Kanye West: Out of This World

But behind the facade of self-confidence, there lurks a complicated and conflicted figure, all pouty and petulant and racked with doubt and anxiety. That Kanye -- the one who can be brutally honest in his self-reflections -- ran wild on the lonely planet.

He rapped about his character flaws (his love of the "Good Life," his penchant for buying "Diamonds From Sierra Leone"). He addressed his own arrogance ("You say I think I'm never wrong/You know what? Maybe you're right/A'ight?"). He tried to cut a deal with God to get him back to Earth, promising that he'd "stop talking so much [expletive]" and "stop spazzing out at award shows."

In "Can't Tell Me Nothing," West flogged himself for making bad

decisions, growling: "I feel the pressure, under more scrutiny/And what I do? Act more stupidly." As a brooding synthesizer line hovered over a thunderous bottom end, the rapper punched the air, twitched spasmodically and fell to his back before ending the song with a visceral howl. It was a striking display from one of hip-hop's greatest emoters.

But it was hardly the night's only emotionally charged moment. During "Hey Mama," with minimal musical accompaniment, West sang softly and tenderly about -- and for -- his mother, Donda, who died in November, apparently of heart disease and complications related to plastic surgery. In "Jesus Walks," over a thundering tribal rhythm, he dropped to his knees and nearly shouted his vocals in pursuit of redemption.

Overwrought? Maybe.

Compelling? Definitely.

Earth to Kanye: We give. You are, indeed, great.