Is Kanye West Still in the Doghouse for Dissing Taylor Swift?

Kanye West always has been hit and miss on the singles scene. Despite his 100 per cent success rate with albums — his four are all platinum or multi-platinum, and 2007′s Graduation sold nearly one million copies in week one — when it comes to singles, he strikes out as often as he scores. “Diamonds from Sierra Leone,” the first promotional cut from 2005′s Late Registration, wasn’t the deepest. It stalled at No. 43 on Billboard‘s Hot 100, before “Gold Digger” came along to become West’s first and biggest No. 1 hit (10 weeks on top). Two years later, “Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” Graduation‘s introductory single, topped out at No. 41 before “Stronger” proved to be just that and returned him to No. 1. It wasn’t until 2008′s “Love Lockdown,” from 808s & Heartbreak, went all the way to No. 3 that a new West album finally premiered with a swinging single.

Unfortunately, with ”Power,” the first single from West’s forthcoming new album, Dark Twisted Fantasy (due November 16), the rapper has reverted to his old chart ways. It’s currently languishing at No. 64, eight weeks after debuting and apparently peaking at No. 22.

Though it’s performed better than 50 per cent of West’s previous debut singles, it’s a disappointment on par with Christina Aguilera’s “Not Myself Tonight,” which peaked one notch lower. One might have expected the chart performance of “Power” to be more in sync with its title, considering the buzz generated by its prominent use in the trailer for the upcoming Facebook movie, The Social Network, and his performance of it in June at the 2010 BET Awards.

The so-so chart performance of “Power” is especially confounding when you consider the ease with which newcomer rapper B.o.B continues to rack up Top 10 hits (three in the last six months), or that “Just a Dream,” the new single from Nelly, a long-hitless rapper whom I would have given up for lost about a week ago, entered the latest Hot 100 at No. 12.

One could blame the public’s lukewarm reception to “Power” on continued bad feelings toward West nearly one year after he embarrassed Taylor Swift — and himself — onstage at the MTV Video Music Awards by disrupting Swift’s Best Female Video acceptance speech for “You Belong with Me” to declare that Beyoncé should have won the prize for her “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” clip. It was only the latest in a string of sore-loser awards-show moments for West, but you tangle with the new princess of country-pop at your own risk. West’s fellow music stars, including Adam Lambert, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson and Pink, lined up to slam him for his actions (most, of course, via Twitter), and off the record, U.S. President Barack Obama called him an “asshole.”

Then there was his reported battle with booze — some blamed his actions at the VMAs on the alcohol — which apparently worsened after the death of his mother, Donda, in 2007 after a tummy tuck. Though his friends insist that he doesn’t even remember the VMA incident, and he later apologized to Swift, actually entering rehab rather than merely considering it might have done more to restore his reputation.

Or maybe it’s just about the music. On first listen (and second and third), “Power” is no “Golddigger.” West’s rapping is as agile as ever, but the production is noisy and chaotic, like West wanted to pack as many cool sounds as possible into five minutes but didn’t know when to stop. It’s not exactly the stuff that inspires widespread Top 40 airplay. Not even the presence of Dwele, with whom West previously collaborated on “Flashing Lights” (in my opinion, his finest single), can make any sense out of the disarray. It probably didn’t help the single’s cause — or the idea that West might be too haughty for his own good — that the “Power” video, which premiered in early August, is not really a video at all but a painting featuring moving images with West front and center, striking the most ego-driven pose imaginable. Running time: one and a half minutes.

Of course, there might be more tuneful options on Dark Twisted Fantasy, and West could pull off his usual second-single rebound. But if he really wants a guaranteed smash, he should invite Swift into the studio for a duet and make it a last-minute addition to the new album. Eminem and Rihanna’s “Love the Way You Lie” wouldn’t know what hit it!