A rough, unofficial cut of Kanye West’s music video for “Monster,” featuring the talents of Rick Ross, Jay-Z, and Nicki Minaj (in a dual role), hit the Internet months ago. Still, on Monday, it was announced that MTV rejected West’s “Monster” video for air, asking the artist and label to re-edit some of the more graphic scenes.
There’s no doubt that “Monster” is dark--to the point of almost being a five minute horror show. West greets us with images of dead women throughout, their bodies hanging by rope from the ceiling while others haphazardly lie deceased in bed.
What’s interesting about West’s “Monster” is that all of the dead women are white, an extreme departure from the typical rap music video that features light-skinned black women.
So, is Kanye West’s “Monster” catching heat for its harsh depiction of women in general, or is there more at work here? Are we seeing, shall we say, a “Taylor Swift-effect” in play, where the big, black brute’s attempt to harm the innocent, lilly white woman is met with strong resistance?
It’s tough to say with absolute conviction. Kanye’s video for “Monster” does feature disturbing images that almost certainly cannot be shown during daytime television hours in its current iteration. Not only are we privy to dead women in the video, but one scene in particular shows West holding the severed head of a young lady.
Still, the music video medium--rap music in particular--is one that has no problem showing half-naked black women shaking their assets in front of the camera.
Getting liquor poured all over their bodies.
Getting credit cards swiped down their backside.
And MTV is the same network that makes it’s money off of the often inappropriate “Jersey Shore,” while also attempting to purposefully shock, offend, and titillate its viewers with its new scripted show “Skins.”
If “Monster” featured lifeless black bodies in the backdrop of West, Jigga, and Minaj’s raps, would the outrage have been the same? Would Team Kanye have to rein in the violence as much?
We’ll never know. What we do know, is that despite having arguably the best album of 2010, Kanye West is still vilified in the public and media. Some of that is his own doing--he does have a tendency to speak his mind no matter the situation, time, or place.
But Kanye still remains buried in the shadow of the MTV VMAs incident, a microphone-snatching moment seen ‘round the world. In fact, during the 2010 Thanksgiving Day Parade, on-lookers booed Kanye’s float as it drove down the streets of New York.
On Thanksgiving Day.
Whether “Monster” is being re-edited due to race, violence, or a combination of both is hard to decipher. But whether the Taylor Swift-effect remains alive and well is much easier to discern.
Click here to watch the unofficial video for “Monster.” After watching it, voice your thoughts below in the comments section.
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