Given four minutes to do whatever the heck he wanted to at last night’s MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye West took the stage with a purpose, and those four minutes really ended up being around seven. He didn’t go on a long winded, nonsensical rant, and he didn’t say things that were begging to be headlines for the morning after. Instead, West talked about violence in Chicago, and catching heat for comparing himself to creators such as Walt Disney and Steve Jobs. Oh yeah, and he also premiered the music video for his song “Fade.”
Despite everything he said during his speech, the “Fade” music video was undoubtedly what had everyone buzzing the most. The video clip, starring singer/actress Teyana Taylor, was a sexy, sweaty, Flashdance-esque visual that would make anyone feel out of shape. Spoiler alert: the ending involves Taylor morphing into a cat while she and her husband/Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert are surrounded by sheep. It’s kind of weird, and the video is now available to watch on Tidal.
West came away without any major wins at the awards show, losing out to Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna’s “This Is What You Came For” for Best Male Video and to Beyoncé’s “Formation” for Video of the Year. Funnily enough, West even mentioned in his speech beforehand that he couldn’t be mad if he lost to Bey after all the times he’s rooted for her. At least we know he’s in good spirits.
Both “Fade” and the Video of the Year nominee “Famous” come off of Kanye West‘s latest album, The Life of Pablo. The rapper kicked off The Saint Pablo Tour last week in support of the record, which will span across North America until November.