"People are gonna look at this interview and say 'I don't like Kanye. Look: He looks mad and I don't like his teeth,'" said West.

The entire Jimmy Kimmel bit falls flat because it relies on West's admitted lack of eloquence for humor. West said in an interview with W magazine that "God's little practical joke on me—as an intellect who doesn't like to read a lot—is like, I'll say some superphilosophical shit, but I'll say it the wrong way."

But here's the thing: Kanye West's interview is one of the most refreshing criticisms to ever come out on celebrity culture, and the machine that feeds it. West learned about product endorsements from William Morris Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, who explained to him "the way it works." Emanuel used Lady Gaga's appointment as a "creative director" for a specialty line of Polaroid products in 2010 as an example. To which West said: "I like some of the Gaga songs, [but] what the fuck does she know about cameras?"

That's the beauty of Kanye West's approach. He realizes that so many celebrity-endorsed things are bullshit, and their opinion is often "nothing more than the patina on top of it." When West began making appearances in 2008 in varsity jackets emblazoned with the word "PASTELLE" on the back, he had plans to release a streetwear label. West scrapped that side project. He wanted to make sure he got it right.

He started going to fashion weeks around the globe. He interned at Fendi, where they rejected his designs for leather sweatpants (now, brands like En Noir have made them a fashion staple). His fashion cred came when he designed a capsule collection of shoes from Louis Vuitton, and followed it up a few months later with the Air Yeezy, Nike's first-ever signature shoe for a non-athlete. It also continues to fetch a hefty price on the aftermarket, and is considered a hot "grail" item amongst sneakerheads.

Fashion and music have been bedfellows long before Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren set the archetype for punk clothing. Kurt Cobain's penchant for ripped jeans and flannel shirts epitomized grunge style, an influence Saint Laurent designer Hedi Slimane touched on in his Fall 2013 collection, but Cobain never set out to be a style icon or use his image to sell high-priced clothes. West, on the other hand, is passionate about design and actively wants to make things like $265 washed A.P.C. skinny jeans, silk twill scarves featuring George Condo's artwork with m/m (paris), and complicated high heels with Giuseppe Zanotti.

West's criticism that Slimane's "rock and roll will never die" vision is dated isn't off base. As Saint Laurent prepares to show its Spring 2014 womenswear collection in Paris, Versace closed its show by playing Migos and Drake's "Versace" rap song. Rick Owens effectively trolled the fashion industry by tapping a competitive step team to stomp the runway with a routine. Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music cohort Pusha T even walked for designer Mark McNairy. Hip-hop is the new barometer of cool, and as West said: "It's been like that for a minute, Hedi Slimane!"

In fact, West admitted in the Lowe interview that "I Am a God" and "Black Skinhead" were written directly after Slimane invited West to his debut Saint Laurent show last season, with the caveat that he couldn't go to any other fashion show. West not only wrote the tracks in response, he recorded them with the very producers that made the music for Slimane's fashion show.

While the Miley Cyruses of the world rely on salacious twerking and sitting naked on a wrecking ball to keep them relevant, West prefers to serve up scathing cultural criticism with a dash of Clarence 13X.

"Would it have been better if I had a song called 'I Am a Ni**a? Or if I had a song called 'I Am a Gangsta?'" West said to Lowe. "Or if I had a song named 'I Am a Pimp?' All those colors and patinas fit better on a person like me, right?"

Despite West's accurate, candid takedown of the entertainment industry, Kimmel's team just skimmed through the interview for controversial comments that fed into the "Kanye West is a self-important asshole" ideology. It added nothing to the conversation, and belittled West's honest attempt to explain the process behind his latest album, his creative shortcomings, and his own misunderstood genius.

That's why Kanye West's righteous nerd rage was justified, even if his Twitter rant wasn't the best course of action. After West took to the Internet to express his displeasure, and even called Kimmel, the late night host dismissed West's comments as a simple "rap feud," again showing that he'd completely missed the point. When an exasperated West told Lowe "I don't think you're really hearing what I'm saying," he was really talking to people who aren't trying to hear him.