Kanye West is known for being a volatile and temperamental personality, to say the least. This was most famously displayed in 2009 when he jumped the stage at the MTV Video Music Awards and stole the moment from best video winner Taylor Swift, from whom he grabbed the microphone prior to her acceptance and proclaimed that Beyonce and not Swift was the rightful best video winner.
West has been acting up again leading up to the release of his latest album "The Life Of Pablo," which just dropped. Just prior to the collection's release, West engaged in an epic and mean spirited Twitter war with fellow artist Wiz Khalifa over Kanye's new album title, in which West went so far as not only to disparage Khalifa's wife (and Kanye's ex) Amber Rose, but disturbingly, their small child as well. Kim Kardashian, the rapper's wife, had to intervene to make peace, and Kanye ultimately apologized.
The peace didn't last long however in Kanye West's world, as word spread that the rapper had a huge meltdown prior to his performance on last week's "Saturday Night Live" telecast. West was reportedly incensed when he learned that the SNL crew had removed a reflective stage specially designed for his performance because it interfered with stage lighting. West apparently threatened to walk off the show and not perform, and legendary SNL producer Lorne Micheals had to intervene to convince him to go on.
Now, actual audio footage of West's tantrum has leaked on the web, confirming the story.
"Look at that s**t they took my f***ing stage off'a 'SNL' without asking me. I am bummed ... If I am going to do this, we are breaking the m*********ing Internet," West begins.
His rant continues as he compares himself to such luminaries as legendary director Stanley Kubrick, the Apostle Paul and painter Pablo Picasso, claiming that he is 50 percent more influential in his time than they were in theirs (we're surprised he went with the relatively humble "50 percent more" as opposed to the expected "50 times more").
West's nemesis Taylor Swift gets brought into the tirade as well. Even though she clearly has nothing to do with the SNL situation, he manages to take a shot at her in the midst of it all, calling her a "fake ass."
You can listen to the full audio clip of West's meltdown below. Warning: explicit language.
