Kanye West – Power (Moving Painting Review)
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Kanye West has been called a lot of things. Egomaniac. Vein. Artist. Celebrity. Jackass. Crybaby. The list goes on and on. Whether you love him or hate him, West truly is a one-of-a-kind original. No one, not even West himself, ever can tell what he will do and say next. Most of what he says, especially now that he has his own Twitter account, is self-aggrandizing hype. So when he Tweeted, “IT’S NOT A VIDEO … IT’S A PAINTING,” just a few hours before his video for “Power” — sorry; painting — aired on MTV, no one knew what to expect.
And although West truly exemplifies sensational hype, he’s not a liar. A painting, not a video, is what audiences got — right after MTV viewers saw bitchy Angelina slap Pauly D in the face on Jersey Shore. The “moving painting” lasted only 1 minute and 42 seconds, but it was something that hasn’t been put out there before.
The song “Power” plays in the background during the short video, but obviously not the entire track as the full song is nearly five minutes long. Whether it’s called a short video, or a moving painting, it’s pretty ingenious promotion for his upcoming album release in September.
The “painting” starts with West standing still, wearing all black and the thick chain he wore at the BET awards this year with a giant pendant of Horus — the Egyptian God of the sky, war and protection — on it. West stands still, with glowing eyes — which do not blink during the entire video — as the camera pans out to show more of the “painting.”
Three half-naked females — two are twins with giant horns — first appear in the frame as the track starts. The painting comes alive as the bass thumps along with the canes held by the horned twins. As the camera pulls out even more, more than a dozen other figures appear dancing, embracing, crawling and sword fighting.
West raps, “I’m livin’ in the 21st century / Doin’ something mean to it / Do it better than anybody you ever seen do it / Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it / I guess every superhero needs his theme music / No one man should have all that power / The clock’s tickin’, I just count the hours / Stop trippin’, I trippin’ off the power.”
The camera quickly zooms into the action and then back out. The final frames are of West, still standing there, with two swordsmen about to battle. The warriors hang in mid air about to clash, and the scene goes black with the word POWER written on the screen.
This “moving painting” will keep the Kanye West haters filled with venom until the album is released next month as it truly plays into all of the things people hate about Kanye West. Even though he raps about people having too much “power,” not too many humble artists put themselves in the center of a painting with a dozen half naked women groveling at his feet. But West doesn’t care about the haters. He does what he wants to do, and he makes a lot of noise whether he tries to or not.
Now for Kanye West fans, the “moving painting” for “Power” has got them salivating even more for next month’s full album release — which is what West’s goal with this genius piece of promotion must be anyway.
Music video by Kanye West performing POWER. (C) 2010 Roc-A-Fella Records, LLC
Posted on 08/6/10
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