Bill Plympton on Kanye West: 'He really is a smart guy'

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/15/bill-plympton-kanye-west-really-is-a-smart-guy

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It’s been quite the week for Kanye West. He received an honorary doctorate degree from the Art Institute of Chicago, surprised basketball fans with a performance of single All Day at an NBA playoff game and had his publicist quash rumours about an acting role in Spike Lee’s forthcoming film, Chiraq.

Now, he’s the recipient of kind words from animator, cartoonist and past collaborator Bill Plympton. The 90s animation cult favourite – now a two-time Oscar nominee – spoke for the first time about working with Kanye West, on the rapper’s 2005 video for Late Registration single Heard ’Em Say.

As a child, West had been a fan of Plympton’s animated program Spike & Mike, according to an interview Plympton gave to the Daily Beast. One night, Plympton received an unexpected phone call.

“He said, ‘Is this Bill Plympton? This is Kanye West. Are you the animator guy? I want to hire you to do my next music video.’”

Though Michel Gondry had already shot and directed a version of the video for Heard ’Em Say, West called in Plympton for one more to his liking. West needed to deliver the new video version to MTV for a premiere in a week’s time, Plympton remembered.

“He flew over to my studio for a couple of days to look over my shoulder as I was drawing and criticized them,” Plympton said. “He said, ‘I look more handsome than that – make me more handsome!’ I said, ‘Sure, Kanye.’”

Vanity aside, West made a good impression, according to Plympton. The rapper paid Plympton out of his pocket, and impressed him with his creative involvement.

“You know, he really is a smart guy, and very visual; he could be a theatre director. I trusted his opinion.”

This week has also seen West’s Bound 2 music video – featuring Kim Kardashian topless astride a motorcycle – turned into an illustrated online children’s book. It’s been a busy time for West, indeed.