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Kanye Got Beck'd At Last Night's Free Flatiron Show
By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 13, 2015
Modified Feb 13, 2015
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 13, 2015
Modified Feb 13, 2015
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Last night Kanye West took over the NYC streets with a free(zing cold) outdoor concert in front of the Flatiron Building. We'll have more on that later, but the most eventful thing that happened was probably this:
A company called PNYC, located around the corner from the stage, welcomed the rapper by putting up large letters in their windows that spelled out "BECK." This was, of course, a nod to Kanye interrupting the musician as he was about to accept his Grammy award this past weekend.
Matt and Jason from PNYC told us this morning, "We are an agency actively researching the effects of Out of Home (OOH) advertising. We found out Kanye was playing outside of our building and we wanted to make a point about being in the right place at the right time with the right message and how that can be amplified through digital channels. And... don’t fuck with Beck."
Kanye told Ryan Seacrest after last Sunday's incident that the "voices in my head" were to blame, but has also said Beck should "respect artistry" and give his Grammy to Beyonce. Beck, who even welcomed Kanye up on stage, has been all class when asked about it, even calling him a "genius."
Since last Sunday there have been approximately 8,978 takes and think pieces on the Grammys incident and what it all means, but maybe this simple PNYC sign should be the final word.
UPDATE: From the comments—another Beck sign was spotted above the 40/40 Club, where the show's after party was held.
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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