“Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.” Those were the famous last words of tech visionary Steve Jobs, according to his sister, Mona Simpson. They’re also the first words that come to mind when viewing the latest music video by an artist who’s oft found occasion to compare himself to the late Apple co-founder (albeit for entirely different reasons).
Yes, Kanye West has just released a new music video for the song “Bound 2,” one of the standout tracks off his recent LP Yeezus, arguably the best rap album of the year. The song is a low-key R&B/soul ballad that samples the Ponderosa Twins Plus One’s “Bound”—“Bound to fall in loooove”—tethered to a coquettish “Uh-huh, honey” chirp from Brenda Lee’s 1960 hit “Sweet Nothin’s.” There’s also a chorus crooned by Charlie Wilson, and West rapping his own sweet nothings, e.g. “one good girl is worth a thousand bitches.” The tune is an ode to his 33-year-old bride-to-be, reality TV star-cum-entrepreneur Kim Kardashian.
Now about that music video.
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It opens with a strange, color-blasted time-lapse of the seasons, as well as slo-mo shots of packs of wild white horses galloping through water and western plains, before settling on West rapping in a multi-layered flannel getup—and then a tie-dye one—with the rugged Arizona desert looming in the distance. It’s like a John Ford film on ecstasy. Then, we see Kardashian’s shadow in silhouette lying on top of a motorcycle in a bikini. The image cuts back-and-forth between Kardashian voguing, and West giving his best “Blue Steel” to the camera.
After a coterie of West and Kardashian face close-ups, the Wilson-sung chorus kicks in: “I know you’re tired of loving, of loving / With nobody to love, nobody, nobody…” and before you know it, West and Kardashian are necking on top of a motorcycle. They’re fully clothed at first—but that’s about to change. In the blink of an eye, Kardashian’s clothes disappear, and the mother of West’s baby girl is seen completely naked straddling West on the vehicle—with the rapper’s arms shielding a section of her ample bosoms. There are shades of Aerosmith’s fantastic music video for “Amazing” here, which boasted Alicia Silverstone engaging in a heavy makeout session with Jeremy London on a bike. Then, the couple—with West still wearing his tie-dye t-shirt—begin to experience either heavy bumps in the road, or are actually dry-humping atop said motorcycle, with West rapping, “I wanna f—k you hard on the sink! After that, give you something to drink.” That’s love, y’all.
The background then shifts from the Grand Canyon to clouds, as we’re greeted with extreme close-ups of Kardashian and West with clouds racing past them—as if in a state of heavenly bliss.
Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.
