Telephoned puts their token sound on Kanye’s hit. 

All Of The Lights (radio mix) by Telephoned

I thought nothing could top a Grandma reading Kanye’s tweets.

New York’s Hot 97 grabs Kanye for 97 seconds.

A slept on piece of Kanye’s G.O.O.D music squad. At least here in the states. 

Ballerina

Condo remembers that West came to his studio between eight and ten times over the course of the summer. The ballerina — a concept that later worked its way into West’s “Runaway” film and performance at the VMAs — came from one of those visits. “We were hanging around one night, and we were listening to that tune ‘Runaway,’” Condo recalls, when his wife, Anna, showed West a a shot of French dancer Sylvie Guillem moving in slow motion. “And somehow Kanye grabbed onto that idea of the ballerina,” Condo explains. “He just said, ‘Hey man, I’d like to have a great ballerina painting.’ I thought of a ballerina toasting. You know, ‘let’s toast to the scumbags.’”

Head with Sword

“I really like that idea of a Shakespearian thing,” West told Condo about this painting of a severed head wearing a crown. The piece’s two contrasting styles — “cubism and classicism forged together in a single painting” — dovetail, Condo says, with West’s music, with its “layers of different styles happening simultaneously.” What did Kanye see in the picture that made him like it? “His tragedy was a kind of exile that Kanye imposed upon himself,” Condo says. “He was free from exile by having the cathartic moment in the image. He’s alive in the painting, you know what I mean? In a strange way it’s like, he opened his eyes.”

Naked sphinx straddling Kanye

“That’s a good painting,” Condo says matter-of-factly. “She’s a kind of fragment, between a sphinx, a phoenix, a haunting ghost, a harpy. And then Kanye is also in some sort of strange 1970s burned-out back room of a Chicago blues club having a beer — so far away from the real Kanye West that it’s just a scream.” In painting Kanye in such an outrageous situation, Condo says, “I was challenging him with the imagery as well. He said, ‘I’m shocked, but I like it, and I gotta go with my gut feeling.’” This cover’s already been banned by Wal-Mart and Apple’s iTunes Music Store, much to Condo’s disgust. “The superimposition of people’s perceptions on a cartoon is shocking,” Condo scoffs. “What’s happening in their minds should be banned. Not the painting.”

Entire interview: NYMAG 

After my gig tomorrow night this is exactly what I’ll be doing. Haven’t slowed down and took a break in what feels like years. Unplugging from life. Will be back soon.

Kanye speaks to Access Hollywood about his Runaway film, the hiatus, award shows and more. No matter how many times he explains he was just a normal person with too much passion and bad timing, people will believe what they want. He explains how the media portrayed him to be a monster. I disagree. I remember being in New York, not far away from the VMA’s when I logged onto my social networks to see the name Kanye followed by “douchebag”, “asshole”, “jerk”, “dumbass”, “fuck you”, “die” and “hate” among other words. Those comments, made seconds after the incident were not because of the media’s influence at all. This was the general public. The casual fan. The everyday working class individual that without any tug from press commentary used statements that would have been similar to what one would hear directed at serial killers or child pedophiles. I think Kanye has it wrong when he say’s the media had it in for him. They were just doing what they always do. Reporting. It was the unforgiving, self-righteous public that forced him to move across the globe. As a huge Yeezy fan I would love to see his new album and this film break down walls. Not just aimed at him but in culture as whole. But at the end of the day this is America. The double standard capital of the world.

After the controversial Phoenix soft core porn cover discussion died down Kanye debuted album cover #2. Ballerina’s seem to be playing a significant role in Ye’s artistic direction now. He plans on releasing 5 different album covers, all to be included in the final cd package. Not sure if the first “banned” cover is a part of that 5 or not. 

Download: CRS (Kanye, Lupe, Pharrell) - Don’t Stop

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