In what's being called an "86-tweet opus," Kanye West spent the early hours of Thursday morning indulging in a non-stop Twitter spree. In bursts of 140 characters or less, he erupted "like a Mount Vesuvius covered in Louis Vuitton" on a "cornucopia of topics" including fame, creativity, education, The Jetsons, and an ambitious new design venture he claims would position him as the next Steve Jobs. Here are the four of the most strangely fascinating takeaways from Kanye's "epic Twitter rant":
1. His "insane" plan to conquer tech
The biggest news to come out of West's Twitter spree was the news that he had started a 22-division design company called DONDA, with the mission "to marry our wants and needs." According to his tweets, he plans to assemble a team of professionals — architects, musicians, social media experts, car designers, doctors, teachers, DJs — to "pick up where Steve Jobs left off" and "collectively [affect] the world through design." (He apparently envies the success of Dr. Dre's Beats headphones.) The whole idea is quite vague, doesn't sound feasible, and is "the most insane Kanye plan ever," says Sam Biddle at Gizmodo. But West may be "one of the only people creative and crazy enough to make something like this happen."
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2. And also conquer education?
Yes, the "N*ggas in Paris" rapper also laid out a plan to fix America's schools. "There are so many broken systems from the economy to school systems, jail systems… we need experts for this," he complains, adding that he plans to collaborate with director Spike Jonze (Where the Wild Things Are) on "a summer school that tries new forms of curriculum." He also suggests that schools begin encouraging the use of iPhones in the classroom, and allow students to use search engines while taking tests "like the real WORLD!!!" His solution for the nation's testing woes: "Give kids the amount of test they would have in a year in one day but they have to get everything perfect…"
3. He's hinting that he'll be creatively steering the new Jetsons movie
"I was just discussing becoming the creative director for the Jetsons movie," Kanye tweeted, sparking both befuddlement and an investigation into his claims. Yes, the partnership sounds strange, says Jen Yamato at Movieline. But actually, given the "space-toony" design vibes of some of his previous albums, including Graduation, this is not only a good idea, but would make the "Jetsons reboot vaguely palatable." Claude Brodesser-Akner at New York clarified the rapper's involvement, confirming with Jetsons producer Denise Di Novi that the studio had conducted a tentative brainstorming session with West about the film, which is barely off the drawing board. "He's not the creative director on the movie, but I loved his passion for The Jetsons."
4. His career ruminations
While most of the tweets were focused on West's "lofty aspirations," says Lucas Shaw at The Wrap, he devoted a fair number to clarifying the current status of his career. For example, the insomniac tweeter noted that he has no representation right now, since his agent Cara Lewis recently left William Morris. He also weighed in on the Grammy Awards' surprising snub of his two albums, My Dark Twisted Fantasy and Watch the Throne with Jay-Z, in the Album of the Year category. "I appreciate having the most nominations at the Grammies but I feel so conflicted by the fact that award shows sometimes are completely... illogical."
Sources: Daily News, Entertainment Weekly, Gizmodo, Movieline, New York, Twitter, Wall Street Journal, Wrap
