The sixth coming of Kanye West appeared in flashing lights, glorious refrain, and one major, unforeseen tweet heard round the world.
On Friday, the rapper premiered New Slaves, the first single off his new album Yeezus, as a video projected on the side of 66 buildings in six countries across the globe, announced via his Twitter page. He followed the spectacle with two dramatic musical performances on the season finale of Saturday Night Live, and a tweet that same day of what appeared to be lyrics for his new work.
Later, girlfriend Kim Kardashian posted an image of his presumed album cover on Instagram, and subsequently, a mysterious link to pre-order the record emerged (then un-emerged) on iTunes.
All together, the large-scale exhibition seemed extravagant even for West, placing his marketing and creative ingenuity in an echelon unsurpassed by almost any other musician in the game.
“Obviously it was very unexpected, and no one thought it would be done at the level he took it,” DJ E-Man, Assistant Program Director and Music Director at Power 106 FM in Los Angeles, tells theGrio. “For Kanye to go to 66 different buildings around the world, and put it out there to make that noise, it’s genius.”
