[Trailer] Yeezus
I admit, I saw this "trailer" yesterday and thought really hard about posting it. Yeah, it's Kanye West, arguably one of the biggest music icons of this generation, but then again... it's Kanye West. Ultimately, I opted not to, not out of any prejudices against Kanye (I love the man and everything he does), but simply because I couldn't find a proper embed code for the trailer. I've spent the last hour watching and re-watching this purported trailer, and it has me wondering exactly what this film "directed by Hype Williams coming to theaters" really is, and what it would mean for Kanye's never-ending quest for artistic expression.
Last week, we reported American Psycho's Bret Easton Ellis's involvement on a film for Kanye. Could this Yeezus trailer be the same project? Probably. Now then, exactly what Yeezus will be is the real question. From my initial reactions, it seemed that Yeezus would just be a glorified concert movie a la Never Say Never. However, knowing Kanye and his taste for the grandiose, it could be that Yeezus will be so much more than a collection of Yeezus Tour clips.
Remember, when My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was released, it was paired with the Runaway short film, which itself served as a visual supplement to the album, but was otherwise a long, glorified medley. However, in saying that, I absolutely loved some of the "chapters" found in the short. Yeezus, then, could be an expansion of the Runaway experiment, and with two talented artists in Hype Williams and Bret Easton Ellis involved, it could be Kanye's first real step in a successful future in cinema.
...or it could be a completely convoluted mess. As all things with Kanye, there's nothing but extremes with no middle ground. Here's hoping that the register will tilt towards positive.
[Video] Kanye West Appears on 'Late Night with Seth Myers'
Kanye West, with his Yeezus tour finally over and some time on his hands, decided to stop by Seth Myers' new show and help him continue to break into the late night circuit by stopping by to chat about the extravagant tour, get some baby news out of the way and clear the stage for the real show, which came after the brief back and forth between the husband of Kim Kardashian and the former 'Saturday Night Live' cast member who took over for Jimmy Fallon in the late night spot after the Jay Leno domino finally fell, opening the lines of succession. Kanye performed what became a career-spanning set that touched on his hits from the entirety of his catalogue, begininning with "Jesus Walks", "Touch The Sky" and "Stronger" before making his way through the dark 808s & Heartbreaks days, even live auto-tuning "Heartless" and continuing on to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and beyond, wrapping things up with a rousing rendition of "Black Skinhead" to wrap things up. Check out the full video, streaming below.
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American Psycho's Bret Easton Ellis Writes Movie For Kanye West
Writer of the popular novel American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis seems to have an appreciation for the obscure, but a recent collaboration request from awhile back was something that he finally considered. According to Ellis, Kanye West has been approaching the writer more than a few times to write up a screenplay for him.
The seemingly odd film partnership came up in Ellis's recent interview with Vice magazine.
"[Kanye] came and asked me to write the film. I didn’t want to at first. Then I listened to Yeezus. It was early summer last year and I was driving in my car. He’d given me an advance copy, and I thought, regardless of whether I’m right for this project, I want to work with whoever made this. So fuck it, I said yes. And that’s how it happened. That was seven or eight months ago. We’ll see what happens."
Bret Easton Ellis and Kanye West may appear to be a random pairing. However, between Kanye's stunts with the media and Ellis's infamous creation of a psychopath that everyone enjoys, I think that the collaboration between these two controversially creative men could quite possibly have some potential as long as Kanye doesn't repeat his semi-awful impromptu performance at the end of Anchorman 2.
The date for the film has yet to be set. When asked about the production of the project, Ellis responded, "It’s in Kanye Land, and that’s subject to a whole other time frame."
[via /Film]
Kanye West Announced as X Games Austin Headliner
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UPDATE: Tickets for X Games Austin are now available here, along with a full lineup that includes The Flaming Lips, Slightly Stoopid, Mayer Hawthorne, Gary Clark Jr., Wavves, Bad Religion, Cash Cash, Candyland & FMLYBND, along with the previously announced headliners.
The 2014 installment of the annual X Games competition was sure to be a little more weird this time around as the yearly action sports festival lands in Austin, Tx. Things may prove to get even more strange after 'Yeezus' himself, Kanye West, was announced as this year's headlining music act yesterday. The larger-than-life Chicago hip-hop star who took to wearing leather kilts and gaudy gold chain masks onstage during his three-month long Yeezus tour in support of his most recent album, was added to the event along with Mac Miller, Dillon Francis and Pretty Lights. It seems as though there is a perpetual festival always happening in Austin, regardless of day or time, and they just keep getting bigger. Adding West is a great move, too, for X Games organizers as their big-air and death-defying tricks seem to have lost the hold they had over the country less than a decade ago. The influx of the arguably the world's largest star should prove to help ratings a bit. The games will pitthe best in RallyCross, BMX, Skateboarding, Moto X, and now, Stadium Super Trucks against each other from June 5 -8 in Austin, Texas, information available here.
Best Music Projects of 2013
Photo by Bryan Lamb
With new projects from established musicians like Daft Punk, Kanye West, and Neko Case to up and comers like Chance the Rapper, Lorde, Disclosure, 2013 was a huge year for music. Through a very scientific method, the Ruby Hornet staff has gone through the eclectic mix of 2013's various project releases from hip hop, R&B, indie rock, soul, techno, EDM, and more to deliver our definitive list of 2013 music projects. Check out our list below!
Grading the Grammy Nominations
As the music industry has evolved over the past decade into the digital world, things have changed quite a bit. Hard copies are hardly ever bought anymore, nor does anyone seem to buy whole albums at all, as the iTunes Store model has taken over and the industry has increasingly become about what the consumer wants as opposed to what the labels want the listeners to hear. While this has resulted in a sort of musical reawakening, creating a culture where listeners can stream, download or play any track they can think of with the touch of a button, music has expanded at a rapid pace, creating new genres and sub-genres and infinite new off-shoots that don't fit cleanly into any one established genre or sound.
Standing behind this industry, bearing the largest prize of all, is the Grammy Awards. This year, the award show enters its 56th installment and, while a dance music category was finally introduced last year, the judging seems more out of touch than ever, but of course this has been an issue for some time. The Grammys are like Social Security. You don't really care about it much until you're too old to get up from the sofa. Generations have rallied against the award for years. In 1991 Sinead O'Connor simply refused to show up and boycotted the show, despite being nominated in four categories. After winning "Best Hard Rock Performance" in 1998, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder stood onstage perplexed and, staring at the golden trophy, said into the microphone, "I don't know what this means. I don't think it means anything." It's not news that the team behind the Grammy Awards has been out of touch for some time, but at no time in history has it been so blatantly about the money in an industry that today makes significantly less money than it used to. It's macroeconomics of the current American condition played out with celebrities and gold gramophone statues. Plus, Kanye already spoke out. So, for this latest round of Grammy nominations, I figured I would sift through who was chosen and offer up my own choices for the top prizes in music this year.
[Video] Busta Rhymes: "Thank You" (Ft. Lil Wayne, Q-Tip & Kanye West)
Busta Rhymes has been making a comeback of sorts since signing with YMCMB last year, and today dropped the video for his star-studded, feature-heavy track, "Thank You" featuring Busta's former, A Tribe Called Quest collaborator, Q-Tip as well as Kanye West and his boss, Lil Wayne. The video, directed by Director X, shows Busta doing his thing with some ladies and has cameos from the likes of A$AP Ferg, Fashawn and Mack Wilds. You can find "Thank You" on Busta's expected 2014 release, E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event) 2. For those who can't wait that long, you may be in luck. There have been rumors of a Busta Rhymes/Q-Tip collaboration by the name of The Abstract & The Dragon, expected December 12.
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New 'Yeezus' Tour Dates Announced
Kanye's modern epic, better known as the 'Yeezus' tour will, in fact, make its way through Ye's hometown after all. After several dates were moved or pushed back due to technical issues and West and fiancee Kim Kardashian's engagement, the Chicago dates of the tour have been adjusted to December 17 & 18. The shows this weekend would have been interesting as it would have crossed paths of the Yeezus tour and Chance The Rapper's Social Experiment tour, which rolls through town this Saturday. With an unconfirmed special guest still under wraps, the smart money for that date was obvious. The new dates do coincide with the end of Chance's tour, so there's a . . . chance? Anyway, keep it posted to RH for continuing coverage and check out Kanye's site for more on rescheduled dates.