At least, it certainly wasn’t when it came out in 2008. It isn’t hip-hop in the conventional sense. But you’d have to have a pretty good internal compass to bet your future on where that wind’s gonna take you. You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, Dylan sang-a line, incidentally, from the first electric song of his that most people would have heard (“Subterranean Homesick Blues”). Like Dylan, the new direction made him a genius to some and a traitor to others-a split that highlighted both the divisiveness of his art and the conservative streak in a scene where the imperative to keep it real can be as stifling as it is comforting. Like Dylan, Kanye didn’t need the fame or credibility: His third (and third multiplatinum) album, 2007’s Graduation, had come out only a year earlier, and he’d already established himself as the kind of visionary who could steer the conversation while hovering somewhere above it.
If the demon hasn’t been exorcised yet, it’s about to be.Perhaps the best comparison for 808s & Heartbreak is when Bob Dylan went electric in 1965. Like “808s & Heartbreak,” which was recorded following the death of West’s mother, Donda, and his breakup with fiancee Alexis Phifer, the film is mired in a sense of loneliness and gloom.ĭisturbing but fascinating all the same, “We Were Once a Fairytale” plays out like an artistically enhanced public service announcement for West’s character reformation plan. The demon splits open its own chest and dies to the strains of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.” West hands the demon a miniature knife with which to kill itself. He proceeds to cut his stomach open and removes a furry, rodent-like creature, apparently the demon inside. There he vomits rose petals and discovers a knife lying on the floor. In the film’s most bizarre but telling scene, West rushes to the bathroom. When West reawakens after passing out, he discovers a collection of pillows bearing the same print as the dress of his mysterious lover, suggesting that the encounter was a fantasy. West is alternately aggressive and desperate, and his loud, tactless antics draw stares from surprised clubgoers.Īfter groping a number of partygoers, West shouts out, “This is my song!” and “Do you know who I am?” He wanders into a back room, where he meets the film’s lone source of comfort, a random beauty who whispers, “It’s OK” and seduces him. In the film, a drunken West stumbles through a club while “See You in My Nightmares” plays in the background.
It shows West engaged in the same kind of socially inappropriate behavior that has fueled a number of his ill-timed speeches from the heart.
The film reportedly began as a video for a song, “See You in My Nightmares,” from West’s latest album, “808s & Heartbreak.” It then developed into a more elaborate production.įilming wrapped long before West’s onstage interruption of country-pop star Taylor Swift at last month’s MTV Video Music Awards, but it eerily foreshadows the incident. The new video went on sale on iTunes today for $1.99, though it leaked online last week and was even posted on West’s own Web site,, before being removed.
The 11-minute “We Were Once a Fairytale” was directed by Spike Jonze (“Where the Wild Things Are”), who previously collaborated with West on his “Flashing Lights” music video. Since there are no award shows this week, the latest Kanye West shocker comes via a short film that depicts him surgically removing his inner demon.