Our Kanye Fetish Continues

I was going to skip posting this when I came across it, but our love affair with Kanye and Justice was continued when I posted the recent fan video of Justice's "Phantom Pt. II" so I figured I had to put this up.

This was originally my favorite song off of Graduation after I played the hell out of "Can't Tell Me Nothing" on the mixtape that preceded the full-length. Of course after a week this song, "Homecoming," was already a bit stale. "I Wonder" is currently my number one, but as we've said 100x before: it's a great album all around. Yes, even "Drunk and Hot Girls."

Now I Know Why Kanye Gave Up

After being put to shame by Justice at the Euro MTV awards in 2006 and then making an ass of himself, maybe Kanye West just gave up on trying to outdo the French duo. If you missed it, Kanye crashed the stage after his video for "Touch the Sky" lost to Justice vs. Simian's "We Are Your Friends." Not too surprising considering how "Touch the Sky" was just typical hip-hop fare.

Justice's highly acclaimed video for "D.A.N.C.E." even drew comparisons to Kanye's "Good Life" by Ed here.

Well here we are again. Shortly after Kanye released his video for "Flashing Lights", Justice one-upped him again with their video for "Phantom II." It's no "D.A.N.C.E." but it certainly beats out "Flashing Lights." Sorry, Kanye.

New Kanye Music Video for 'Flashing Lights'

This was released yesterday. It is for the fourth single off Kanye West's hit album Graduation. The video for "Flashing Lights" was co-directed by Kanye and Spike Jonze, music video extraordinaire.

It's a bit simple and I know a lot of Kanye fans are going to be looking for something extravagant, especially after coming out of the Grammy's with three awards. It still like it, however. It is the simplicity of it that gives it a fresh feel to it. Usually there's too much shit going on and this is just the opposite of that.



Some interesting notes about the video: It actually stops quite a bit short from the actual song, leaving speculation of there being a Part II. It's already airing on BET - no word if MTV will air it, though I don't think it's that bad - so I can't imagine this being a teaser. The main character (can she be considered a character?) of the video is Rita G. She is apparently a 'hip-hop model,' which just means she has a big ass.

Kanye + Lupe + Pharrell = CRS

You may have first caught the super group CRS on Kanye West's Can't Tell Me Nothing mixtape that preceded his recent album, Graduation. If not, we have the music video of the song that appeared on the mixtape below. The video for "US Placers" is unofficial, but the quality is still great. Since none of the three artists were actually involved with the making of the video, none of them appear. But child versions of all three take their place. Kid Kanye looks a wee but awkward, but Kid Pharrell is perfect. Kid Lupe is a bit in between the two.

No word yet if this trio plans on producing more than this one track, but various interviews with Lupe Fiasco revealed that they are trying and aiming for late 2008.

Another interesting subject for speculation is what exactly CRS stands for. The most common choice seems to be Child Rebel Solider. Lupe being the child, Kanye the rebel and Pharrell Williams the solider. However, GBH said it was Chicago Runs Shit. I prefer GBH's take on CRS, but the only problem with that is Pharrell isn't from Chicago. Who knows.

Don't forget Lupe will be at Yale this Friday. I was corrected and told it wasn't for their spring concert, but instead part of their Black Solidarity Conference.