Hip-hop icon and cultural lightning rod Kanye West has dispatched scouts to the United Arab Emirates and the surrounding area to scout locations for a planned 30-minute short film that will "showcase the beauty of the region," THR reports. The project, which boasts all the appeal of a tourism-commission promotional video, sounds like an unusual one, even for an artist as multifaceted and "complex" as West, until one catches a quote in one of the article's latter paragraphs:
"Kanye has performed in the UAE several times, including at the Abu Dhabi F1 in 2010. His most recent gig was in December last year, when he and Jay-Z apparently pocketed $6 million for a private party for one of the ruling sheikh’s family members."
THR reports that West conceived the story himself, and quotes a source as saying the film will be "a piece that’s culturally sensitive and embraces the customs and traditions of the region." Said "customs and traditions" include jailing people for kissing in public, importing sex workers en masse, and brutalizing a sprawling guest-worker underclass. Should make for quite an interesting film!
Apparently, a “pretty active bidding war” is in progress as to where the film will be made, which signals West's scheme for further soaking the sheiks is already meeting with success.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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