Seth Rogen’s strange listening party with Kanye West
(Credits: Alamy)

Old School Archives

Seth Rogen's strange listening party with Kanye West

Kanye West is erratic at the best of times and has been known to do some strange things. From jumping on stage at the 2009 VMAs during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech to running around Italy in a mask, it is hard to predict what he will do.

That said, there are a lot of stories about the Chicago producer, entrepreneur and designer that may confuse us. Moreover, the Graduation creator has done things that bewilder his celebrity peers.

In 2013, actors Seth Rogen and James Franco recorded a parody of West’s renowned music video ‘Bound 2,’ which shows the beatmaker riding a motorcycle with his then-wife, Kim Kardashian fully naked.

The spoof was so well-received and funny that West asked Rogen and Franco to perform the remake at his wedding. Although the previously mentioned never happened, Rogen and Kanye became close friends, and in 2013, the beatmaker previewed his album Yeezus for Rogen in a rather strange manner. 

Speaking to the magazine Rolling Stone, the actor explained how he got a private listening party with Ye. Recalling the event, Rogen unveiled that he and Kanye ran into each other in a New York hotel. 

Detailing the exchange, Rogen recounted, “Me and my wife had gotten some dessert and were in the lobby getting plates to bring back to our room… And Kanye was like, ‘What are you guys doing? Want to hear my new album?'”

He continued, “So he takes us to this limo van and starts playing his album – except there’s no lyrics only beats. So he raps the whole album and after each song, he stops it, like ‘So what do you think?’ We were in the van for 2 hours!”

The hotel in which Rogen was staying is a popular choice for celebrities, and he unveiled that West did the same to another unnamed celebrity whom he spotted there, adding, “[Then] I realize the next person he sees that he knows is getting pulled into that van, but I learned a lesson from it – which is that Kanye is seeking input at all times. Process-wise, it showed an openness and a fearlessness. We started screening our movies more and in rougher versions for our friends because of that.”

You can watch the ‘Bound 2’ parody that Franco James and Seth Rogen made in 2013 in the video below.