Credit Kanye for keeping the news cycle alive throughout the weekend. Let's retrace:
1) Another good G.O.O.D. Friday, "Don't Look Down";
2) Another My Beautiful Dark Fantasy leak on Saturday morning (saw this on Smoking Section; or did someone else have the scoop?);
3) A late Saturday night/early Sunday morning CMJ appearance;
And, sandwiched between these headlines, the debut of the full-length "video" for "Runaway." And by "video," did he actually mean an elaborate EPK? This is how to promote an album... at least when you have the backing of the industry. In any case, it's Kanye-directed and Hype Williams-written. Which means a phoenix girlfriend, white servants serving black diners and oodles and oodles of album snippets.
A few initial takeaways:
* Could do without the running, fire and Nicki Minaj's cockney accent;
* Could also do without Kanye talking;
* His sour puss, on the other hand, translates well to film;
* Also still happy to see the spotlight features of the MPC;
* Does getting name-dropped in a 'Ye verse constitute a mention in one's c.v./press kit? (Kings of Leon and Serato, I'm looking at y'all);
* And the pairing of "Runaway" with ballet makes more sense when an out-of-tune piano in an airplane hangar-sized dining room/rehearsal space calls forth the dancers.
Good A..., I mean, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy's countdown to Nov. 22 continues.
I watched it all. That's a feat in itself considering how bad my ADD is these days. I was entertaining, though mostly 'cause of the tunes.
Best hip hop video ever?
Yes.
There are so many beautiful, beautiful moments and images here. Also -- the CMJ show was AWESOME. Super short, but also awesome.
Honestly, I wasn't as impressed as I hoped I would be. Kanye's acting is really bad, the music seemed kind of out of place and as pretty as it was, it kind of defeats the purpose to watch it on my laptop. Still, he did it. His vision is bigger than pretty much anyone, so I give him credit for that
"Imma lechu finish but R. Kelly..." someone has to say the obligatory Kanye joke.
Love the Aphex twin sampling.