I LIKE YOU FOR YOUR BEATS. That's it.

Remember when you'd never heard Kanye West rap? You liked his beats on The Blueprint, State Property, Roc La Familia etc., but for all you knew he was just a dope producer, ala Rocafella's other hitmaker Just Blaze.

But then he got greedy. After The College Dropout blew up, it seemed that any Kanye-produced single automatically came with a verse, or at least a chorus, by the man itself. You didn't particularly like Ye's awkward flow and gargantuan arrogance, but you put up with it because, by and large, the beats were hot. Cut to today, and Kanye's appearing on songs and remixes as a rapper, even when he's had nothing to do with making the beats.

Ne-yo — "Strung Out Remix" ft. Kanye West

T-Pain — "Buy You a Drank Remix" ft. Kanye West

Now this just pisses me off. Throughout the years, there's been an unspoken rule that "producers who rap" generally appear only on records they've produced. Sure there have been a few exceptions, but even producers who I consider dope rappers (Large Professor, Diamond D) almost never guest on tracks they haven't cooked up themselves. For instance, you don't hear Pete Rock dropping verses all over other people's beats, because homeboy understands that his strength lies in producing, and that the only reason people tolerate his amateurish raps is 'cause the beats are fire. So what does Kanye not understand?

Apparently he has convinced himself that he's just as much a rapper as a producer, as he's made clear in various interviews and videos. But just because Kanye says it, do we have to believe it? I for one still haven't warmed to his increasingly obnoxious flow, even if he does occasionally have a punchline or two. Let's not forget how many people there are who can competently "rap;" if we gave them all a major deal the hip-hop industry would implode. And what kind of a producer has the gall to think he can just drop a guest verse on a single and call it a remix? I mean for God's sake homey, get off your lazy, Louis Vuitton-wearing ass and remix the beat. You're a producer; that's what you do. Believe me, nobody gives a fuck about your rapping—we just give you a pass if the track knocks. Now please, put down the mic, and try not to fuck up Finding Forever.