenomenon that provides evidence of speech codes, which in turn reveal patterns in our speech. A social drama also aids in interpreting …show more content…
and decoding events that happen on a daily basis, which in turn provides an understanding of how people speak and may even predict how they will say it. In the world of communications, identifying what type of event one is analyzing (e.g., a social drama) can “deepen this interpretation and thus make it fuller, more complete, and make the speech more meaningful” (Philipsen 53). Scholar Sally Hastings believes that a social drama is also “of great potential interest because it invites examination of both stability and change in cultural identity” (Hastings 311). And these are but a few of the reasons why studying a social drama can be highly beneficial. A recent example of a social drama happened after Kanye West jumped on stage during the 2015 Grammys. At first it was thought to be a harmless joke, a parody of an earlier social drama involving his storming of the stage at 2009 VMAs when Taylor Swift was accepting an award, also “stolen” from Beyoncé. But it soon turned into a full-blown social drama during an interview after the Grammys. Kanye West follows the pattern of a social drama through his offense, challenge, justification, and eventual reintegration and evidence of moral dissensus.
Scholar Zohar Kampf states, “social dramas begin with an act (the breach stage) that is identified as the transgression of a norm or value” (Kampf 73). Kanye West’s social drama in 2009 began unmistakably with the transgression of storming the stage to question the integrity of awarding Taylor Swift her best female vocalist award. But that did not appear to be his transgression at the 2015 Grammys. It did not seem offensive when he stormed the stage as Beck was accepting his award for album of the year, because it appeared as self-deprecating humor. The offense or breach happened after the award Grammys on the red carpet during an E! News interview. Kanye stated, “Beck needs to respect artistry and he should have given his award to Beyoncé” (addendum lines 6-7). This clearly broke the “rules of society” by questioning the nominating committee’s judgment and by not respecting the artistry of Beck himself. But it also suggested that Kanye’s earlier interruption of Beck at the award ceremony was not so innocent after all; it was indeed the original transgression once again, which violated societal the norms regarding professional accolades. This was the main offense and first step in Kanye’s 2015 social drama.
The second step of a social drama is a challenge. This is when people challenge the transgressor about “behavior that they deem to be incorrect, immoral, etc.” (Winchatz). The media was the primary source of challenge to Kanye. Beck himself didn’t respond with a challenge but instead countered with a humble acknowledgment of what was said. Beck was quoted saying, “ You can't please everybody, man. I still love [West] and think he's genius. I aspire to do what he does” (Reed). There were, however, many responses among the media. Some came to Kanye’s defense and others harbored negative feelings about what he said and did. Football player Brandon Browner tweeted “Don't be afraid of people's opinions, real music is what people want to hear” (addendum lines 60-61). He continued with another tweet saying, “If only I could've been Beck for one night. Kanye would be rapping thru the wire” (addendum lines 56-58). This is clearly a challenge to what Kanye said on the E! interview because he is threatening Kanye for his actions and calling him out for his wrong doings, even though it is aggressive. Also, almost every news source in the United States eventually released some form of an article or video talking about Kanye’s offensive interview with E! news. They were provocative, pervasive, and ultimately unqualified challenges to Kanye’s social offense.
In stage three of a social drama, there are three different forms of repair that can happen. They are an apology, a redoing, and an excuse. An apology is an “I’m sorry” (Winchatz). A redoing is “an attempt to redo the behavior that was challenged in a new, more ‘correct’ way” (Winchatz). And finally, an excuse is “providing a reason for having done the wrongdoing” (Winchatz). What all three of these forms of repair have in common is that the offending party admits that they did something wrong.
In the case of Kanye, there was never an admission of wrongdoing therefore there can be no repair. Scholar Carbaugh, stated that this phase is “crucially important, for it is in this phase, through cultural communicative forms, that attempts are made to repair the violation and bring contesting factions and interests together” (Carbaugh 159). If Kanye were to respond with some form of a repair, the outcomes of this situation may have been drastically different. Ignoring this crucial step, Kanye caused himself to receive many more negative reactions and as later discussed, evidence of moral dissensus. (Oddly, it appeared that his original act of rushing the stage was intended to be a form of repair for his 2009 transgression.) Also in stage three, there is a justification. It is very similar to an excuse in that “there is a reason given for the behavior in question,” but there is no admission of wrongdoing (Winchatz). This is the part of stage three of a social drama that Kanye chose to enact. He first started by blaming the voices in his head for his actions, stating, “You know, I felt like just the whole Grammys, right when that happened, everybody was looking at me and then people started screaming, 'Kanye! Kanye! Go do it!' And okay, that didn't really happen, these were voices in my head” in an interview with Ryan Seacrest (addendum lines 98-101). He continued by saying that “it was kinda like a joke, like the Grammys themselves” (addendum lines 111-112). This completely dismissed his actions, as if what he said didn’t really matter and no one should be upset at him for it. He then doubled down, saying, “And if the Grammys are capitalizing off the amount of views that Beyoncé gets for them. And still not laying that brick of truth and being respectful towards” (addendum lines 170-172). This is his main reason for interrupting Beck and then saying that Beck should hand his award over to Beyoncé. He was primarily upset because Beyoncé does so much for the music industry, but they aren’t dong anything for her. This is a justification because he never admitted any wrongdoing. Later in that interview, in lines 175-179, Kanye goes on praise Beck for his musical talent and says that there are no hard feelings between them. He also said that the only reason he reacted in the interview was because he was “given a platform” and that the public misunderstood what he was attempting to say. The public misunderstanding of him was his way of placing the blame on those who challenged him, not on himself. The last part of stage three in a social drama is the counterchallenge. A counterchallenge is when “person/group A turns the tables on person/group B and challenges their own behaviors” (Winchatz). This happens subtly in the case of Kanye and Beck because Kanye never directly addresses the media for responding negatively towards him. Instead, Kanye says in his interview with Seacrest, “ I don’t know exactly what the press has said because I don’t keep up with that, but at the Grammys when I did go up on stage and left off there was a really good vibe about it and everyone was laughing and smiling” (addendum lines 148-152). This shows how Kanye employs passive-aggressive means to attack those who challenged him. He pretends he didn’t even read or watch the media and feigns his belief that people are still supporting him. Through this tactic Kanye attempts to manage and manipulate the final stage of the social drama he created. He understands that he doesn’t need to blatantly put down those who challenge him given his power and status in the music world; he knows he will always be respected. This is precisely how he handled the 2009 social drama involving Taylor Swift. Kanye West “neither acknowledged the validity of the challengers’ challenge to his rule-based justification nor did he present a counterchallenge to the challengers’ counterargument to his defense” (2000 Philipsen 251). This is why one of the outcomes of this more recent social drama is like the prior outcome: reintegration into society. In the forth stage of a social drama, there are two different outcomes.
They are reintegration and evidence of moral dissenus. In Kayne’s instance both of these outcomes occurred. Reintegration is when the offender is “embraced by the community and brought back into the fold” (Winchatz). Artist John Legend posted to Instagram with his thoughts about Kanye. He stated, “First of all, Kanye is my friend. He believed in me years ago when very few did, and I wouldn't be here without his support. That doesn't mean we'll agree on everything, but it does mean that I am grateful to him” (addendum lines 64-67). John Legend says that he will always like Kanye even if he disagrees with his statements. He goes on to say, “These voters are all creators who love music and have dedicated their lives to it, and the plurality of them chose Beck as the Album of the Year. I respect their decision and congratulate Beck on this outstanding accomplishment” (addendum lines 85-88). This is an example on how Kanye was reintegrated into the music community. Even though people disagreed with him he again became welcomed and respected. In addition, many people agreed with Kanye because they thought the national voting committee ‘could be’ racist. Journalist Mercy Soriano states that, “there appears to be a trend in the Grammy's of black artists, who are expected to win awards, who find themselves losing to white artists, who are also surprised that they won”
(Soriano). On the other hand, there is also evidence of continuing moral dissensus with regard to his behavior. The social drama happened just this past month, and its effects are still being played out. Recently, there have been rumors that Beyoncé is angered by Kanye’s uncontrolled outburst and doesn’t want to be associated with it. Besides that, there are a large number of Beck fans that will not be accepting of Kanye’s conduct any time soon. A company called PNYC in New York was so angered by Kanye, that they hung up big letters spelling the word “BECK” in the windows of their office space. The office space looked onto a venue where Kanye was preforming a free concert. The owners of the company were quoted as saying, “don’t f— with Beck” (New York Post). An article was also published in the Los Angeles Times about how Kanye’s actions were indecorous. Author Randall Roberts stated, “West was mistaken, but not because Beck’s “Morning Phase” is demonstrably better than Beyoncé’s “Beyoncé.” Rather, West directed his rage at Beck when he should have called out the Recording Academy” (Randall). Many people find Kanye’s repetition of the same social drama to be unprofessional and misdirected. Kanye West’s offense at the 2015 Grammys was highly aggressive and rude to Beck and his artistry, crossing social boundaries that surround professional recognition. What may have started out as a form of repair for his nearly identical 2009 transgression ultimately transformed into a new social drama that became more serious in its repetition. This was then challenged by many famous people, media, and news sources, which provoked a response. Kanye responded with a justification of why he said on live TV that Beck should give his award to Beyoncé. He said that voices in his head told him to and that he thinks our capitalistic society is talking advantage of Beyoncé. During his justification he was very clear in saying that he didn’t think Beck is a bad artist and that it’s not that Beck didn’t deserve the award; it’s just that Beyoncé deserved it more. Though Kanye’s outcome is still changing daily since the event is so recent, there currently is both reintegration and evidence of moral dissensus. Kanye is being accepted back to the music community while at the same time being shamed and lampooned by prominent media for his aggressive and unnecessary outburst.
If there were more time to analyze this unfolding social drama, it would be interesting to look at the effect of Kanye’s power and status on his ability to be reintegrated into society a second time without any form of repair. Most social dramas need the transgressor to admit wrongdoing for them to be reintegrated completely. Scholar Hastings states that, “The use of social drama is a means for making sure that cultural changes occurring do not proceed unchecked and that some sense of cultural order is maintained” (Hastings 332). The social drama lens helps us understand why an event escalates into confrontation and what communicative processes are most likely to resolve it.
Works cited:
Carbaugh, D. Situating selves: The communication of social identities in American scenes. Albany: State University of New York Press. (1996). Print.
Coutu, Lisa M. Contested Social Identity and Communication in Text and Talk About the Vietnam War, Research on Language and Social Interaction. 41:4. (2008): 387-407. Print.
Hastings, Sally O. Social Drama as a Site for the Communal Construction and Management of Asian Indian "Stranger" Identity, Research on Language and Social Interaction, 34:3. (2001): 309-335. Print.
Kanye West Disses Beck, 2015 Grammy Awards and Defends True Artists. Perf. TheAMPNetwork. YouTube, 2015. Film.
"Kanye Explains Grammy Controversy, Reveals Plans to Record With Taylor Swift." Ryan Seacrest. 11 Feb. 2015. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.
Kamph, Zohar. “Journalists as Actors in Social Dramas of Apology.” Journalism 12.1 (2011): 71-87. Communication Abstract. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
Legend, John. "John on Instagram:." Instagram. Web. 25 Feb. 2015. <https://instagram.com/p/y8GYsvESov/>.
Philipsen Gerry. Permission to Speak the Discourse of Difference: A Case Study, Research on Language and Social Interaction. 33:2. (2000): 213-234. Print.
Philipsen, Gerry. Speaking Culturally: Explorations in Social Communication. New York: SUNY Albany Press, 1992.
Reed, Ryan. "Beck Responds to Kanye Grammy Diss: 'I Thought Beyonce Was Going to Win'"Rolling Stones 9 Feb. 2015. Web.
Roberts, Randall. "Kanye West Hit Wrong Note in Latest Grammy Diatribe." LA Times 10 Feb. 2015. Web.
Sieczkowski, Cevan. "Patriots Player Brandon Browner Slams Kanye West For Grammys Stunt." The Huffington Post 11 Feb. 2015. Web.
Soriano, Mercy. "Kanye West on Beck and Beyonce for Grammy Award Win: Did West Raise a Valid Point?" The Christian Times 22 Feb. 2015. Web.
Steinbuch, Yaron. "Kanye’s Free NYC Concert Gets ‘BECK’d’." New York Post 13 Feb. 2015. Web.
Whoopi Goldberg Reacts to Kanye West Questioning Beck's Grammy. Perf. The View on ABC. YouTube, 2015. Film.
Winchatz, Michaela. "Social Drama." INTC333. Arts and Letters 306, Chicago. Lecture.