Seems as though not a single month can pass by without Kanye being mixed up in someone’s controversy. Latest on his bill, feminists have gathered in protest against his music video for the single “Monster” featuring Jay-Z, Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj, claiming that the visuals “eroticize violence against women”. In the clip, ‘Ye and friends are depicted in a number of sinister scenarios, including Rick Ross sitting in a room full of hanged women, Kanye engaging in a threesome with two seemingly dead bodies and Nicki Minaj taking herself hostage.
After viewing the video, feminine activists Sharon Haywood and Melinda Tankard Reist created a petition asking MTV
and Universal Music Group to pull the “offensive and misogynistic” clip from the world. “The mainstreaming of videos like this increases desensitized and
callous attitudes toward violence against women,” said Reist, one of the
campaign originators. “Young people are seeing images and absorbing
harmful messages which glamourise misogyny and brutalize women. Women
are reduced to sex-doll like playthings. So great is the level of
desensitization that the barbaric treatment of women and girls is seen
as normal and to be expected. We decided to run this campaign because
we wanted to challenge the status quo.”
This week MTV contacted Haywood and Reist to say they will not air
“Monster” in it’s current version. The decision is strongly affected by MTV’s
commitment to fighting violence against women through their EXIT campaign, which addresses human trafficking and sexual
violence against women globally. Universal has yet to respond.

THE HONEST TRUTH: I can definitely see where the the critics of this video stand. The visuals are macabre, graphic and to some even disturbing BUT I don’t see barbaric or brutilization here. Kanye West is an artist, this gives him the right to bring his visions to life in whichever fashion he feels appropriate. I am not naive or insensitive to the fact that violence against women is rampant problem worldwide, but this music videos’ point was not an attempt to promote misogyny or devalue women, it was meant to be an expression of creativity from his point of view and somehow I cant help but think that if this was a female artists’ video with men dangling from the ceiling, the outcry wouldn’t have been as intense. Double standards, criticism, differences of opinion. I guess they all come with the territory. What do you guys think?

BONUS: For those of you who haven’t seen it, here is the leaked version of the “Monster” video that hit the net in December. Apparently it’s the unfinished version but this is what the public has seen and prompted the protest.

Follow Us On Twitter:
@24HourHipHop
@KanyeWest
@MimiTheeDreamer