Kanye West is probably the most polarizing figure in the world right now; unless your job is located anywhere near Capital Hill or you're currently without the health care promised to you, but you probably still feel some type of way about Yeezus. There are two firmly entrenched armies battling for pop culture supremacy: those who love to love everything he does and those that hate to love anything, even remotely, attributed to Mr. West. Whether you feel nothing but vitriol at the mere mention of Ye or your heart skips a beat when you read his name on a website, you are playing directly into his hands. His goal? To ascend the reaches of stardom, to constantly be in the public's consciousness, to be placed on a pedestal, to be a true and thorough artist, who constantly pushes the boundaries of what we believe is possible. Love him or hate him, you have an opinion of him and mostly likely you are open to sharing it with others, ergo, checkmate Kanye.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBAtAM7vtgc[/youtube]
His latest antic to get everyone's feather's ruffled, comes pleasantly disguised as the "Bound 2" video. Even though critics were largely divided on the merit of Yeezus, "Bound 2" was unanimously praised and seen as Yeezy's return to his College Dropout roots, soul samples and all. So it wasn't surprising that the accompanying visuals were highly anticipated by fans and reviewers alike, but it was odd that he was debuting it on Ellen; a show whose demographic probably hasn't followed his recent trials and tribulations. However, it falls in line with his most recent behavior and persona; as shocking as it was unexpected, like appearing on the Jimmy Kimmel show during the height of their beef was.
To be honest, the video looks like a twelve year old boy's favorite dream, probably because it was made by said hormonal preteen. There are beautiful landscapes: the tops of the mountain ranges burst green as the fresh grass comes into focus, the desert has a hearty brown hew to it, and the sky is clear as the freshest glass of water. Kanye, like the true studly hero that he is, is driving an awesome motorcycle through this wilderness, while his beautiful co-star, Kim Kardashian, rides shotgun…naked. Truely a sight to behold, like the weird CGI eagle flying past the screen or the majestic horses galloping through the prairie during the beginning of the video. The song is dedicated to Kim K., so it makes perfect sense for her to be featured, full nude though? Why not?
It's definitely not his best video, it might even be considered one of his worst by some, yet there is something to his campy, mushy over the top romantic imagery. Poorly shot and poorly rendered, it still grabs your attention for the full four minutes and doesn't let you go. People will naturally react the way they always do: some will call it an intelligent satire of his life and public persona, therefore an amazing work of art; other's will say it's a mediocre video that doesn't warrant any meaningful conversation. Whatever the case may be, Kanye has you talking about him once again. Checkmate.
