Kanye West

Hear Ye, Hear Ye…

Kanye West and his Phoenix.

            One of my favorite musical artists, and an icon of my generation is Kanye West. Kanye West is a Rapper, who is more than that. He is an author, clothing designer, producer, director, and fine artist—he’s basically summa cum laude when it comes to innovation.

            Kanye West is a genius, and ever since The College Dropout released in 2004, I was in love. Kanye West isn’t exactly a “media outlet,” but he is apart of this huge media, that has become my exit. I love to turn on his music, and simply vibe, or,  “close my eyes and imagine, feel the magic,” (Kanye “Diamonds from Sierra Leone”).

            One of my all time favorite songs, titled, “All Falls Down,” from his early LP The College Dropout is apart of my life story. It perfectly describes my life now, and the entire C.D. foreshadows this ongoing battle I have had with myself these past four years. I guess the reason I relate to West’s music so much is because he tells the stories I am too afraid to tell, or that I too experience.

            Another reason why I enjoy Kanye West is because he is so imaginative. One of my favorite songs (and trust me I have so many) is “Flashing Lights,” from Graduation. It’s just a cool song about love, fame, paparazzi problems, and time—and the music video is one that tells that story.

            Many spectators and critics believe that an artist should not solely be judged by their art, but also by their personal traits and how they are portrayed in the public eye. West gets so much scrutiny with secret society, devil worshipping, his public appearances and outbursts, but also his scandal. He has caused so many problems with his opinions that he has become a household name. From saying, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” to stopping the MTV Video Music Awards to protest an award, and stage crashing at other awards show the rapper has received his fare share of backlash.

            When it comes to an artist that’s what I judge them on; their art, I think it’s unfair to believe that a person can be perfect, and even if they were the media would crucify them When it comes to public figures I don’t judge them on what they do outside of the studio, or the concert I paid for, I simply judge them on their work. Kanye West’s work speaks for itself and he has become my outlet because of his storytelling rhymes and soul-samples that are placed on his tracks. Even though he has been crucified for some of his actions he is also awarded for his success. His awards, and accolades also show that he is great at what he does. 

Kanye and Jay-Z

            Kanye not only devours a lot of other rappers with his simple openings from his College Dropout days on songs like “Jesus Walks,” but with his simple endings to songs like, “Flashing Lights.” All of his music meshes will, and has matured over the years. Recently, he has went platinum along with his “Big Brother,” and counterpart Jay-Z on their collaboration for Watch the Throne they released a couple months prior. Hopefully nothing but amazing things happen for him and his music.

Living Out Loud

Being a hopeless romantic is something that I am unbelievably ashamed of. Time and time again, I watch films and find myself day dreaming about similar love stories, auditioning people to play the role of the gentlemen and the cad. Recently, I got a chance to catch the movie “Living Out Loud.” The film, starring Holly Hunter, Danny DeVito, and (one of my favorite’s) Queen Latifa, is directed and written by Richard Lagravenese and was originally released in 1998.

Each character played a role and as you may have guessed they were all orthodox. The movie, based on freshly divorced Judith Moore’s (played by Holly Hunter) quest to rediscover herself through her hysterical conquests through the city of New York.  You can definitely find the usual stereotypical characters  in this raunchy depiction of a early forty year old woman going through the motions. This doesn’t really relate too well, but in order to paint Judith’s picture right, she looks like the fraternal twin of Sookie Stackhouse or Anna Panquin from “True Blood.”

You have the gentlemen, portrayed by stocky Pat Francato (Danny DeVito), also divorced and recently lost his daughter. The overweight, balding character was wallowing in self-pity, debt, and loneliness until one day all of his hard work being the doorman in an upper-east side apartment building paid off—he meets the Judith Moore.

They hit it off one night, after Judith gets swept off of her feet in the backroom of a nightclub and tonged down by a complete stranger. It seems to be her first real encounter with a man after her divorce and they (she and this mysterious gentlemen) plan to meet up. That night, Judith finally speaks to Pat in the elevator, and they immediately have an odd interaction.

The fact is, until that kiss at the nightclub Judith was the typical lonely woman. She had the, “woe is me, I’m divorced and want to kill myself,” mentality while her husband moved on with a beautiful young woman. Typical is the only thought that crossed my mind and I kind of got mad at myself when thinking about the whole woman verses man conflict. Why is it that she needed a man to kiss her for her to come back to life? The only good thing that came out of the kiss was a date, which ended in a no-show; followed by Judith getting so drunk she finally got the balls to speak to someone she admired singer Liz Bailey (Queen Latifa). Basically, the two become fast friends, and with Liz’s help Judith becomes full of life again, and starts to experiment with drugs, and women—and more importantly finally stands up to that cheating bastard she married. Sorry for getting so caught up in the plot, but I must paint this picture of lust, and foolishness before I go any further on my review on this movie.

As far as cinematography there was one amazing shot when we first met Pat. In the background there is the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge that is stunning and so eye catching. When it comes to the plot, I will have to say it turned me off. In 1998, I feel like women were becoming more like men, there were more single mothers and “crack babies” (a phrase that is prominent in the movie), which shows that this was a different time—I mean this was the turn of the century. The fact is, the stereotypical characters and their motives really made this movie a train wreck waiting to happen. In movies about divorce it is kind of hard that, “woe is me I’m a woman” montage that seems to in the end make the woman out to be the victor, when from the beginning she should be two steps ahead. Even though, I find myself as a hopeless romantic, I found this movie to be a desperate portrayal of a woman scorned. And the ending was terrible!

 I couldn’t stop myself from asking, why is it that when a woman has love looking them right in the eye she can’t see past the material things, or the looks?—Because honestly, if Pat (Danny DeVito) was 6’3” tall, unbelievably handsome with a headful of hair and muscles she would’ve fallen in love with him so fast the movie would’ve had to end.

I guess the bigger question this movie posed for me was, would I recommend someone to see it, and that answer is yes. Honestly, as trivial as the plot was, most movies for me come up short in one way or the other. There are very few movies about love that actually live up to the hype. I feel that you could take away something from this movie, whether it’s a question of, why doesn’t Pat just shave his hair all the way off, or is that really what ecstasy does to you, or even who is that actress that Judith (Holly Hunter) favors? Whether or not you like romantic comedies you could place this into any genre; for example the awful lip liner Liz Bailey wore every single time we see her could turn this movie to become a horror film. Or the awkward conversations between Pat and Judith could easily make this a documentary. Whatever you’re into, you can definitely find it in this movie. “Living Out Loud” was a decent film with honest intentions; I would at least try the movie on for size if I were you.