Jim Spellman, WireImage
The video, directed by artist Marco Brambilla, depicts West standing inside a classical structure, wearing the same $300,000 Horus chain he debuted at last month's BET Awards. West raps as the camera zooms out to reveal a plethora of ladies surrounding him. While some are fully clothed, others are nude and another set are adorned with devil horns. Some even hang upside down from the structure's ceiling.
A peculiar item displayed in the video is the sword of Damocles, which hangs over the rapper's head. The sword hails from Greek culture, and stems from the story of Damocles and Dionysius. The latter, being a great man of power and authority, offered to switch places with Damocles for a day, so that he could experience all of his fortunes. During a banquet, where Damocles was waited on like a king, he looked up and noticed a sharpened sword hanging directly above his head by a single horse-hair. As a result, he lost all taste for the finer things and revealed that he no longer wanted to be surrounded by wealth and excess.
In an interview with 'TNYT,' Brambilla discussed his involvement with the project. Rather than refer to it as a "music video," the artist prefers a "video work that's been commissioned by Kanye to accompany the music." Together, the duo answer the question, "How do you visually paint a portrait of power?" in the video.
"It's a moment of transition for him," Mr. Brambilla said of West's acting in the visual display. "It's like the end of an empire. It's him becoming mortal again."
West, who recently joined Twitter, will most likely premiere the video in the coming weeks. His current single, 'Power,' will be featured on his forthcoming album, which is yet-to-be titled.
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