The eight-minute grainy video premièred at the Los Angeles Forum on June 24, Friday. In an interview with Vanity Fair on the same day, Kanye explained that the project is “not in support or anti any of (the people in the video).” Instead, it is “a comment on fame.”
Drawing inspiration from realist painter Vincent Desiderio’s 2012 mural “Sleep,” the video was filmed over three months with collaborators, according to the magazine.
In the video, West positions himself nuzzled between his wife and Swift. The models, who we don’t know yet whether are real or made out of wax, lie as if sleeping amid crumpled white sheets on an enormous bed, as a camera pans slowly over their faces and bodies, pausing over each famous figure and parts of their anatomy.
George W Bush appears near Trump, then fashion editor Anna Wintour, followed by Rihanna and Chris Brown, Swift, West and Kardashian. Then the camera shows Ray J, Amber Rose, Caitlyn Jenner and Bill Cosby.
Nearly all the 12 figures featured in the video have some kind of history with West. He married Kardashian and Jenner is a former in-law. He dated Amber Rose, and Kardashian featured in a sex tape with Ray J. West has collaborated with Rihanna, who dated Brown and who pleaded guilty to assaulting her.
West and Swift have an on-off feud of dubious authenticity dating back to 2009, when West stormed an awards ceremony stage during Swift’s acceptance speech (In the song, West sings: “I made that bitch famous”).
In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, West said: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” The former president later described it as the worst moment of his eight years in office.
Following the video, a representative of George W Bush offered the following quote: “In case there was any doubt … that is not President Bush… He is in much better shape,” TMZ reported.
It’s a good-natured reaction to a rather unbecoming visual. Considering past issues between the two men, one could imagine Bush saying far worse. Here’s to hoping more of the celebrities depicted in “Famous” offer their two cents (and none of them accept West’s retracted invitation to press charges).
However, time will decide whether West is misogynist trash, the next Pablo Picasso or the simply desperate for attention.
Sources: The Guardian, Yahoo Music