Kanye West’s recent political stance revolves around the concept of actually not having any politics and all and “loving everyone,” which was almost the title of ye. It seems to have made him a more positive person but has adversely affected the feelings of everyone else on the planet. So it goes. In any case, Yeezy took a break from working on his many G.O.O.D. Music albums to express that viewpoint in Paris today, attending a Louis Vuitton show designed by his friend and collaborator Virgil Abloh. I don’t know haute couture fashion that well, (the colourful staging of the runway was pretty neat) but judging by the crowd’s response, it went well. Afterwards, Abloh himself received an applause, and then he and Kanye immediately embraced each other, tears of joy streaming down their faces.
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We don’t get this many candid portraits of Kanye being adorable. While this is an honest and heartfelt expression of affection between two friends, there’s a lot more going on here. It’s a tableaux, really, full of symbols and situations that unearth deeper meaning to what we were presented with at first. Let’s dive in:
First, the preamble to the hug. The above image is modern art. Blurry as shit, but modern art nonetheless. We’ll really have to explain why all four of these people meant everything to us 50 years from now.
Alright, now for the hug itself:
Now, some history. Abloh has been the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection since this past March, which apparently made Kanye nervous. Drake noted this and accused Kanye of being jealous of Abloh’s rise in the fashion industry on his Pusha T diss “Duppy Freestyle.” This hug utterly refutes that claim, showing two longtime friends weeping over their shared success, love, and fire fits. It is possibly the first hug to count as “shots fired” in a rap beef, while also joining the realm of great embraces like Donald Trump + the American Flag and Lord Voldemort + Draco Malfoy.
Some other pertinent questions:
Who is the realest friend here?
Why is Travis Scott hunched over and clapping so stiffly? He looks like Lurch from the Addams Family.
Why is Kanye wearing a sweater on the first day of summer?
Did he get too used to Wyoming?
Is Takashi Murakami’s Instagram game better than Kanye’s?
Did Toronto jazz band BadBadNotGood get tired of playing that muzak-y version of “Ghost Town” for minutes on end? (Shouts to those guys, though, this is a huge gig.)
Who’s this hypebeast-looking kid in the back?
Why is his view better than Murakami’s? Compare the eyelines and field of vision here:
The kid has the clear advantage, as Murakami has no distance to speak of. It did, however, allow Murakami to get the most intimate look at this intimate event. Let’s go back to his IG video for the definitive, #relatable meme analysis.
Phase One: When you finish a group project but you did all the work
Phase Two: When you run into your friend on the street and you know you’re going to get absolutely twisted tonight.
Phase Three: Bliss
Phase Four: When you’re happy for your friends but you know you won’t get to seem them all summer break
Truly beautiful. *cue “Runaway”*
Phil is on Twitter.
