Final Lou Reed post --- his review of Kayne West's Yeezus from July 2013.

I love love LOVE that Lou is so smart, so sensitive, and such an appreciator of music.

This is why Lou was MY guy--not my older brothers' generation's music's guy.  And I love those guys too---but they're uncles to me.  Lou is the sound, and the pared-down flat-out honesty, of my coming of age experience--he was the portal opener. So many of the "old guys" dismiss hip-hop. Makes me impatient, because you can tell they never really took the time to develop an ear for it--while they did just that when they were 15 and later at 22 to "hear" Son House or Captain Beefheart, and later Miles and Coltrane.  It's the potential laziness of each of us, as we age.  Shutting down. Not being able to tolerate that which we didn't already know--that which doesn't effortlessly play off familiar points of reference for us, and therefore gets discarded, disregarded, derided. 

But Lou gets it, because, as he says about Kanye (and thank GOD that he did, and took the time to publish this review--and I hope Kanye saw this and took heart that he was really heard): 

"He obviously can hear that all styles are the same, somewhere deep in their heart, there's a connection. It's all the same shit, it's all music — that's what makes him great. If you like sound, listen to what he's giving you. Majestic and inspiring."

God love you, Lou. Thanks for being so plain.