US Magazine‘s Ian Drew talked to Quincy Jones about his new album and about the younger singers and rappers he respects. The reporter compared him to Kanye West, and Jones responded how most 77-year-olds who produced Thriller and worked with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, etc. would:
Us: Kanye West is similar to you in that he’s the producer everybody wants to work with in the last decade …
QJ: How man? No way. Did he write for a symphony orchestra? Does he write for a jazz orchestra? Come on, man. He’s just a rapper. There’s no comparison. I’m not putting him down or making a judgement or anything, but we come from two different sides of the planet. I spent 28 years learning my first skill. I don’t rap. It’s not the same thing. A producer has to have some sort of skills that enable him to be a producer. It’s totally different to know what to do with 16 woodwinds you know from piccolos down to bass clarinet. It’s a whole different mindset. No comparison. None.
Later he says, “I don’t think about [West] much. He’s a great rapper, but there are a lot of good rappers,” and talks about his admiration for Ludacris. Jones later clarified his thoughts on West on his website:
I’d appreciate it if people didn’t take my comments about Kanye West or anyone else for that matter out of context to contrive a story. I have nothing but respect for my little brother Kanye and what he has achieved in his young career and I look forward to watching his evolution as an artist. There is a reason why we put him on the new We Are The World 25 for Haiti — he’s a great rapper. But having been in the music business for more than 60 years and having been fortunate to accomplish what I have over that time, it’s not unreasonable to put a comparison of Kanye at this time in his career and myself into the proper perspective. This is not dissing Kanye, this is simply trying to express that I’m not a rapper! I don’t need to take anyone else’s props away from them. Let’s all just try and keep the record straight.
Still, this will probably hurt West’s feelings, since he’s made it clear that he wants to be the next Michael Jackson. And Jackson wouldn’t have been Jackson without his work with Jones. Maybe West and Jones could bond over their love of Swedish girls? (Jones’s ex-wives include a Swedish model/actress, a German model/actress, and an American model/actress, Rashida Jones’s mom).
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I think Q took the question out of context more than anyone is taking his answer out of context.
The only comparison the interviewer made between the two is the fact that people want to work with both of them, and Mr. Jones apparently took that to mean he was saying they both had the same skill set. It would be like one person saying to another, “Hey, you have the same color hair as Ted Bundy.” And then that second person feeling like they were just called a serial killer.
Agreed…he took the comparison further than the interviewer intended. Although, I believe Kanye is not “just a rapper”…moreso a Great producer from a completely different time than that in which Quincy was bred. Different methods, lifestyles, etc. Both Great.
Definitely. I think there are production skills, in terms of hip hop production, that Kanye has that Quincy Jones couldn’t match. It’s apples and oranges.
He’s 77, there’s also some kind of dick measuring elitism going on about legit musicianship. Q obviously has no respect for rappers.
kanye west is garbage. the fact that anyone would ever mention him and quincy jones in the same sentence is a testament to the terrible condition of popular music in this country.
very much agreed.
Word Up! Kanye sucks.
Q > Kanye
But that “he’s just a rapper” comment is some bullshit. Q sounds like he got his panties twisted.
Sorry Gang. Quincy and the older musicians have ridiculous skills – playing arranging and more that young rappers and “producers” have. You can’t just get a MAC and logic and and be a producer. There’s McDonalds, and there’s French Cuisine. No question in the depth and skill level. Hope you enjoy Big Macs.
Musically, it’s apples and oranges, but the interviewer didn’t mean it musically. He was comparing their roles in the industry as the “go to” producers of different eras. That being said, it’s a dumb question and I’m not surprised Q didn’t see what he was getting as am I’m sure doesn’t see his own importance as being limited to any one era. What surprises me most is that Q clearly doesn’t know much of anything about Kanye. Kanye is a producer first, not a rapper. He’s not really a “good rapper” either, although he has improved over his career. If he wasn’t a great producer first, none of us we even know who he was.