The aesthetic of Kanye West's new "Closed on Sunday" video

On November 18th, the American media announced that Kanye West had purchased a new ranch in Wyoming, Bighorn Mountain Ranch, for about 14 million dollars. According to Business Insider, the new ranch would be located on more than 6,000 acres of land - which add to the huge size of Kanye's first ranch in Wyoming and which only add to the narrative around the land possessions of Kanye West, an African-American who came to own more than his father or any African-American of his generation could even imagine.

If this was the message Kanye had tried to convey through the “Follow God” video, full of prairies, all-terrace vehicles and workwear - in "Closed on Sunday" Yeezy chooses to reinforce this narrative and level it up. The music video (directed by Jake Schreier) seems to be the story of Kanye West's conquest of the land. The imagery in which he moves, the arrival of workers and the Kardashians aboard jeeps and semi-tanks more similar to the new Tesla than to normal means of locomotion, recalls the opening scenes of the Lion King or perhaps the moon landing: it’s apocalyptic and solemn. The impression is that in "Closed on Sunday" Kanye wants to continue to tell the story of his supposed rebirth and wants to do it with an aesthetic that aims at the minimal, in the images as well as in his styling and in that of all the people involved: Yeezy Season 7 Unreleased, Carhartt and outdoor clothing and work have taken the place of the hype.

In addition to all his full family, who in the opening frame of the video seems to wake up in a new world, "Closed on Sunday" is complemented by the presence of members of his masses at the Sunday Service and that of people who seem to have arrived on the spot to live or work at the ranch. It's very easy to remember  Kanye's statements, which he promised to bring the Yeezy industries back to the United States - after moving his Yeezy HQ to Wyoming - and hire ex-African-American inmates.  Like all of Kanye's recent work, there is nothing that is not part of an overall project by an artist who has now chosen his new aesthetic and who is doing everything to communicate it, showing an artistic coherence that too many forgot and that is , still today, among the most influential and powerful in American music.