(The Root) — Beginning at around 9 p.m. last night and stretching into the wee hours of the morning, Kanye West's video for his new single, "New Slaves," premiered in an innovative way — projected on the sides of buildings at 66 locations around the globe.
The song can most accurately be described as "very Kanye," from the grandiose method of unveiling right down to the lyrics. The song is full of hard-hitting, razor-edged lyrics about modern-day racism and the stressors that come with being a celebrity in today's society.
Regardless of how folks may feel about the song itself, there's little denying that projecting the song on buildings worldwide is a stroke of marketing genius. Thanks to the Internet, you didn't have to be in one of the select cities to see the video — people at the premiers had clips of the video on YouTube and Vine so quickly that it was nearly like watching it live. And there's little chance that debuting the song the day before West's appearance on Saturday Night Live was coincidental. Between the video's debut and Kanye's latest SNL rant, viewership is sure to be high.
For the most part, "New Slaves" whipped Twitter into a frothy frenzy, leaving fans more anxious for the new album than ever. Other weren't so impressed. Check out some of Twitter's reactions below.
Kanye's marketing scheme for New Slaves is absolutely genius
— just vari (@DaveRousseauFF) May 18, 2013
i think kanye might presently have enough cultural capital to go all in on the black power tip and have a positive effect on the world
— noz (@noz) May 18, 2013
KANYE WEST IS THE GREATEST ARTIST OF OUR GENERATION
— Tarik Schmarick (@TarikAdams) May 18, 2013
Tracy Clayton is a writer, humorist and blogger from Louisville, Ky.