Watch: Kanye West Performs The Symbolyc One-Produced Power To Open Last Night's 2010 BET Awards

Last night's 2010 BET Awards kicked off with a band, featuring Kanye West standing atop a mountain set on stage, performing "Power," the lead, already-leaked single off his much-anticipated fifth release, Good Ass Job, which is currently set for a September release. Not a bad performance either. Which is all...

By Pete Freedman

June 28, 2010

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Last night's 2010 BET Awards kicked off with a band, featuring Kanye West standing atop a mountain set on stage, performing "Power," the lead, already-leaked single off his much-anticipated fifth release, Good Ass Job, which is currently set for a September release. Not a bad performance either. Which is all fine and good. But, uh, who cares, right?

Well, you should, for starters. The song, built around a sample of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man," was produced by Dallas's own Symbolyc One, known best around these parts for his work in Waco's Strange Fruit Project and in Erykah Badu's The Cannabinoids. We've reached out to S1 for comment on the track a few times in recent weeks to no avail.

Alas, MTV was able to get through to the man right after the song leaked. Turns out the song was originally meant for West protege Rhymefest, who S1 has worked with before. But when West heard the beat, he decided to take it for himself. Told S1 to MTV:

"I got a text from Rhymefest that said, 'Kanye is loving your stuff. He said he's about to change your life.'"

Performing his song on the BET Awards, one imagines, is just the start.

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