Runaway Train!




Recently I had the chance to see Kanye West's Runaway "music" video, you can't really call it that in all fairness it is 35 min's long, so I saw the Runaway film. Before I watched it I was afraid it was just another ego stroking affair with Kanye tell the world how great he really is, and how we need him and all the other rubbish he spews at times. I bit the bullet, gritted my teeth and dug into it. In essence it is a huge ego stroke however Kanye ain't playing dumb this time. The Runaway video is a star-studded affair with a wide number of artist contributions and with Victoria’s Secret model Selita Ebankso appearing as a superhumanly beautiful phoenix, falls from the sky and then in love with West, only to discover that she must burn and return to her world. It's a force worth noting.

So what am I saying really? With a "film noir" feel to it, Kanye seems to have brought that 60's Hollywood cinema, with a flare for ground breaking musical appeal of Micheal Jackson's thriller all into a one. It has a great musical and cinema feel to it, fusing the two into one beautiful work. Plus with with a great visual presentation and contemporary feel. Unfortunately the choppy dialog presented by Director Hype Williams does detract from the experience and some still frames make the piece feel animated. All in all I feel
as an artist and nothing more, Kanye West in this film has pushed the bounds of a music video and presented a dynamic piece.

The composition of the film is 9 different songs from Kanye's upcoming album "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" and Runaway being the leading single from that album, works well to create a buzz. Kanye has also leaked a mix-tape "G.O.O.D. Friday" which features some of the mastered track that may be featured on the album. As for the Runaway video it features some intense cinematography and beautiful ballet piece choreography by Yemi Akinyemi, as for the tribute to MJ that felt kind cheesy
. I believe it was pretty well done video and reminded me that Kanye West is still an artist to be reckonded with, and some of that big ego has some bearing.

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