Kanye West

Just when you thought variations of the “Imma let you finish” jokes were dying down, Kanye West up and decides to get a Twitter account this past Wednesday [July 28]. That opened the floodgates for more incarnations of the joke, #futurekanyetweets as a trending topic, and tons of more ’Ye-inspired memes. Aside from a few snarky comments and the announcement that he’s scrapped the title Good Ass Job for his upcoming album, West has been tweeting a bunch of random, yet cryptic messages, as well as a ton of random and hilarious twitpics). It’s obvious that he’s really on his regal tip right now, but the extent to which he’s playing it up may be going over a few heads (after all, there’s only so much you can say with a 140 character limit). Call this an overly close reading of Mr. West’s tweets if you will, but here are just a few of the things that you might have missed.

KANYE TWEETED: The Sword of Damocles: “This is what I’m on”

DECODED: Damocles, a name that literally translates to “Fame of the People,” was a courtier in the court of Dionysus II of Syracuse in 4th century B.C. (thanks Wikipedia!). Dionysus II switched lives with Damocles, who was envious of his great power, to show him what a day in his life was like. Everything was cool until the end of the day when Damocles looked up and noticed a sword hanging above his head by a single hair.

The parable serves as an illustration of the constant fear that men of great power live in. Also, in their synopsis of West’s upcoming “Power” video The New York Times’ Arts Beat blog describes the opening scene of the video in which an image of Kanye pans out into a scene of him standing in front of a classical structure surrounded by half-naked women (some with devil horns) and the sword of Damocles hanging over his head, alluding to the tale.

KANYE TWEETED: “I’m into these types of glasses this is a new decade its over with for all those tongue and cheek ironic ch…”

DECODED: ‘Ye’s been tweeting a lot of items fit for royalty but describing his practical, modern uses for them. There were the gold-trimmed shot glasses, the plastic covered “Ver-say-see” couch and the gold goblet used for drinking water from half empty bottles lying around his house. Mr. West’s current infatuation with incongruities was most likely sparked by Marco Brambilla—the artist behind the imagery in the “Power” video. Brambilla was hired by Kanye after he fell in love with his “Civilization” installation which hangs in the elevators of the Standard hotel in New York City’s meatpacking district. According to the Arts Beats blog it “mixes hundreds of video clips to create a continuously scrolling depiction of heaven and hell.”

KANYE TWEETED: Molnar Poseidon’s Vineyard Chardonnay: “Sipping Molnar Family Poseidon’s Vineyard Chardonnay in the middle of the day sidebar out of gold cups for whatever that’s worth.”

DECODED: The river at Poseidon’s Vineyard in Northern California tastes like salt at high tide—a constant reminder of it’s proximity to the sea.

In Greek mythology the god Poseidon was the ruler of the sea, storms and earthquakes. Much like ‘Ye, Poseidon keeps the seas calm until offended or ignored when he strikes the ground with his trident causing shipwrecks, storms, and quakes. In hopes of safe travels, many sailors drowned a horse or two as a sacrifice to Poseidon who is often depicted as being drawn by four horses. Speaking of horses…

KANYE TWEETED: Maybach Music: “William Tell Overture by Andre’ Rieu… Maybach Music!!!”

DECODED: According to Kanye, “Kings need horses.” His chariot of choice is the Maybach that he’s known to ride around in. If you’ve If you’ve ever seen an episode of the Lone Ranger you’ve heard the horse-galloping anthem of the William Tell Overture, so it’s only fitting that with a maximum output of over 600 horsepower, this is indeed Maybach music.

KANYE TWEETED: “Thoughts is Napoleon”

DECODED: Is there any surprise that Kanye would liken himself to this powerful leader? In his hey day, Napoleon ran everything but wasn’t quite album to capture Egypt. Kanye was spotted paying tribute to King Tut at NYC’s Discovery Times Square Exposition exhibit of the famous boy ruler in early July. ‘Ye’s been rocking that huge chain of Horus, the greatest god of Ancient Egyptian religion. In a time when kings were regarded as gods on earth, many in Egypt became known as the physical manifestation of Horus in life and Osiris in death.

KANYE TWEETED: “Man when you take #BABYMAMAJETS there’s no stuartist”

DECODED: This could be some obscure allusion to Scotland’s House of Stuart, an important royal house… but then again, maybe we’re just taking these analogies too far? —Brooklyne Gipson

Source : XXL Mag

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