When Kanye West wanted to make porn to promote ‘The Life of Pablo’
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When Kanye West wanted to make porn to promote 'The Life of Pablo'

The Life of Pablo is a defining moment in Kanye West’s career. The record may not necessarily be the pinnacle of Ye’s efforts, but there can be no doubt that the LP delivers on one crucial factor: it is distinctly Kanye West. The album, can, on some terms, be considered the sister album to Yeezus. On this record, West gets even messier than its predecessor and creates an LP that’s deliberately difficult to listen to but continuously has gems scattered throughout it.

West pushes boundaries again on the album, and tracks like ‘No More Parties In LA’ are up there with anything he’s made. However, there is an unavoidable coherency to the record as West revels in creating an album as twisted as he can, which can be divine one minute, and dark as hell the next. It makes sense then that he once thought the release should be supported by his own brand of pornography.

Author Bret Easton Ellis has revealed that Kanye West had asked him to write pornographic video content for tracks on The Life of Pablo in a move that even for Ye is a little odd.

The album, which was released in 2016, featured tracks such as ‘No More Parties In LA’ and ‘Famous’ which came with the much-debated music video depicting the likes of Taylor Swift, Chris Brown, Donald Trump, George W. Bush, and Ray J naked in bed together.

Ellis, who was speaking on his podcast, detailed how West had contacted him a few years prior in order to make “pornographic videos on tracks he had recorded during The Life of Pablo sessions.”

When Ellis explained his doubts about the idea, West reached out again a few months later with the suggestion of turning the videos into a movie. Having been invited to West’s home in California, Ellis admitted that he felt a little “hesitant and didn’t know what to expect” when he arrived.

“In the five years I had known him, I had never seen him this focused, this together,” he said before adding that the rapper is “sane, his own man” and not a “drugged-out freak gibbering on Twitter as the media suggested.”

Ellis also outlines his relationship with West in the same episode, explaining how they met for the first time the day after the birth of Kanye’s first child, North. Ellis says, “Kanye is, yes, a genius, and every hour I spent with him was more than worth it, even if the project never happened.” The project Ellis references is a TV show the duo worked on but was never released.

Whether you count yourself as a fan of Kanye West or merely an observer, one thing cannot be denied about the rapper: he is a true original.