Here at aahiphop, we’re still not a level like Complex or Fader, so we had to watch Kanye’s new visual, “Famous,” like everyone else — live on Tidal X. What an experience. It was difficult, but I tried not to read anything about the video, so I could honestly go in blind. Wow, what an experience.
So, there’s not much to it; however at the same time, there’s a lot to it. Let me set the scene. Kanye’s recreated Vincent Desiderio’s painting “Sleep,” from 2008. In Kanye’s version, he’s assembled Taylor Swift, Donald Trump, Anna Wintour, Chris Brown, Rihanna,Kanye, Kim Kardashian, Bill Cosby, Caitlyn Jenner, George Bush, Amber Rose, and Ray J. Close inspection would suggest that they are incredibly life-like mannequins — but, there has been no confirmation yet. That’s part of the fun, though, right?
The video, in my opinion, does a few things. One is that it makes you feel incredibly uncomfortable. Although all naked, there isn’t anything sexual about this situation. Rather it almost feels invasively voyeuristic. Perhaps this is a subtle comment on how we put celebrities underneath the microscope. This is extreme, but how far is too far? Is this what we want? When the music drops out, and all we hear is snores, and breathing, it’s over the top awkward, but also the most powerful.
Another thing this video does is humanize the subjects. They are just bodies. Just humans. Like anyone else. We get so used to seeing celebrities at their most glamorous, but this video [literally] strips all that away, leaving people; sleeping.
This isn’t the first time Kanye has drawn inspiration from artwork for his visuals, but it’s certainly going to go down as the most memorable.
Was that Taylor though?
