Kanye West's film, "Runaway"

A very short while ago Kanye West released a short film called "Runaway". It was first played on three major cable networks simultaneously, MTV, MTV2 and BET. It is also available on his website/blog, http://kanyewest.com/, where I actually watched it, uninterrupted by commercials. To be honest I have always been a Kanye fan ever since "Through the Wire" so I was very interested to see this short movie because it solely used his music from his upcoming cd, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and his latest genius idea, G.O.O.D. Friday music. I also heard that the new album was suppose to be much harder than the last album - less auto-tune and love song, more rapping and rhythmic beats - so I was interested to see if this was all true. The film ended up using nine songs, featuring artists such as Kid Cudi, Pusha T from Clipse, Common, and John Legend (all signed to Kanye's label, G.O.O.D. Music). It was definitely more of a rap album than the last and I was definitely impressed with pretty much every song I heard.

As for the movie itself, I really enjoyed the visuals. I did think using a phoenix to symbolize himself and his downfall was kind of weak though. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly says that we are to take the phoenix as," A metaphor for how West feels about the acceptance of not necessarily his music, but his public behavior (epitomized by the West-Taylor Swift VMA moment)." Tucker feels as though the heavily symbolism in the film really means, "Roughly speaking, people aren’t open-minded; they don’t accept what they don’t immediately understand. The main reasoning behind this idea stems from the phoenix saying, “You know what I hate about your world? Anything that is different you try to change, you try to tear it down" right before she takes off into flight, with West chasing after her in the final scenes.

I for one am definitely a fan of this work. I feel that it is just another expression of himself, this time it is much more pleasant though because it definitely much more calm and artistic than in previous times. I do believe he is much more than just some hip-hop rapper; After seeing him in early '08, I knew he was an actual artist. This film, along with his business, fashion, and other endeavors, just seem to affirm my idea even more. I cannot wait until his album comes out on November 22nd. It will hopefully be another classic he can add to the wall along with his another great hits, like College Dropout and Graduation.

Watch the video below (embedded from West's website):

EW article:

http://watching-tv.ew.com/2010/10/23/kanye-west-runaway-mtv-bet/

*Photo found on Google Image Search.

Kid Cudi's Sophmore Album

This past week, Kid Cudi's cover art for his second album, Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, was finally released. It displays Cudi sitting down, holding a empty glass bottle, with a magnificent painting of some starry galaxy just behind him. Or perhaps it is suppose to be actually some sort of window (being the self-proclaimed "moon man"). Regardless, the picture has a very dark, negative tone with Cudi, face being half-blacken by darkness, sulking or starring off into the ground. The art also appears with fake, yet purposeful tears and rips all across it. It is very thought-provoking, as to what this cover could really stand for. What exactly is he so solemn about? What exactly was in that glass before he emptied it? And who exactly was Mr. Rager? Being an avid Cudi fan, I was very interested by his latest artist work.

I did a little digging and read a few recent articles discussing Cudi and his latest album. In a recent video interview with Complex magazine, Cudi says that this album came straight from the heart, just in much different place than the first album; Mr. Rager is, in fact, Cudi. He was in a darker time, a much "darker mindstate", therefore this album has a much darker feel. Personally, this is the exact reason I am such a huge Cudi follower; what he says is REAL. He is NOT just another wannabe rapper. To me, he is as poetic as you can get, while maintaining both a large hip-hop, underground following and being a major "mainstream" artist at the same time.

But back to the cover art...I'm going to take a small guess at what exactly it all means. Cudi is known for believing that his artistic, verbal abilities can often act as a "curse" (he even said he was going to retire after his 1st album), and often wishes he was just more of a regular joe. He went through a pretty crazy phase, involving daily use of cocaine and his widely publicized arrest for "liquid cocaine", that I believe was his lowest point (perhaps that is what is missing from his empty glass). Cudi's "Mr. Rager" persona seems as though it could have occured during this time. Yet I believe as time went on and his fan-base continued to grow, he began to realize how lucky he is to be so naturally talented. Now he has a much greater appreciation for himself, his music, and his fans. He also became a father within the past year, which of course helps him to put it all into a much clearer, less drug-induced perception. And although Cudi professes in the Complex interview that the party/psychedelic-feeling is still very much alive in this album just like in the first, I now believe the sophomore album's true feelings come from his "Mr. Rager" period. With his growth and maturation, he is now able to clearly express those deep emotions and the result...an album that I just cannot wait for. November 9th just cannot get any closer.

For more info on the Complex interview, check out:
http://www.complexvideo.com/Celebrities/Kid-Cudi-The-2010-Complex-Cover-Shoot

Deadmau5 rocks ACL 2010

This past weekend was the 2010 ACL Music Festival in Austin, Texas. It was my third year in a row to go and I was excited as ever to see the acts coming to perform. The Strokes and MIA have been personal fav's of mine for quite awhile and it was incredible to see them. Yet, one of the best parts of the weekend was spent dancing to the sick nasty beats of Deadmau5. I have been a fan of his work for a year or so now, becoming ever more interested in his work and him personally as an artist. My ex-roommate and best friend, Dimitri, had told me that Deadmau5 truly was a one-of-a-kind "experience" and that I, "Just wouldn't understand until you see him perform his stuff live." So for Deadmau5 to finally make it to Austin was a real thrill for me.

I arrived to his show super early on Saturday evening and got a great spot just to the left of the stage. I had been doing a tad bit of background research on Deadmau5 and found that he was actually much more intelligent than people know. He quickly realizes how easy it is to make the same kind of music that he does. What makes him stand apart is his incredible ability to market himself. Deadmau5, deep-down, is a just a brand - something to differentiate his performance from his competitor's (I noticed the Flaming Lips doing the same sort of thing with their famous man-sized bubble-boy costume, the very next day). It was true though; seeing Deadmau5 was quite an experience. His electronic "Mau5head" and accompanying table were something else....both moving independently yet still connected at the same time. All of my friends, both fans and non-fans of Deadmau5, enjoyed the show tremendously.

So after finally seeing him perform once at ACL and once at a post-ACL aftershow on Friday (see picture insert), I began to do a bit more digging into what Deadmau5 is all about. I found out some very interesting things, such as his dispute with another famous DJ, Rusko, in Denver backstage at a show. I also realized how involved he is with social media: Myspace, Twitter, Facebook, Ping on iTunes, etc. He is extremely efficient at communicating to his audience in a very approachable way, which I believe just helps make his fans able to easily relate to him and believe that they are seeing some other side of him that most people just do not see. In turn, his fans become more avid and follow him on a more consistent basis. He is just so incredibly clever at his profession! The sad part is that most people just do not realize this and think he is just another random house-dj (as I mistakenly did in the past), when in reality, he is anything but.

For a random, HD video of the Deadmau5 madness at this year's ACL, click here.