Kanye’s “Power” Vid To Feature Naked Women, Hell And That Giant Necklace

Becky Bain | July 29, 2010 3:22 pm

“How do you visually paint a portrait of power?” That was the question posed by Kanye West and artist/director Marco Brambilla while coming up with concepts for the video for West’s single “Power.” So what did this creative duo finally come up with? The New York Times got a sneak preview of the vid, and it appears ‘Ye’s latest will be just as ambitious as his previous videos. Get all the “Power”-ful details below.

The New York Times‘ ArtsBeat section wrote a profile on West and Brambilla’s collaboration, and was able to see a portion of the video. So what do we have in store? Turns out, a lot of sex and death:

In a coming video for his single “Power” that was created by the artist Marco Brambilla, Mr. West is seen standing imposingly with a heavy chain around his neck. [That would be his Horus bling.] As Mr. West raps the camera slowly zooms out in one continuous, unedited take to reveal him in a classical structure, surrounded by female attendants who are partly or entirely nude; some kneel before him on all fours, others wear devil horns and still others are suspended upside down from the ceiling. The Sword of Damocles hangs precariously over Mr. West’s head, and behind him an unseen executioner is preparing to strike him with a blade.

Director Brambilla says the video—which isn’t a music video, per say, but a “video work that’s been commissioned by Kanye to accompany the music,” has a very dark tone.

“It’s kind of apocalyptic, in a very personal way,” Brambilla told the NYT. “It had this very dark, personal conflict within it. Because of his own concept of celebrity and his own notoriety, he’s keenly self-aware of all these things. And it all came out in the music.”

He added that the video is expected to drop next week, and due to its content, it may not be able to be posted on family-friendly platforms. (It’s interesting to see that artists have finally realized music videos barely exist on television anymore, so there’s no need to self-censor your videos.)

Apparently, even morose Kanye still has some of his sense of humor intact—the social networking prodigy uploaded a twitpic complaining how small his private jet was, squishing it between his fingers.

Don’t be too sad for Kanye and his incredibly tiny plane—he’s already got his eye on a more magnificent ride.

[New York Times]

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