Last week, the infamous Kanye West debuted a music video to accompany his controversial song “Famous” from the equally controversial The Life of Pablo album released earlier this year.
Yeezy dropped the video as only he could - by hosting a spur-of-the-moment viewing party in Los Angeles and allowing the visual display to be streamed live on Tidal, Jay Z & friends’ overpriced music streaming service.
This is West’s first music video in a long time, and within it’s first few moments of being available online it began to spark outrage among some viewers.
The controversy surrounds the video, as it features Kanye West and 11 celebrity pals sleeping in one giant bed. But they’re all naked. Although not the actual celebrities themselves, lookalikes (or wax figures, but regardless) of Donald Trump, Kim Kardashian, Bill Cosby, and even Taylor Swift are all fast asleep next to Yeezus.
Many individuals have voiced their opinion, including Lena Duham who called the video “sickening”.
A simple Google search reveals dozens of articles questioning if the video crossed the line between art and publicity stunt (let alone vulgarity). There is a pretty stark split among news publications when it comes to the video, offering a clear divide between those who approve of Kanye’s most recent project and those who are severely outraged.
Now, legality aside, in my opinion, the video does not deserve the outpouring of negative criticism it has received. Admittedly, I am bias toward the rapper, but that bias only stems from the fact that I am part of the minority who respects his work and make logical comparisons between his music and art.
To my eyes the video is purely a statement by Mr. West, the message being that the term 'celebrity' is nothing more than a label or classification of human being. And by being classified as such, all celebrities are forced to live up to the same expectations - the expectation that they are merely here for the public’s enjoyment, and are condemned to a life of being put on display. All celebrities are in the same boat, or in this case, the same bed. As for a solution to this labeling, I don't think its up to me to extinguish the expectations society sets for celebrities, nor do I think celebrities will ever truly not be on display. That's just part of the job.
The one piece of the video that I do think was purely for show was T-Swift’s placement and body position, with the pop megastar lying directly next to Kanye with her breasts fully exposed, no doubt Yeezy’s response to the song’s initial wave of negative outrage earlier this spring.
When the song “Famous” was originally released, it was met with rave criticism due to the lyric “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / I made that b---- famous, I made that b---- famous”. And when I first heard that lyric, I chuckled. I didn’t throw a temper tantrum, and I certainly didn’t feel bad for Swift. I do respect both artists, but again its not like Kanye is actually harming anyone.
As Rolling Stone put it, the video is "provocative and voyeuristic", but I think that the visual project went a step further. The video further exemplified the public’s disdain for taboo topics such as sex, nudity, and the whole Kanye v. Taylor Swift feud that provided a month's worth of news for most networks and publications in the first place.
But the final question that needs to be asked is this: Did it cross the line between art and publicity stunt? My answer is a clear “no”. The video does have all the elements of a good stunt - it got mass media attention, and everyone felt the need to voice their opinion on the video (including me). But isn’t all art, by nature, a ‘stunt’ of some sort? After all, who is to say that there is one definition of art?
But, in case you were wondering, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary, art is defined as “Something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings… Works created by artists…” And isn't Kanye - along with Taylor Swift, Andy Warhol, Adele, and so many more household-friendly names - publicly classified as an artist? Exactly.
All art is subjective, affording everyone their own opinion and views of what is art and what isn’t, not to mention what makes Picasso Picasso.
As the media’s favorite scapegoat, Kanye is constantly in the spotlight, with his actions almost always being put into ethical question. He does bring a lot of that attention to himself just by being himself. But as I wrote previously, its just Kanye being Kanye - its not like he’s hurting anyone.
So you can go ahead and condemn the video, curse Kanye and everyone who listens to his music, and continue to try and make an example of the artist.
But you’re still going to watch that video. You’re still going to Tweet about him. And you’re never going to be able to un-see that naked Donald Trump lookalike.
Ever.
