Kanye West (Creative Commons)

I think his incident with Taylor Swift last year has been way overplayed, and I hate the fact that he is known only as “that asshole who interrupted the sweet teenage girl- what?! She’s 20?!”, and not as a musician. Granted, he is not the genius that he claims to be, but he also shouldn’t be overshadowed by one unfortunate incident at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

Let’s be real: the VMAs is by no means any sort of sophisticated event based solely on artistic merit and cultural/societal contribution. The Billboard Top 10 artists have their moments; pop stars and “starlets” walk the carpet wearing too- short, too-tight, mismatched concoctions; everybody halfheartedly laughs at the pop- culture-laced monologues; the industry has another frothy night of self-referential fun.

But this year, there was a question hanging over everybody’s heads: what were Kanye West and Taylor Swift going to do when they met again? Last year’s incident has already worked its way into standard pop culture (the first entry for “Kanye” on Urban Dictionary has nothing to do with the man’s music and everything to do with his infamous interruption).

Ms. Swift had remained pretty much mum on the subject up until the show, but Mr. West took to his Twitter last week to launch into a ranting reflection on his past year, ending with an apology to Taylor. Heartfelt wish to put things behind the two of them? Perhaps. PR stunt? Perhaps.

But whatever the case was, people were talking about Kanye vs. Taylor, the showdown of the year, or at least the month, or at least the night. The truth is, though, that there was no real showdown of any sort. The two didn’t appear on stage together for a hug or anything in that vein.

Instead, Ms. Swift opted to express herself in one of her endearingly confessional songs, veiled in soft lighting and makeup.

And Mr. West? Mr. West closed the show, and in what a way. The camera zoomed down to show a solo Kanye, in the center of the stage, dressed in a bright red suit and playing a simple tune on his drum machine.

He looked like the lonely hub of a wheel, and it was also a jarringly stark image; perhaps it was meant to bring up the idea that Mr. West had been abandoned by the general public after the incident with Ms. Swift. But when the song kicked in, it became obvious what Kanye really had to say: yes, I can be a pain, but I’m not the only one, so why don’t you release me of your no- longer-funny Internet memes and let me back onto the music charts?

His performance itself was not anything extraordinary (a message to all: the Auto-Tune needs to go), but it was a good reminder that the man does make music, and damn good music at it. Could this all be a ruse, made to hype up both Ms. Swift’s and Mr. West’s upcoming albums? It very well could be just that, but what entertainment all the speculation has been.

Entertainment Weekly has two of its top story slots devoted just to the supposed Taylor/Kanye rivalry. And look, I’m writing about the two of them right now. These stunts have come and gone (does anyone remember Kanye vs. 50 Cent?), records are sold, the world keeps turning.

But if there was really any redemption to be had, I have to hand it to Mr. West: he pulled off a solid performance of a song that both mocked himself and showed no animosity to all those who had declared his career over after he interrupted the wide-eyed Ms. Swift.

After his performance, he received the only standing ovation of the night. Will he still be the egotistic good-life-obsessed motormouth that people love to hate, yet also love to follow on Twitter? Certainly. But for what it’s worth, Kanye West deserves to have this VMA nonsense put behind him. We got cha, Mr. West, and if we know any better, we’ll welcome you back into the music scene with open arms.

To reach reporter Lilian Min, click here.