Kanye West Defends His Britney Spears Tweet

Even when Kanye West is trying to be nice, some people assume he's being mean. The rapper went onto Twitter over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday to defend himself after he said some comments he made about Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me" single were misconstrued by the press.

On Friday, West posted a message — which has since been removed — that read, "Yo Britney, I'm really happy for you and I'mma let you be #1, but me and Jay-Z's single is one of the best songs of all time! LOL." He was referring to the fact that Spears' smash new single has topped the download charts in 19 countries and pushed his collabo with Jigga, "H.A.M.," down to #2 on the iTunes tally, while also lampooning his own legendary bum-rush of Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV VMAs.

Britney's manager, Adam Leber, was quick to respond with his own sarcastic quip, tweeting, "@kanyewest Thanks for 'letting' us be #1. Much appreciated."

West clarified his earlier comment a short time later, explaining, "On a serious note I'm truly happy for @AvrilLavigne and @BritneySpears...... No hate in 2011!" Which should have been the end of all that, right?

Wrong.

After watching his beloved Chicago Bears advance to within one win of the Super Bowl over the weekend, West was upset to discover that sites such as MSNBC had reposted an Us Weekly story that claimed the rap star was trying to instigate a Twitter war with Britney. Clearly stung by the insinuation that he was starting another Swift-like beef, West fought back with a string of tweets in which he scolded the media.

"I thought LOL signified a joke... I didn't get the 2011 LOL doesn't signify a joke anymore memo... LOL or something else I guess," he wrote, explaining that his original post was clearly meant in good fun. "Just saw that MSNBC said I tried to start a twitter war with Brittany [sic]. This sh-- takes the air out my lungs sometimes from blogs to news reports ... enough already!!! All I do is focus on my work ... There's a new lie everyday... a new media spin... I never got a watch with my face on it!!! A company tried to give that to me 9 yrs ago! ... I'm one of the most considerate people in real life. Maybe over considerate. Over caring. Overly real."

In one of Kanye's most colorful metaphors for the difficulty of navigating the superstar universe (one that he perhaps should have saved for a verse in a song), he noted, "There is no astronaut training for celebrity... even though this whole life is so outer space! ... I was actually surprised that a record as raw as 'H.A.M.' could make it to #2 on iTunes ... How can u 'let' someone be number one??!! That was the whole joke!!! I know intelligent people know this so bear with me ... When I said the comment about Brittney [sic] I was giving her props for being #1 not dissing her at all! ... But stop making it seem that my aim is to hurt or down people! That's just not my style!"

He continued, "As pop stars we're all in this sh-- together! We on the inside of the TV! If the media wants to make a story ... just say I have atrocious spelling and terrible grammar ... If you don't give em a story they just make one up. I'm just trying to focus & stay creative! Keep bringing dope sh-- to the world!"

West then thanked his fans again for helping to make his latest album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, a platinum seller and praised them for giving him the power to realize his dreams, something he vowed never to take for granted. "I am an extension of my listeners," he wrote. "I won't always say the right thing but my heart is always in the right place."

What do you think of Kanye's tweets about Britney and the media reaction to the message? Share your opinion in the comments.