Kanye West's "Famous"
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About
"Famous" is a 2016 hip hop song produced and released by American rapper Kanye West as the lead single off his seventh studio album The Life of Pablo. Upon the release of the music video for the song in late June 2016, it became widely discussed online for featuring nude likenesses of various celebrities and public figures in prosthetic sculptures and CGI.
Origin
On February 14th, 2016, Kanye West's seventh studio album The Life of Pablo was launched exclusively through the subscription-based streaming service Tidal, followed by its digital release via Apple Music and Spotify on April 1st, 2016. In the album's lead single "Famous," West references his infamous interruption of Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
“I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous.”
A statement delivered to BuzzFeed[10] by Swift's publicist claimed that West did not reach out to Swift for her approval and referred to the lyric as a "strong misogynistic message":
"Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single “Famous” on her Twitter account. She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message. Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, 'I made that bitch famous.'"
Music Video
On June 24th, the official music video for "Famous" premiered at a promotional event for Tidal in Inglewood, California, followed by its digital release for streaming on Tidal two days later. [3] The music video features synthetic nude replicas of various celebrities sleeping in bed, including George W. Bush, Donald Trump, Anna Wintour, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian, Ray J., Amber Rose, Caitlyn Jenner and Bill Cosby.
Spread
That day, Twitter user @dinahsukulele[7] posted photographs of Kim Kardashian with the caption "when you realize your husband is about to get sued by literally everyone #TidalXFamous" (shown below). In the coming days, other Twitter users posted jokes about the video using the "#TidalXFamous" hashtag.[8]
On June 25th, the Complex News YouTube channel released a video titled "The Internet Reacts to Kanye West's Famous Music Video" (shown below). Within 72 hours, the video gained over 1.8 million views and 1,300 comments.
The same day, HollywoodLife[5] reported that an unnamed source close to Taylor Swift revealed that she was "livid" with her inclusion in the video. Meanwhile, West posted a tweet asking "can someone sue me already" (shown below).[4] The tweet was subsequently removed.
Also on June 25th, Twitter user @ItalianMonster8[6] posted a montage of nine celebrities featured in the video with the caption "Calling a lawyer near you… #TidalXFamous," garnering upwards of 2,100 retweets and 1,800 likes in the next three days.
On June 27th, TMZ[1] reported that a representative for George W. Bush revealed that former president was in "much better shape" than the synthetic body shown in the video.
"In case there was any doubt … that is not President Bush. He is in much better shape."
The same day, the entertainment news site Vulture[2] reported that Lena Dunham described the video as "one of the more disturbing artistic efforts in recent memory." That evening, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert aired a parody of the "Famous" video (shown below).
#KimExposedTaylorParty
On July 17th, 2016, Kardashian posted a video recording on Snapchat in which Swift can be heard granting West permission to use a version of the lyric in "Famous" while talking on speakerphone, contradicting reports that Swift was upset with her inclusion the song (shown below).
Kanye West: OK, dope. You still got the Nashville number?
Taylor Swift: I still have the nashville area code but i had to change it…
Kanye: For all my south side n****s that know me best, feel like me and Taylor might still have sex.
Taylor: I'm like this close to overexposure.
Kanye: Oh well this one is, uh -- I think this is a really cool thing to have
Taylor: I know! I mean it's like a compliment kind of.
Kanye: What I give a fuck about is just you as a person, and as a friend.
Taylor: That's sweet.
Kanye: I want things that make you feel good. I don't wanna do rap that makes people feel bad.
Taylor: Um, ya. I mean, go with whatever line you think is better. It's obviously very tongue in cheek either way. And I really appreciate you telling me about it, that's really nice!
Kanye: Yea. I just felt I had a responsibility to you as a friend. I mean, thanks for being so cool about it.
Taylor: Aw, thanks! Yeah I really appreciate it. Like, the heads up is so nice!
Taylor: …things without like even asking or seeing if I'd be OK with it. And I just really appreciate it. I never would've expect you to tell me about a line in your song.
Taylor: And then the flowers that you sent me, I Instagrammed a picture of them and it's the most Instagram likes I've ever gotten. It was like 2.7…
Kanye: Relationships are more important than punchlines, you know.
Taylor: Yeah. I mean, I don't think anybody would listen to that and be like, Oh, that's a real diss. Like, she must be crying about…
Taylor: You gotta tell the story the way that it happened to you and the way you experienced it. Like you obviously didn't know who I was before that.
Taylor: It doesn't matter if I sold 7 million of that album before you did that, which is what happened. You didn't know who I was before that.
Taylor: … that I can make these things happen and I have the ideas to do it and I create these things and concepts. And, like, I'm always gonna respect you.
Taylor: And I'm really glad you had the respect to call me that and tell me that as a friend, about the song. It's just a really cool thing to do, and a really good show of friendship. So thank you.
Kanye: Thank you too.
Taylor: And you know, if people ask me about it, I think it would be great for me to be like, Look, he called me and told me about the line before it came out. Like, joke's on you guys, we're fine.
Taylor: You guys wanna call this a feud, you wanna call this throwing shade. But right after the song comes out I'm gonna be on a Grammy red carpet and they're gonna ask me about it and I'm gonna be like, he called me.
Taylor: …awesome that you're so outspoken and it's gonna be like, Yea, she does, it made her famous! It's more provocative to say, Might still have sex.
Taylor: …it's not. It doesn't matter to me. there's not one that hurts my feelings and one that doesn't.
That evening, Swift posted a note on Instagram[9] claiming that she had been secretly recorded and did not know the lyric would refer to her as "that bitch." Additionally, she accused Kardishian and West of committing "character assassination" (shown below).
Meanwhile on Twitter, people began joking about Kardashian's Snapchat video using the hashtag #KimExposedTaylorParty (shown below),[1] a reference to another hashtag #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty that trended a few days prior.
Also on July 18th, Redditor arianw21 submitted a post asking about the feud to /r/OutOfTheLoop,[11] where it received upwards of 2,200 votes (78% upvoted) and 400 comments in the first 14 hours. In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the online reaction to Kardashian's Snapchat video, including The Guardian,[13] Vox,[14] The Verge,[15] Fader,[16] People[17] and ETOnline.[18]
Search Interest
External References
[1] TMZ – KANYE PICKED A PUNK TO PLAY ME
[2] Vulture – Lena Dunham Calls Kanyes Famous Video Disturbing
[3] Tidal – Famous Video
[4] Twitter – @kanyewest
[5] HollywoodLife – Taylor Swift Horrified and Livid
[6] Twitter – @ItalianMonster8
[7] Twitter – dinahsukulele
[8] Twitter – #TidalXFamous
[9] Instagram – taylorswift
[10] BuzzFeed – Taylor Swift Called Kanye Wests Song Misogynistic
[11] Reddit – What is happening between Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian
[12] Twitter – #KimExposedTaylorParty
[13] The Guardian – Taylor Swift Condemns Kim Kardashians Release of Kanye West Chat
[14] Vox – Kim Kardashians Taylor Swift-Kanye
[15] The Verge – Kim Kardashian used Snapchat
[16] Fader – Kim Kardashian Posted Footage of Taylor Swift Signing Off
[17] People – Taylor Swift-Kim Kardashian Feud
[18] ET Online – Kim Kardashians Leak of Taylor Swift Phone
Top Comments
Imperator-Rex
Jun 28, 2016 at 03:04PM EDT
Pat Bateman
Jun 28, 2016 at 01:03PM EDT