Kanye West calls out Taylor Swift, defends controversial video at VMAs

Kanye West used his air time at the MTV Video Music Awards to touch on a number of subjects, calling out rival Taylor Swift and his ex-girlfriend Amber Rose and bringing attention to gun violence in the U.S.

The rapper was given the opportunity to speak at Sunday's (28Aug16) prizegiving in New York City, and in true fashion, Kanye didn't hold back during his six-minute rambling speech, which he began by stating, "I am Kanye West and it feels really great to say, especially this year. I came here to present my new video, but before I do that, I’ma (I'm going to) talk."

Kanye was nominated for Video of the Year for his controversial promo for Famous, but noted he would be quite alright taking a back seat if his pal Beyonce won the category over him for Formation.

"Now, later tonight, Famous might lose to Beyonce, but I can’t be mad. I’m always wishing for Beyonce to win," he joked, making a reference to his memorable interruption at the 2009 VMAs, when he stole the microphone from Taylor after she won Best Female Video over the R&B superstar.

Ironically, Kanye reignited his feud with Taylor by namechecking her in Famous with the lines, "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? I made that b**ch famous."

He also included her in the music video, which features naked wax figures made in the likenesses of stars including Taylor, his ex-girlfriend Amber Rose, wife Kim Kardashian's ex-boyfriend Ray J, Vogue Editor in Chief Anna Wintour and Donald Trump, all lying in bed together.

"For people to understand just how blessed we are, Famous was an expression of our now, our fame right now, us on the inside of the TV," Kanye told the VMAs crowd. "Just the audacity to put Anna Wintour next to Donald Trump - I put Ray J in there, bro!"

The Stronger hitmaker then spotted Amber in the crowd, and exclaimed, "I see you Amber!," as the camera panned to the model smiling in the audience.

He also acknowledged supportive Kim in the front row, saying, "My wife is a G (gangster). Not a lot of people's wives would let them say that right there... We came over on the same boat, now we all in the same bed. Well, maybe different boats."

Kanye also mentioned the violence in his hometown, "Last week, 22 people murdered in Chicago. People come up to me, like, 'That’s right, tell Taylor!' I’m like, ‘Bro, I love all y’all! That’s why I called her (to tell her about Famous)!... One kid came up to me last year (15) and said, 'Three of my friends died and I feel like I might be next.' You see people dying next to you and life can start to feel worthless.

"I sit down and talk to older, rich people, aka white, and they tell me don't compare yourself to (Steve) Jobs, (Walt) Disney, my friend told me... My role models are artists, merchants, (U.S. Presidents) Truman, Ford, Howard Hughes, Disney, Jobs, West. Tonight we're here to have fun."

Kanye also gave shout outs to his "idol" Sean 'Diddy' Combs, the "future" of hip-hop, Chance the Rapper, 2 Chainz and Jaden Smith, noting "we are undeniably the influence, the thought leaders."

The star then introduced the new music video for his track Fade, which featured an 1980s Flashdance-inspired performance by his G.O.O.D. music artist Teyana Taylor, who showed off sexy moves in a gym.

The video then cut to a steamy shower sex scene with her husband, basketball star Iman Shumpert, and the duo ended the video back in the gym where a nude Teyana's face transforms into a cat, and she and Iman, along with a baby, are flanked by sheep.