Kanye West Wants to Make a Movie

It’s no secret that Kanye West, the self-described “King of Pop” and enthusiastic proponent of “luxury rap” has a penchant for elaborate videos—Runaway, anyone?—so it’s no surprise that the rapper-cum-fashion designer-cum-entrepreneur has declared a new interest in filmmaking. According to The New York Observer, sources say West wants to make a short film with a story conceived to take place in the Gulf, a region that he apparently fell in love after performing in Abu Dhabi last year.

 

What might be surprising, however, is that the project has the Middle Eastern cities of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha embroiled in a “bidding war” to acquire the rights to fund the film, where these things are government-controlled. There are even rumours that West’s creative team plans to involve local talent, crews and local royalty. His mission? To “create an ‘authentic’ depiction of the culture.”

As we all know, thanks in large part to West’s infamous Twitter rant in early January, the man has a lot of creative ambitions, which include but aren’t limited to his new creative company-of-all-trades, DONDA. In a few of those tweets, West lamented the creative limitations placed on him by society:

“Being a celebrity has afforded me many opportunities but has also boxed me in creatively,” he wrote. “I was just discussing becoming the creative director for the Jetson movie and someone on the call yelled out... you should do a Jetsons tour!”

The nerve. Poor guy.

So far, West’s team has sent out representatives to scout locations in the Gulf and filming will begin in March. Unfortunately, these are all the details that have leaked so far and there’s no word on what the plot may entail just yet. But if it’s anything like West’s previous work (on and off Twitter), it’s sure to be interesting.

Editor's note: Zalina, did he just get scooped by M.I.A.?