Kanye West Debuts 'Fade' Video After Anything-Goes VMA Speech

By Stephen Gossett in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 29, 2016 6:06PM

Kanye West has a history of, shall we say, notable appearances at the MTV Video Music Awards; so a fair amount of anticipation had already been built when the rapper took the stage on Sunday for his scheduled four minutes to do as he wished. But the most interesting turn came afterward, when West debuted the arresting new video for The Life of Pablo cut "Fade."

Before the clip, West chatted casually and fleetingly about a host of topics, referencing his infamous 2009 stage-storming, complimenting himself on his controversial "Famous" video, giving a shout out to Amber Rose, making quick mention of the notorious, leaked Taylor Swift phone call, and bringing up Chicago gun violence as a point of perspective. It was a winding and twisting few minutes, charmingly self-effacing and refreshingly devoid of the pre-packaged controversy the conceit seemed to guarantee.

The "Fade" video, on the other hand, was a certified attention-grabber. Starring Teyana Taylor—and, briefly, NBA star Iman Shumpert—the clip plays like an extended Flashdance homage before closing on a Matthew Barney-esque visual tableaux that shall remain permanently burned in our mind's eye.

This being Kanye, the video is currently a Tidal exclusive. But you can see a version that was shared on social media below, along with West's VMA speech.