May 05--Kanye West has plenty of critics these days, and deservedly so. He's brash and arrogant and brings much of the criticism upon himself. There was a time, however, when speaking out against the Chicago rapper put you in the minority -- just ask Brandon Flowers. The Killers frontman made headlines in 2006 for saying West "makes me ill."
Like West, Flowers admitted in a recent Rolling Stone interview that he has a knack for putting his foot on his mouth. Still, he didn't completely backtrack when asked about his West comment.
"Everyone's afraid to say anything contrary to him being a genius," Flowers told Rolling Stone. "It's crazy, man! And it's frustrating. I'm not going to tear him down, but I will say I find that to be frustrating. [Laughs] That's my stance on it. A lot of people might agree with me now. I may have been a little bit ahead of my time. But I think he wants to be good. I think he wants to be great, and that's something that we all want to strive for. We've just got different roads of getting there, I guess."
Flowers is scheduled to release his second solo album, "The Desired Effect," May 19 and will perform at the Riviera Theatre September 11. West will receive an honorary doctorate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago at Auditorium Theatre Monday.
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